Sketching between fine art projects

Advocating for sketching, my thoughts are that artists and creators need a break from major projects like paintings or detail work of any sort.


I found a photo of a bird in a Kentucky natural resources publication. The positioning of the photograph of the bird on the cover of the magazine was unusual in its depth and colors.


Once my pencil began to glide across the Arches of France paper, I was filled with joy and a fountain of creativity. I was happy while drawing. I had a few visitors and some children come into the studio to check things out while I sketched. I had to sharpen my charcoal pencil with a box cutter, but that worked well. No need for an ancillary pencil sharpener.


Here's how the drawing played out. I drew the bird all in one session. Creating art in this fashion, meaning, get it done in a couple hours max was VERY fulfilling.

Sketching is the thing! I'm in a Leonardo DaVinci mode

Taking a break from large-scale artistic creations with paints, papers or photographs -- the things I typically assemble for scrapboarding -- is what I need now. I've begun a series of sketches with No. 2 lead pencils and a tablet from Target. I will be posting them here. The joy of sketching is that I am so in the moment and don't feel compelled for that rat, "Perfection," to crawl about in my mind. Be free! Sketch!

Here you see the constellation Canis Major, The Great Dog with Orion the Hunter, the caretaker and guardian of The Great Dog. Canis Major's main star is called Sirius, the dog star, which appears as the large ball about the neck of the dog. Sirius is the brightest star and the biggest in the night sky in winter. You can see the dots within the sketch which are the stars of both constellations.