Everybuddy Needs a Buddy

"The ability to draw from life determines the artist's skill.This is why live drawing classes have always been at the top of the curriculum for properly structured academic workshops."
Igor Babailov

This is my "Study Buddy" Roly-Poly Pony, Rudy. I love this miniature figurine of my real-life fur baby, Rudy who was a big part of my life for 34 years. Anyway, I love drawing this little guy and it always puts me in a good mood. He’s a perfect model because he’s made up of simple shapes.

 Drawing from photos is all well and good, but we also need to draw from life,
because our brains process 2D and 3D information differently.

What do you love?

If you don’t have something you enjoy drawing, it can get really hard to keep going. What do you love? I love whimsical things, but you don’t have to! Get yourself a "study buddy" that fits your preferences and sensibilities. Toys and figurines make great models.

 

 Go to your local thrift shop or to a garage sale with something specific in mind. Or just be open to a little serendipity. The consequence of serendipity is sometimes a brilliant discovery: (happy) chance, (happy) accident, fluke; luck, good luck, good fortune, fortuity, providence; happy coincidence.

I have sketched Rudy and my other favorite "Study Buddies" so many times, that the actions involved in doing so are ingrained into my muscle memory. Just like a musician practices the same piece of music over and over, if you want to improve as a fine artist, you must train in the same way.

"Repetition is the key to mastery."
Sandy Sandy 

See How I Use My Study Buddies To Improve My Skills Here

"Drawing, or in other words 'the art of sketch' is the highest point of all Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Drawing is the source and the soul
of any painting, it is the root of all the sciences in art."
Michelangelo Buonarroti - on drawing from life

Relax and Avoid the Overwhelm of T.M.I
(Too Much Information)

This Summer, My Motto is: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid)
For Myself and for My Zoom Course Students

 

Even if you are not planning on joining me for our 2021 class,
I'm still hoping YOU WILL get into sketching and painting
this summer!

Join our Facebook Group
and participate in the
Free #SketchWithMeChallenge!

Make Progress and K.I.S.S. This Summer!

• You don't need a big chunk of time. With just 10
minutes a day, you'll see improvement.

• You don't have to show your sketches to anyone
or post anything.

• It's a refreshing and rewarding task if you look
at it the right way.

• No judgment, just practice.

• Do it for yourself and for your sanity.

• Think of it as a pleasant mini-escape
or meditation for your day!


GET MOTIVATED AND ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS WITH US!

 
This class has a course lifetime access,

so there's no worries about having enough time

to take full advantage of all the great course material!

 

 

 

HUGS & HAPPY CREATING TO YOU,

X ♥  O

 

"Thank goodness for our art!" ~ Maxine Fuentes

Paying Attention

"Sketching on a regular basis requires you 

to pay close attention to the visual world 

around you. With practice, you begin to 

see things you never noticed before. 

~ Paul Lasea

3 minute blind contour

You Are Simply Drawing

"As each new skill is learned, you will merge

 it with those previously learned until, 

one day, you are simply drawing; 

just as, one day, you found yourself simply 

driving without thinking about how to do it." 

~ Betty Edwards 

 3 minute Blind Contour

To See More Clearly

"Be clear in your mind why learning to draw well is important. Drawing enables you to see in that special way that artists see, no matter what style you use to express your special insight. Your goal in drawing should be to encounter the reality of experience... to see ever more clearly, ever more deeply."

 ~ Betty Edwards 

Today's three 3 min. blind contours

Everything is Sketchable!

Jerry is a bit of a hoarder and trash picker from way back,

so there is never a scarcity of things to draw around here.

Here is how I set up today's model. I think it helps to get it up
close to eye level and put a solid background behind it.

This is a 15 minute blind contour of a very cute toy dinosaur.

Blind contour doesn't necessarily create a beautiful drawing, but

it is a wonderful exercise in developing your skill of really seeing.

In my opinion, artists put too much emphasis on creating paintings
or finished pieces (a product) and not enough on practicing (the process).
The real joy for me, is in being in the moment, engrossed in the process of creating.

You can see more about blind contour in the side bar here.

AAARRR!

Happy Creating My Friends!

