Think More, Draw Less

After getting past the initial shock of how challenging it is to draw on dark paper (with focus on the highlights instead of the shadows), I am now having endless fun exploring this mind-twisting exercise!

I’ve also lately taken on the additional challenge of attempting to draw as little as possible while still evoking the whole hand. If I draw too little, the result might become abstract or look like amputated fingers. It’s a fine line to tread. One thing I have learned so far from this minimalism exercise is that the more time I spend thinking before I put down the first mark, the less time I spend drawing. When I was drawing the whole hand, I didn’t do much pre-thinking at all – I just sat down and drew. Now I spend more time examining the form and how the light defines it. I’m sure books and art teachers have given me that advice many times, but I guess it takes a pandemic and 96 drawings to learn the lesson.  

Selfie Mode

6/14/20

Every now and then I get in the mood to do a self-portrait. Typically, these are “serious” drawings in which I attempt to capture a likeness. This always spells doom, and I’m rarely happy with the results (I’ll show them to you one of these days).

One day after another frustrating attempt, I thought about how easily and quickly I sketch small portraits of other people – why can’t I do that with myself? At left is the result, and I must admit I like this one – pandemic hair and all.

This week USk Japan issued yet another inspiring challenge: Draw using the modified blind contour method, which means keeping your eyes on the subject and avoiding looking at the paper. We can look down at our paper occasionally to regain footing on the drawing, but when we do, we change pen or pencil colors. The changing of colors indicates the path and process we took, which is fascinating to track.

I warmed up with a couple of selfies in front of our full-length mirror (below). I like these better than most selfies I’ve made! 

6/15/20 (modified blind contours)

Dead Ends Galore

6/17/20 Green Lake neighborhood

Our usual walking territory is bordered on one side by Interstate 5. Back in the day when I rode the bus often, I crossed over the freeway regularly to get to the bus stop, but it’s a noisy, unpleasant walk, so I avoid it otherwise. We have been tiring of the four-by-10-block area we’ve been walking daily since March, though, so I proposed a change. Venturing over the freeway, we have a whole new neighborhood to explore.

The best discovery so far: three streets that dead end at the freeway wall! I love dead ends like this because I can stand in the street with my back to the wall, safe from cars and without getting in the way of pedestrians. And lucky for me on this morning, the clouds suddenly parted.

Houses of Maple Leaf

6/13/20 Maple Leaf neighborhood

A couple of years ago I began a series of sketches to document the architectural styles of my Maple Leaf neighborhood. Most were “portraits” of individual houses I found especially charming or that exemplified the various styles I see around here. I usually stood directly across the street, and on warm, sunny mornings, it was sheer delight (and extremely challenging, I might add) to spend close to an hour trying to capture these homes.

I continued the series last year, and my intention was to keep going this summer. But now I don’t feel I should stand on the sidewalk for an hour while pedestrians may be trying to get past me safely. Stepping 6 feet away each time I see someone coming is difficult to do while sketching.

I’m undeterred, however. I am taking notes on houses that face in directions that I can find safe spots to stand for a while. And I have also changed my approach to this series. The sketches do not all have to be color portraits as I have made in the past. Quick, small sketches also tell a story, especially when shown together.

Above are three small sketches I made while standing on the corner of Northeast 80^th Street and Fourth Avenue Northeast. Eightieth is a busy, noisy arterial that leads to the freeway entrance, so pedestrians rarely walk where I stood. Within 15 minutes, I simply pivoted to make each sketch. I’ll let you decide which one is not like the others, but they all tell the story of Maple Leaf architectural styles.

A Walking Sketch Journal

6/12/20 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Stopping for a sketch has become an integral part of my daily walk. On many days, I stop for only a few minutes (each of these took 5 to 10). On especially pleasant days when it just feels good to stand in the sunshine, I might take a good 30 minutes or more. As I walk, I’m constantly looking around for a sketch; it keeps me engaged and observant.

When I recently tried making a sketch journal page spread to record the events of an ordinary day, I enjoyed both the process and the result, but I also knew it was not a format I was likely to continue: I felt under too much pressure to do things that were sketchable. When I look back at my small walk sketches such as these, however, I realize that they collectively form a sketch journal in some way. Nothing extraordinary ever happens on those daily walks, but if one thing catches my attention for the length of a drawing, then those few minutes are not wasted.

My sketches have also become my fitness record: Instead of looking at my steps on a FitBit, I can just look back at my sketchbook to see the days I took a walk.

6/2/20

6/3/20 A squirrel lunching from a bird feeder!

6/11/20

Loose Color

6/10/20 View from our upstairs deck

6/10/20 Maple Leaf neighborhood

After trying the “don’t think” exercise prompted by USk Japan, I was amused by its unintended result: The challenge freed me from realistic colors. Although I’ve been pushing myself on and off for years to interpret colors more loosely (last year’s red/blue value studies were my most recent attempts), it doesn’t come easily. My default setting is to interpret colors literally, often to my own annoyance. (I so admire artists like Eleanor Doughty and Anne Rose Oosterbaan, whose natural styles are to interpret hues that seem to elude my imagination.)

Anyway, I had so much fun with that sketch that the next day I tried it during my morning walk (at right) and then again from our upstairs deck (above). Both views are so overly familiar (let’s go ahead and call them blah) that I needed a fresh way to approach them. This color thing is going in my toolkit permanently to help me see past the blah. Maybe interpreting color more freely will eventually come more easily to me.

Don’t Think – Just Draw

6/9/20 The view from my studio window

USk Japan issued another weekly challenge that appealed to me: “Don’t think – just draw.” Attracted to the concept of trying to avoid thinking while drawing, I head out the door. In the middle of my morning walk, I stopped to make a sketch (below), and as soon as I did, I had to think right off the bat just to choose a composition. As I continued, I had to stop myself twice when I started to measure some proportions – more thinking! By the time I finished, I realized I didn’t understand the point of the challenge: Of course, any kind of drawing requires a lot of thinking. . . how do I avoid it?

Back home, I read the details of the challenge:

“The point of this challenge is to go wild, let your fun and free mind take over your creative mind. I want you to show your analytical left brain what you’ve got lol. Don’t think and go wild!

• Grab your fav color pencils/color pens.
• Do not draw draft lines. Go directly on paper.
• Don’t think, just draw.
• If you feel uncomfortable or see your line off, change the color and go over the line/start over, etc.”

A-ha – now I saw the point!

6/8/20 Maple Leaf neighborhood

The next day was wet, so I sketched through a studio window, where I had few compositional choices – one less thing to think about already. Grabbing a few colored pencils, I didn’t plan, block or measure; I tried to “let my fun and free mind take over my creative mind.”

I’ve tried sketching this blah, overly familiar view many times (most recently a few months ago), and I’m usually not happy with the results. This time, however, I was pleased with the sketch (top of post). Maybe it was just the playfulness of the “unreal” colors, but I did feel myself letting go of my usual “rules” dictated by the thinking side of my brain. It was a fun and very fast way to approach a view I am not necessarily attracted to.