Not even for a brief moment does life hold still for you.
When sketching outdoors, the first lines placed on the page are the most important. These spontaneous marks are what I call life lines and they are vital in translating your first visual reaction to your subject onto paper.
"I can't even draw a straight line!" is a common phrase I hear before beginners start lessons with me. But we soon learn to draw a wide variety of lines, including reasonably straight ones. With practice, even errant and wobbly lines will bend to your command. For students like Dotty, shown above, putting various lines … Continue Reading ››
Last week our Level 3 students started to explore how ink and water flows on paper as they experimented with various line techniques. Shown above is Fiona's first study of wonky lines and watercolor from a reference book on urban sketching.
Micron pen sketch along the Emma McCrary trail, Santa Cruz, California.
On urban streets or nature trails, where I enjoy sketching swiftly, I often find myself struggling with how to show realistic depth in my drawing. I’ve come up with a few strategies that use … Continue Reading ››
Learning to control your line work is crucial in learning to draw well. One way to tame the lines in your drawings is to take time to read the line work done by great masters. In studying the confident strokes by legendary virtuosos—from ancient cave artists, to … Continue Reading ››
Doodling is very much a part of life in school. Students the world over indulge in this meditative activity, often during class. As a drawing coach in high schools, I encourage doodling as a way to explore spontaneous expression and creative problem solving.
One Saturday morning, three women set out to conquer fear of drawing from the imagination. Like brave creative warriors with swords in hand, they embarked on a 4-hour adventure into uncharted territories of the mind. In fact, they were holding long wooden dowels with various drawing media attached, participating in one of several exercises in … Continue Reading ››