Sketching and Drawing

White Cup and Saucer (1864), Henri Fantin-Latour

Everything is so instant nowadays. Instant photos, instant messages, instant coffee (not!). Remember when you did long division, or used a slide rule, before everything was made easier with a calculator? Or snapping a picture with a camera and waiting to develop the photos? How about whipping out a sketch pad and making your own impression of your surroundings? Today, we rely on a cellphone to readily capture what we see by clicking a button, never thinking of picking up a pencil and paper.

Portrait of Isabella d'Este
(1499-1500), Leonardo da Vinci

Sketching and drawing are lost arts. Yet, they are perfect examples of ways to settle your mind, reduce stress, and spend time observing the world around you. Artists use sketching to plan out their final paintings and to establish the value range of light to dark. They often focus on particular details, using them as components for later compositions. This approach helps cement the images in your mind for later retrieval. Da Vinci sketched this woman, using her costume and hand gestures later in his portrait of the Mona Lisa. Even musicians practice in jam sessions before cutting the final track.

You also need to sit down and focus your attention on a particular subject or scene, like these kangaroos from a zoo or wildlife setting. Begin with rough sketches and numerous studies. Take notes and some reference photographs or simply rely upon your own memories. Sometimes, just capturing various shapes of trees, shadows, and using shading to capture the direction of your light source is all you need. The arrangement of shapes composes an image. Having a black-and-white drawing allows you to experiment with the colors later, relying on your emotions and memories to depict a mood.

Van Gogh Sketches

In high school, a classmate and I would bring our sketchpads to sporting events and draw basketball players in action. My brother would sketch portraits of local professional baseball players. I remember going to a car dealership where some of the NY Yankees were doing a promotion, and my brother got Whitey Ford to sign his portrait. Vincent Van Gogh often included sketches in his letters to his brother, Theo.

Drawing of Jeju

Photo of Jeju

Photographs capture lighting and atmospheric conditions that may undergo change while trying to paint a scene outdoors (en plein air). Sketching, on the other hand, is interactive and very fluid, allowing you to experience the subject and etch it into your memory.

My Sketch / Painting

Photograph at Lake Sawyer

While sketching requires looking at a subject, it can also be completely made up from your mind. It helps to obtain an understanding of anatomy and proportion when sketching animals or human figures. Learning to rely upon quick lines and the ability to edit out unnecessary details simply takes practice. Start by working on the body of a subject, then fill in the background later. A finished drawing or painting will take much more time and practice to complete.

Final Painting of Dogs at Lake Sawyer

The paper you choose for drawing will usually be of higher quality than what you use for sketching. You can find sketch pads in a variety of sizes, textures, and finishes. Drawing paper is typically thicker and denser with rougher texture for grabbing graphite pencil, ink, charcoal, pastel, or other artistic medium. On watercolor paper, I suggest using a light colored pencil, while on a gessoed canvas surface I would use graphite pencil or charcoal. Such sketching is used more as a guide to laying out a painting, although my subjects (above) needed to be much more detailed.

An Artist's Ramblings

I have always wanted to learn how to blow glass. The Netflix series, Blown Away, is an excellent inspiration. We visited a shop once where we chose colors and an object and watched an artisan create a glass ornament and an ashtray for us. One of my neighbors has played around with stained glass, which would be another specialized glass medium I'd like to try. It might also be fun to try making a portrait or landscape out of small glass mosaic pieces or scraps of paper.

I'd be just as happy to take a sculpture class. Even learning to throw a pot using clay and firing it in a kiln would be fun. My family and I have painted ceramics at a Clay Café a few times. The finished product is such a surprise! I also painted on some gnome statues.

Sower (After Millet)
(1889),Van Gogh

Working in three dimensions and trying other mediums are great ways to explore the visual arts. Draw your inspiration from your surroundings and from the work of other artists. Van Gogh copied several of the works of Jean-François Millet and also emulated some Japanese artists.

Dave the Dog (from PwC)

I am inspired by the people that I teach, my brother and his artwork, my colleagues from the Art Alliance, and from the community, volunteers and the shelter animals we support at PawsWithCause. I am in awe of artists who can paint outside of the box. And I'm inspired by the color scheme of the Buffalo casino game's mascot.

I'm always looking for opportunities to share art with others. Lately, I've been helping out my niece by homeschooling her boys in art. This is leading to other teaching gigs in the Enumclaw area. I'll be teaching art classes at the Enumclaw Senior Center and doing an art camp for kids this Summer.

Another type of painting I'd like to try is abstract expressionism. I've always admired artists like Franz Marc, Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock, and Helen Frankenthaler (one of a dozen women of abstract expressionism from the 1950s). For my next animal portrait, I'd like to try using non-traditional colors. This is what my portrait of Jeju and Bryce might have looked like through the eyes of Vincent Van Gogh (from the J Paul Getty Museum and Google Arts & Culture site). Check out my charcuterie board portrait of Jeju & Bryce in my post entitled, Animal Portraits Revisited.

I've also used the Prisma app to transform photographs into well-known works of art. The background of this blog sports a photo of my daughter with a filter that makes it look like a painting by Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch.

Another app I need to learn is Paint 3D. My brother uses it as a tool in lots of his art. Recently, he was inspired by artist, Daniel Horine, who produces nostalgic comic book covers in honor of baseball greats. My brother's cover immortalizes his own all-time favorite player, Andy Kosco.

I, too, have been inspired by baseball greats. For example, when Edgar Martinez was inducted into the Baseball HOF in 2019, I decided to make a collage in his honor using pictures I had collected and Mariners colors of tissue paper in the background. I had it framed and it hangs in my office along with several of his bobbleheads and (recently) the miniature version of his statue immortalizing him outside of T-Mobile Park. I even had a phone case made using my design.

Buffalo by Donna Gatlin

Bubbles by Donna Gatlin

Although I can't see myself ever taking up the art of quilting, I can still appreciate what my retired friend from Arizona has created. She artfully selects the fabric for her beautiful landscapes.

I also marvel at the stitching patterns that embellish her pieces with rich texture. She combines patience, skill, and an artful eye to make these wonderful masterpieces from scraps of fabric and thread. Amazing!

by Mickey Culver

One of my Art Alliance colleagues who is primarily an oil painter has been working in charcoal of late. Doing value studies with a limited palette is a great way to practice, understand, and learn how to create a range of shades from light to dark.

by Ken Patterson

I remember (as youths) my brother and I drawing wildflowers using pen and ink, then going back over them with watercolor embellishment. I painted a series of watercolor flowers last year while vacationing in California. Perhaps I should try Japanese Sumi-E painting next!

Bryce and Friends, Ken Patterson

I should definitely do more pastel paintings and try this medium on some more animal portraits. Here's the one I did of my dog with his friends at a California dog park.

So, no matter what media you choose, the techniques or applications you employ, or where you find your inspiration, the key is to have fun creating art that you and others can appreciate. Challenge yourself and get blown away!