X ♥  O

 

Seeing Takes Time

“O snail
Climb Mount Fuji
But slowly, slowly!”
~ Kobayashi Issa

 My friendly model for today's 15 minute blind contour drawing.

It is such a wonderful exercise. I should really do it more often.

 

"Nobody sees a flower really; it is so small.

We haven't time, and to see takes time - 

like to have a friend takes time."

~ Georgia O'Keeffe

 

Happy Creating My Friends!

X ♥  O

 

The Right-Brain Shift

"The right brain perceives and processes visual information, 

in the way one needs to see in order to draw, 

and the left brain perceives in ways that seem 

to interfere with drawing. 

An individual's ability to draw is... the ability to shift to a

different-from-ordinary way of processing visual information 

- to shift from verbal, analytic processing 

to spatial, global processing." 

~ Betty Edwards

I am finding that my left-brain mode is still getting in the way of my seeing. I am still pretty rusty and the "ALL IMPORTANT RIGHT BRAIN SHIFT" comes and goes, so I decided to do some blind contour this morning. Although it doesn't produce a good drawing, it is one of the exercises that really helps with seeing. I am not going to go into lots of details about it this morning, because you can find out more about it by clicking on previous posts here. There are so many tips and exercises on this blog. All you have to do is click on the subject in the side bar or type it into the search bar to find LOTS of resources for honing your skills.

I suggest searching topics such as blind contour, gesture drawing, upside down drawing exercise, face vase exercise and Betty Edwards and following the many links provided here for your enrichment.
~~~~~~~

Happy Creating My Friends!

X ♥  O

 

Dark Shadows of Doubt

Life has not been real easy since I shattered my ankle on April first. Sure, it could have always been worse.Things are getting better day by day though and I am very grateful to all my friends and family who have helped me through the worst of it. Drawing was a great spirit lifter and enjoyable pastime on many days for me during my convalescence.

Today I've been debating whether or not I would start up my online Summer Sketching Series for the seventh straight year. Daunted by deep, dark shadows of self doubt all day, I've been wrestling with this blog's worth. Is it too predictable and boring? Why haven't I been able to engage my readers in more of my posts? This year, unless I hear from some of you otherwise, sketching challenges have been discontinued for lack of interest. Do readers find the writing, material and approaches here dated, substandard or stale? I used to feel inspired and energized by drawing. I enjoyed the daily routine and blogging about it. I'd really like to feel that way again. Any input you could offer me would be greatly appreciated.

Due to my state of mind, and probably to my lack of daily discipline, I've found that the left brain / right brain shift was very hard today. This is my major stumbling block and it probably is for many when it comes to drawing. While in left brain mode, sketching is a difficult and frustrating task. Once the shift is made, however, obstacles and time seem to melt away. As usual, after searching online, I found several good posts about making the shift. This site suggested a series of warm-up exercises, while another went into great details about seeing shapes, not things. They are good links to bookmark and I will refer to them again in the future. Here are a couple of pages of warm up exercises that I did today which did help. So if I do not continue with this blog on a daily basis, or otherwise, I wanted you to know why.

"There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt." ~ Budda

"When in doubt, scribble." ~ Jean Wilson

"All uncertainly is fruitful... so long as it is accompanied by the wish to understand." ~ Antonio Machado

"I felt so insufficiently equipped, so unprepared, so weak, and at the same time it seemed to me that my reflections on art were correct. I quarreled with all the world and with myself." ~ Edgar Degas

More Two Minute Gesture Drawings

I worked on this week's elephant sketching challenge today and produced several two minute 1/4 turn gesture drawing attempts. I tried several different approaches. I drew from the computer and from life. I even pulled out my old easel and set up the elephant on a ladder with a presentation board behind it on a table to isolate it from the background. I dug out my old Conte' Crayons from college and did one series with a reddish colored iron oxide one. They are a soft, waxy pastel type stick. They are very messy, so I don't think I'll be doing more of them in my sketchbook. I have some other paper I want to try them on though. The drawings in this photo were done in my bigger 11" x 17" sketch pad using a soft 5B drawing pencil while standing at the easel with the object at about eye level.