Just down the street

Went out early afternoon on Saturday. Didn't go much further than going down the street, but I at least wanted to take advantage of the weather and keep up the intended goal of doing one longer drawing per week. After awhile the sun got too intense for me, and I lost the motivation to do anything else in depth. I was probably out for about an hour or so before going back home. Drawn first in pencil and then inked later.

There's some people out there with pretty awesome stuff. They keep me inspired and push me to expand my abilities -- hopefully without debilitating comparison. Some people draw on location for the sake of capturing a moment, much like keeping a regular diary or taking a photograph. Others are committed to a form of reportage, visually creating eyewitness accounts of events.  Here is but a sample of the things out there: 

Veronica Lawlor

Rolf Schroeter

Don Low

Inma Serrano

Ekaterina Khozatskaya

Wil Freeborn

Amongst the trees

Another quick drawing in the gardens after work Friday. Things were quiet except for the birds who were active as ever. In the distance I heard a kingfisher, which at that point I hadn't seen since I'd been back. The ink in my brush pen seemed to be phasing out -- an unfortunate occurrence after it uncapped itself in my bag -- but it worked long enough for the exercise. The texture, of course, was added later.

The initial sketch reminded me a little of Van Gogh's olive tree paintings. I'm kind of a fan of Impressionism so maybe I'll explore more with those types of visible strokes. I have some other things in mind as well. It's a wonder the things that nature will inspire you to do!

Olive Grove by Van Gogh

A saturday sketch

I went on a little walk Saturday afternoon, looking for another location to draw. I thought it might be good practice to do one longer drawing per week. Nothing was particularly jumping out at me so I chose a location based off of whether or not there was a decent place to sit. I got a bit impatient with the process this time around. I prefer to start out in pen if that's what's intended but because of its permanence I have a tendency to go slower, particularly when it comes to drawing scenery, which I'm not as confident in as other things. After awhile I started to do the rest in pencil, to trick myself into going faster. After filling in a sufficient amount of details, I took a photo of what I was drawing and finished the rest at home.

Maybe next time I'll be a little more patient but I guess it's all part of practicing discipline.

"It is only by drawing often, drawing everything, drawing incessantly, that one fine day you discover to your surprise that you have rendered something in its true character." Camille Pissarro

obligatory cross legged "I-was-here" shot