Friday 13 January 2012

Incessant Drawing Practice

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 Pisarro
Hello!

I adore Pisarro's quote.  His words give me hope that one day I will successfully reach my goal of being proficient at drawing.  I can tell you that it could be really easy to lose confidence in your artistic ability when you try to draw and draw and draw various objects without success.  For me personally, the thing that has kept me motivated to keep trying has been two-fold:  
  1. On a rare occasion, I get it right; and
  2. I wouldn't expect to be able to sit down at the piano and instantly be able to play a Concerto. It is therefore reasonable to consider that I won't be able to sit down at an easel and expect to be able to draw an object, just because "I want to".     
Today's post features a couple of pencil sketches completed on the run of a woman in profile and a little boy.  I wanted to reduce the drawing down to its simplest form, being that of essentially a line drawing.  That's because by using line, there is no hiding behind pretty colours, or effective shading.  It is all about whether I got it right or not.

I'm actually rather pleased with these as I  believe I'm actually starting to make some real progress.  I like the majestic tilt of the woman's head and the regal slant of her nose and I personally really like the expression in the little boy's eyes, even if he does look sad.  I do wish I could rub out the woman's shoulder curve and make her arm thicker though.  I can see now that I messed that up slightly.  Nevermind.   Oh, and I should tell you that each sketch was completed in between 10 and 15 minutes.  Yes, it's true - sometimes I get impatient and hate doing things slowly!
It is moments like when I look at these two drawings like maybe, just maybe, I am starting to get the hang of drawing.  Sometimes.  A little.
Have a wonderful weekend, I look forward to seeing you next week!
Kate 
x

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