Working with pen and ink can be quite freeing as the values are simplified by the ink. The lack of erasing mistakes creates a natural flow and the artist learns to work with the lines he has put down whether good or “bad”. Phrasing Rembrandt’s quote in sketching terms: putting down the visual lines you see in ink makes what you do not “know” or “see” more apparent. Note in the sketch above how few lines are needed to create the woman. This is a great way to develop your artists’ eye by trying to use a few lines…
Category: sketchbooks
Degas once said, “No art is less spontaneous than mine.”
I recently went to the Degas exhibit at the Denver Art Museum and was struck by the wonderful combination of showing his sketches and sketchbooks with his oil paintings and pastel works. It really gives the viewer the experience of discovering what goes into the making of a masterpiece. Many of his large works have a loose use of brushstrokes and hints of his black “sketched” lines that he used to lay out his compositions with. The effect it creates is one of art done with some spontaneity and life to it. …
Artist Paul Klee remarked “A drawing is simply a line going for a walk.”
One of my favorite quotes comes from Paul Klee who said “A drawing is simply a line going for a walk”. This summer as you travel take a sketchbook with you and a simple #2 pencil or your ballpoint pen! Sketching does not need to be complicated nor do you have to be an “artist” to sketch. I like to do a combination as I travel. I pick up a postcard here and there and use a glue stick to attach it in my sketchbook. I doodle and sketch around the postcard, add words in my hotel room at the…
Artist Renoir’s ideas about subject matter for artists.
Renoir once stated, “There isn’t a person, a landscape, or a subject that doesn’t possess at least some interest-although sometimes more or less hidden. When a painter discovers this hidden treasure, other people immediately exclaim at its beauty.” When you just do not have the “inspiration” to draw or paint something don’t give up! There is an unlimited number of options out there. Try something opposite from your usual, instead of looking at the large landscape look at the plants creating the landscape. Or get even smaller and get out a hand held magnifying class to see your house…
Leonardo Da Vinci’s thoughts on sketching
Da Vinci said, ” Sketch quickly with light strokes on your pad (which you should always have with you), and when it is full, start another, never rubbing out but keeping all carefully, because the forms…….are so infinitely various that they cannot possibly be retained in memory. Therefore preserve your sketches, for they are your assistants and your masters.” The first thing to gleam from this quote is how important it it to keep a sketchbook. It is our practice place, a place to experiment with techniques & composition,and also to preserve visual lines and ideas. As Da Vinci…
Spanish painter Francisco De Goya on “masses of light and dark”
De Goya once stated, “who always talks about line, never about masses. But where does one see lines in nature? I see only masses in light and masses in shadow, planes come forward and planes into recession.” Now is the time as it warms up to get out and sketch. The vastness of the outdoor landscapes can be a stumbling block for many. But there is hope follow De Goya’s advice an look at the large masses of dark and light shapes. Squint at the photograph of the Third Flatiron below, notice there are distinct shape areas. Start with sketching…
Leonardo Da Vinci ‘s advice on nature.
“Bird Pair” graphite pencil April Christenson artist Leonardo Da Vinci once stated, “Whoever thinks he can remember the infinite teaching of nature flatters himself. Memory is not that huge.” So now that spring is coming, take advantage of those warmer days, dust off your sketchbook and sketch outside! It does not need to be a long involved sketch, just a quick flurry of lines to help you capture the scene. You might consider using those super thin pens such as the Micron pens. They do not erase and have a delicate line quality. Not having the ability to erase…
Degas once stated” Even in front of nature, one must compose.”
It is easy to be excited about a beautiful scene in nature. You snap the picture and take it home to enjoy. But you miss an opportunity to create further visual excitement with a little thought and effort. Take time before you print the photograph or draw that photograph to “compose” it. Look for things that you could leave out of the scene if you are drawing. Another option is to “crop” (narrow the edges of the scene) the photograph. When cropping a photograph notice how it changes the “center of interest”. These techniques can be used before you use…
Picasso said “Painting is just another way of keeping a dairy”
Put down those electronics and start a sketchbook to record the visual life around us! Painting, drawing, sculpting and “life” can all benefit by keeping a sketchbook or two. Sketchbooks can record the bountiful colors and shapes of life, if paints are too messy for you try colored pencils (my favorite!) in your sketchbook. Georgia O’Keeffe stated “Color is one of the things in the world that makes life worth living….” Observe how the same color looks totally different next to another color. Colors play off of each other, influencing how we perceive them. In this time…
Sketchbooks for school, for life.
It’s that time of year when students of all ages go back to the books and classes. Don’t forget to take your sketchbook to help you along. Sketchbooks can be useful in many areas not just “art”. They can be used in the sciences to record visual observations, data, and questions about what you are observing. You can press your botanical samples between the pages. You can use it as a research tool to compile data, quotes, photos, and sketches all relate to a specific topic. Used as strictly a drawing platform it helps you see how the details…
April Christenson artist 