Thought I'd wrap up this third -- and last -- chat on sketching with five tips that have helped me keep a sketchbook practice going.
First, it helps not to use a sketchbook that is too grand or precious. Otherwise I find myself pressured to somehow make every drawing a small masterpiece, to honor the expense or the caliber of the sketchbook. If you plan to add a lot of watercolour to your sketches, you are going to need good paper. But if, like me, watercolour is just a garnish, then you can easily get away with a cheaper sketchbook.
For the 75-day challenges I used inexpensive Daler Rowney 5.5x8.5-inch spiral bound sketchbooks. The paper was 65 lb. with 80 pages per book. Perfect for 75 days of sketching.
You can even avoid choosing a sketchbook by repurposing something else, like a novel with heavier paper for the pages. Lapin is a well-known French sketcher who uses old account or ledger books. It's worth taking a look at his work simply to marvel at how French men know how to wear scarves! And he's a straight-to-ink guy, too!
This Japanese language novel I picked up at a library discard sale has lovely thick ivory pages. It's called The People Who Wander at the Edge of the Dawn by Yoko Ogawa. That evocative title alone is inspiration enough! Here's a simple sketch:
My second tip is to avoid drawing on the first page. Somehow the blank white vastness of that opening page is more paralyzing than any other page. By always starting on the second page, I ease myself into starting a brand new book. Often, once the book is full, I come back and do something on the first page. Just an additional sketch or maybe a title page to sum up the content of the sketchbook.
Here, I used a commercial "coffee ring" stamp and my own hand-carved tea cup block.
Thirdly, I try to decide beforehand what I'm going to sketch the next day. This is where a theme comes in handy -- fruits and vegetables, say. Or something from the kitchen junk drawer. There are also lots of 30-day challenges on line that provide a daily sketching topic. Those lists can get you sketching subjects you'd normally avoid. Like people! But one month, I challenged myself to draw a face a day.
Another time, I brought home roadside plants gathered on our daily morning walks. Each day, I only had to keep an eye out for a single plant. And that brings me to my fourth tip. You don't have to fill a whole page in one go. With the roadside plants, I took a week, adding one drawing a day.
Here's the fifth tip. It might not be for you, but it's made sketching so pleasurable and is likely the reason I've kept sketching these past seven years. Go straight to ink. No pencil. No erasing. This way, there is no fussing, no second-guessing -- I just draw. For sure, I get a lot of wonky and off-kilter sketches this way. But I figure, over time, my hand, eye and brain will eventually click and the sketches will get better.
Jane La Fazio, a San Diego artist, offers a great on-line sketching course for beginners and she advocates pencil first, teasing out the drawing, and then going over the final pencil strokes with ink for a confident line in your work. If straight-to-ink isn't for you, her approach might resonate. During the six weeks of her course, Jane comments on every single sketch submitted, with warm encouragement and practical advice. These are two drawings I did using her method.
The most popular exercise in that class was to draw our shoes. What fun to share our footwear with other students from around the world! In the sketch below, I used a pencil for the shape of the shoe but then when directly to ink to draw the rosettes and bead trim.
It's worthwhile playing around with different approaches to sketching until one "clicks" for you. And this brings me to the last tip. While we can waste endless time browsing through Pinterest and Instagram accounts, the online opportunities for discovering how the "pros" do it are vast and encouraging. I mentioned it before, but Tara Leaver's class got me sketching with ink and an eye dropper! Now that loosened up my drawing like nothing else has.
And here's a bonus tip: Enjoy your drawings no matter what stage you're at -- there's no one else in the world drawing quite like you! And no pastime could be more accessible or cheaper. A pen (or pencil) and a piece of paper and you're ready to go!
