Remind Me Again: Why Am I Doing This?

 

Blocking-in marks shown in blue; memory sketch
made in pink.

After 40 days of drawing from my mind and especially my memory, I’m still not seeing a trend of improvement, but I continue to learn more about what I need to do to recall the most information.

Since Day 34, I have been giving myself assistance with a modified technique: I block in the proportions and main shapes from observation, then complete the drawing from memory. For the first several days, I drew immediately after making the block-in, thinking that if very little time elapsed between observation and drawing, I would retain more. That turned out to be a big fail. In fact, the duration between observation and drawing seems to have less effect on the outcome than the time spent in focused observation. The latter seems to be the single most important part of the process. (You already saw the humiliating results of Day 35 and how I had to save my ego afterwards!)

The main reason I came up with the idea of allowing myself to make block-in marks from observation is that I thought this tactic would be most applicable to real-life urban sketching: If I quickly put in enough basic information while a car or person is in sight, I am more likely to be able to fill in details later from memory, even if they disappear.

Most of the details of this napkin ring were from imagination, not memory. I did not observe it closely enough.

An unintended real-life urban sketching scenario!

My most amusing moment during my 100 Day Project so far was on Day 38 when I practiced in a real urban sketching scenario: I started to block in our neighbors’ car across the street. I was just beginning to focus on observing details so that I could draw it from memory when they came out of their house and drove away! Even though I didn’t get all the details right, somehow that was less frustrating than the other exercises because I’m used to that happening on the street all the time. I also found it relatively easy to fill in generic car details, but I don’t think they were from recent memory of the actual car – probably more from all my years of sketching other cars from life.

Schematic diagrams and notes during observation (top) and drawing from memory (lower page).

A comment on Instagram prompted me to change tactics again on Day 39: Now I am giving myself more assistance from observation in the way of schematic diagrams of views other than the one I intend to draw from memory. I am also taking written notes about anything that will help me remember shapes or details. This process also forces me to take more time with observation. The stapler on Day 39 didn’t go very well, but I know I was distracted and got interrupted during my observation process.

Day 40 went much better. Again, I made schematics from three angles and took a lot of notes about anything that might help me visualize the Comet bottle. More time elapsed between observation and drawing compared to Day 39, but I was more focused during observation, and I also spent more time making the schematic drawings.

Day 40: schematic diagrams and extensive notes during observation

Of course, I have to ask myself what the purpose is of this very contrived structure? In any real drawing scenario, I could have easily finished the sketch of the bottle from direct observation in less time than it took to make all the schematics and take copious notes! I can’t think of any real-life scenario in which this type of practice would help me! And yet I have to believe that some benefit will come from these exercises. (I must believe it because I still have 60 long days to go!)