Sketchbook Skool Homework Failure
This is week 3 of Sketchbook Skool. I loved seeing Brenda Swenson's sketchbooks and looked forward to our homework - 3 drawings using Continuous Line Contours and then a contour drawing of 3 objects with a watersoluble pen followed by painting with watercolors. I loved how her Tombow marker, in sepia, just dissolved into her painting.
We were supposed to draw one object, then two objects, and 3 objects. I'm not very good at following directions, so I drew the first one with a regular pen and the last two with Tombow markers because I couldn't wait to try it.
My assessment: I can't really do continuous line contour drawings as well as I draw normally. Figuring out how to maintain a continuous line was tedious - and in the second drawing you can see that I totally missed the real shape of the travel mug and did did a simple drawing in my usual style.
One Object - Drawn with a Pigma Micron Pen:
Two Objects - drawn with a black Tombow marker:
3 objects - drawn with a Burnt Sienna Tombow marker and then painted: This is the best of my continuous line drawings - and my double lines were washed away when I painted it.
The next day I tried to do the homework again and you will quickly see that I draw more confidently and accurately in my usual style. The smaller painted drawings were done out of frustration with the continuous line contours. I did a quick pencil sketch, added pen, and then painted it in the same amount of time that it took me to go slow and do the continuous line contour drawing.
One Object - Warm Up
Three Objects:
I did my homework in the Conservatory Water Café in Central Park, sitting on the patio with my husband while he did the NY Times crossword puzzles. After the above two pages, I returned to my usual drawing and painting method and sketched the "bar" area of the Café. Who drinks beer and wine at 10AM??
Comments
I've been doing the same homework for SBS this week too. Like you I found it hard to really see what I was drawing while not lifting the pen and I don't think my drawings were as good as they could have been had I not used a continual line. I've drawn contours of objects before but usually just the outer edge and then I'd go back and fill in the rest of the detail separately. This one was a real challenge though and in the end I did enjoy it more than I thought I would but it was tough. I think it was good to try something that pushed me out of my comfort zone though.
Posted by: Cathryn | July 22, 2014 4:10 PM
Hi Shirley I am also in Sketchbook Skool. It's been great so far and was a good excuse to get another sketchbook... I think they are just trying to get us to push ourselves a little bit, if we have a process that works for us, we don't need to change it. I'm always on the lookout for what I can add to my process and it's great that we are trying new things, new techniques. Most of my work is black and white, pencil and pen, so for me to grab any color is already stretching out! Thanks for posting your work, you've got some fantastic pieces here.
Posted by: Matt | July 29, 2014 10:53 AM
I really like this sketch at the Conservatory Water Cafe and especially the umbrella!!
Posted by: Sara Roseman | July 30, 2014 2:51 PM