DrawingEveryday / SketchingEveryday Starts Today!

"Once your drawing skills have been established and refined,

it may acceptable to trace from photographs occasionally;

to correct, fine tune or save time."

~ Sandy Sandy

I feel that tracing before you actually learn how to draw is cheating yourself out of the gift of refined artistic sight and is a detriment to your continued development as an artist. A huge part of learning to draw, is learning to really SEE. Drawing and advanced observational skills can only be developed through using them! Learning to draw, especially from life, teaches you to translate what your eyes see, into a language of two dimensional lines, values and shapes. This is why life drawing is so important; and why it has always been at the forefront in all classical art education!

It is often obvious, to those with the acquired skills, when something has been traced from a photo without a solid knowledge of 3D form. This 'insight' and ability is only acquired through educated study and practice.  In my opinion, tracing, especially when done from someone else's photo, does very little to teach drawing skills or contribute to one's long term development as an artist. 

The photograph, that someone else took, and the perspective that went into creating it, belongs to someone else; even if it was bought or is in the public domain. When tracing, no matter how much you change the colors, or what techniques you employ, it is still not truly your own art. You are not adding your own perspective into it and you are inevitably cheating yourself out of your own growth and unique vision.

I do think it is OK to trace to save time or to refine your drawing, once you are already adept in drawing skills; but it is no way to learn the essential Right Brain Shift and really start SEEING.

Everybody feels awkward and fumbles around with it in the beginning. Even if you can draw, but have been delinquent in doing it for a while, it can make you feel downright inadequate and uncomfortable. But that's what growth is all about! Accept the challenge and enjoy the process. If you work through it, and dedicate some time everyday (as little as 15 - 30 minutes), I assure you, that drawing will become easier and more enjoyable the more you do it.

I used the same grid on my photo and the drawing to help me see the shapes more easily.

I will be drawing again everyday from June - August. Why don't you give it a try? I'm sure you will agree that refining your drawing skills will open up your eyes like nothing else and really make you SEE like never before! Join our facebook group here.



"When drawing lies fallow, the skill diminishes."
"Draw, as much and as often as you can."
~ Gene Black

"As you make drawing a daily habit,
your sight will be enhanced tremendously;
your hand will become more coordinated
and your marks will be more
beautiful, spontaneous and sure."

~ Sandy Sandy

And Please Don't Forget. Time is running out. 
Don't miss this fun adventure.

Join us for

the FUNdamentals of Alcohol Ink E-Course.

Summer 2018 Session Opens June 6th

Thanks So Much for Stopping By

X ♥  O

A Cyclic Poem

"History is a cyclic poem 

written by Time upon 

the memories of man." 

 ~Percy B.Shelley

Alcohol Ink On Yupo Using Only Ranger's Mushroom Ink

"History is gossip well told."

~  Elbert Hubbard

Technique And Skills Absorbed

"Technique and skills must be absorbed 

and wrapped up and put away to become 

such an integral part of yourself that they 

will be revealed in your work 

without your thought."

~ Shoji Hamada

Drawing With a Brush Exercise

"Skills can be found, like lost items 

that have always belonged to you. 

If the spirit of learning is there, 

the passion of creation 

will never die." 

~ Melissa Jean

Double Your Odds

"Every skill you acquire 

doubles your odds of success." 

~ Scott Adams

Drawing With A Brush - Control Exercise

"Artists get better by sharpening their skills 

or by acquiring new ones; they get better by learning to work, 

and by learning from their work." 

~ David Bayles,

Searching Yesterday

"If you want to understand today, 

you have to search yesterday." 

~ Pearl Buck 

8 x 10" Alcohol Ink on Yupo

"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. 

That myth is more potent than history. That dreams 

are more powerful than facts. That hope always 

triumphs over experience. That laughter is the 

only cure for grief. And I believe that love 

is stronger than death."

 ~ Robert Fulghum

Distracted But Committed

“Persistence. Perfection. Patience. 

Power. Prioritize your passion. 

It keeps you sane.”
  ~ Criss Jami

I'm really distracted from drawing at the moment, all wrapped up in 

getting ready for my fast approaching  one woman show.

