Sketching - Dictation from Life (L5/11)
Author: Larry Seiler, Contributing Editor
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Sketching creates confidence such that I do not feel overwhelmed with information. It has helped me to see beyond the jot and tittle of detail, and to sense the personality of a thing, giving me the freedom and power to make an artistic statement based upon better judgment. Rather than mere copying what would be a poor design component. A fun exercise for this is sketching at festivals, fairs, or shopping malls, where people are constantly moving about.
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What happens and MUST happen when painting on location requires such quick response, that you have to depend entirely on what you are made of. I'm simply laying it out bluntly and openly when I say that years of sketching have made it possible for me to take on and welcome the challenge of stating simply the complexity of nature in the little time that a fleeting sunset will give me painting plein airs.
My favorite tool over the years has been the cheap black medium point BIC ball point pen. I always keep a couple in my pocket, and a hard cover bound sketchbook at all times. Most of my sketched images are done rapidly, and by rapidly I mean less than two minutes....more often than not in 30 seconds or more. That I can draw that fast...means the eye has been trained to see that fast. It means very little will escape my eye. That I have disciplined my hand to respond nearly as fast has become a ready capable tool. THAT is a tool that I cannot (in words) emphasize the value of enough. Let me take you through a quick demonstration. I have placed a lace-up leather boot of mine on the floor next to me (image below). |
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