 I do try to keep my commitments though, so here's today's 2 min. gesture attempt.

Revisiting Some Friends

"Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things."

 

This reference photo can be found in a July 2011 post. I decided to flip the bird and had another go at it. I had some fun with the color combo too! It was like visiting with an old friend. I vividly remember the countless hours of sitting out among the butterfly bushes with my camera, tripod and  flashes; trying to get that elusive, perfect hummingbird shot. I think I like this little color combination. What do you think?

Love Is All

"Ah, love is old,

love is new.
Love is all,

 love is you." 

~ John Lennon & Paul McCartney

"When you find something you love, feed and nurture that passion. 

Run after it, like it's the last train of the night

and it's already starting to leave the station."

~ Sandy

It Is Happiness To Wonder

“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”
  ~  Socrates

 

 

 

“The invariable mark of wisdom 

is to see the miraculous in the common.”
  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Magic Things

“The world is full of magic things, 

patiently waiting for 

our senses to grow sharper.”
   ~ W.B. Yeats

 

It was a beautiful day to have lunch out in the yard among the hummingbirds and butterflies.

Relaxing and soaking in all the magic things, with friend and fellow artist, Irvane Spracklin.

Addicted to Art

"A frenzied passion for art 

is a canker that devours everything else." 

~ Charles Baudelaire 

 

"It's the addicts that stay with it. 

They're not necessarily the most talented, 

they're just the ones that just 

can't get it out of their systems." 

~ Harold Brown

Cultivate Patience

Cultivate patience in your heart and you will improve. 

Learn to see well and your hand will become sure." 

~ Charles Philip Brooks 

Today's model

2 minute gesture with watercolor wash

 "Growth is a spiral process, doubling back on itself, 

reassessing and regrouping."

 ~ Julia Cameron

Our Finest Moments

"Believe in your heart that you're meant to 

live a life full of passion, purpose, magic and miracles.” 
~  Roy T. Bennett

“Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping... waiting...  

and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir... open its jaws and howl. 

It speaks to us... guides us. Passion rules us all. And we obey. 

What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments."

 ~  Joss Whedon

Imagination is Limitless

“I believe in intuition and inspiration.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. 

For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination 

embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, 

giving birth to evolution."
~ Albert Einstein

“The world of reality has its limits; 

the world of imagination is boundless.”
   ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Personal Growth Is A Choice

"The strongest principle of growth 

lies in human choice." 

~ George Eliot 

Our model for today's 2 minute,  ¼ turn gestures ...

2 minute,  ¼ turn gestures

Repeat As Needed ... 

"Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better.

 Our subconscious mind does not need the details."

~ Emile Coue

New Inspiration and Vigor

"Travel and change of place 

impart new vigor to the mind." 

~ Seneca

Rocky Mountain High

"Traveling helps you grow because it forces you to take risks. 

The subject matter and atmosphere are different." 

~ Marilyn Simandle

Celebrating Life

"To paint... to travel...  

to combine the two...  

is to celebrate life." 

~ J. R. Brouwer

Alpine Survivor

"One's destination is never a place, 

 but rather a new way of looking at things." 

~ Henry Miller

Three Main Values

"If you slightly squint your eyes, you will see 

that at least 2 and possibly 3 values of color 

make up any object in the natural world. 

Practice creating entire paintings with 

no more than 3 values on any object. 

Paint a few of those and you'll 

discern a rhythm between areas 

of 1, 2 and 3 values. It's a fun game." 

~ Cristina Acosta

Keep It Simple

"Faithfully copying every detail you see doesn't work. 

Too much detail destroys the illusion."

"Simplicity captures and expresses the essence of the subject." ~ Hap Hagood

 "To see things simply is the hardest thing in the world." ~ Charles Hawthorne

The Skill Of Simplicity

"The most complicated skill is to be simple.”
 ~  Dejan Stojanovic

 "Simplicity is creative in and of itself." ~ Michael Duncan

 "I like to have a thing suggested rather than told in full. 

When every detail is given, the mind rests satisfied  and

 the imagination loses the desire to use its own wings." 

 ~ Thomas Bailey Aldrich