Art: Help!: SKETCHING

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Sketching is by far the most essential aspect of an artist’s education. It is an artist's way of learning and exploring the world around him (or her, but though the artist could be a woman or a man, for facility, when referring to the artist in a general sense, I will continue to use the masculine pronoun for the remainder of this article), a way to create an internal library of images that the artist could call upon when necessary. Therefore, if you are serious about your art, sketching should become a habit you will need to keep up for the rest of your life.

MATERIALS

To sketch you need a drawing surface and a drawing instrument. In the beginning I recommend you experiment with many different types of materials (known in the art-world as your "medium"), until you find something that works for you and the type of sketching you would like to do. Sketching, as every other form of art, is as individual as a fingerprint. No two artists draw exactly alike. Therefore, when choosing a medium you need to find something that will fit you.

For example, when I was studying animation at Sheridan College, I had a group of friends who decided to stitch individual sheets of different types of paper and create their own sketchbook, instead of buying one from the selection available in an art store. Some chose to sketch with "brush pens", others used "col-erase" pencils, some used common graphite pencils, others conté... It really depends on what it is you want to accomplish.

My drawing surface rarely varied. I feared, and I still fear, sketching on expensive paper, so I stuck to sketchbooks provided by art stores. In the beginning I liked the "Canson" sketchbook with the spiral spine, because it had easily detachable pages (I had this mistaken obsession that every drawing in my sketchbook had to be perfect, so by the end my sketchbook tended to lose half its size.) However, I soon found the spiral spine really irritating; it caught on my sweaters, it scratched objects in my purse/bag, it bent out of shape, so that I could not turn pages... Nowadays, I sketch in a hardcover "classic" sketchbook.

Though, my drawing surface did not vary, my drawing instruments did. I began sketching with a regular HB graphite pencil. I sketched with 0.5 mm mechanical lead pencil throughout high school. In college I was told to go back to the regular pencil (because I could get varieties of thicknesses, and thus create rhythm in my artwork with my line--I had no idea what my teacher was talking about, but I switched back to my HB or 2B pencil). I tried col-erase pencils, pencil crayons, conté, brush pens, fancy art pens... At first I was terrified of using non-erasable instruments (obsessed with perfection), but I quickly learned that sketching is not about perfection; it is about experimentation, a way to explore and visually study the world around you, or to express ideas that blossom in your mind.

Sketching with a pen is my preferred method these days, because it forces me to move on from bad sketches--instead of fiddling with them--improving my skills, because who wants to have a sketchbook full of crappy sketches? I further recommend sketching with a non-erasable instrument, because it does not smudge!

After spending hundreds of dollars on fancy pens, I discovered that a simple dollar store pen gave me the best, cleanest line, and I stuck with it until my recent discovery of Pilot G-4 pen. I love this pen, because it has an easy grip, a very dark, smooth, thin line, and it does not smudge as much as other pens. The ink also allows me to paint with watercolours over my drawing!

So, a simple classic sketchbook, a pen, and occasionally watercolours are my sketching materials.

You will have to discover what sketching medium works for you.

OBSERVATIONAL SKETCHING VS. CONCEPTUAL SKETCHING

In my experience there are two types of sketching: observational and conceptual.

OBSERVATIONAL SKETCHING

Observational sketching, or external sketching, is drawing by observing the physical world around you.

Observational sketching is what creates your internal, visual library. The more you sketch by observing from life, the bigger your library will become, and your drawing skills will improve dramatically.

Art teachers recommend you do observational sketching every day. However, though I love to sketch, I find it extremely difficult to sketch every day. I'm lucky to sketch once a week, usually on the subway when I'm going to meet my friends for lunch.

However, sometimes when I can't get out, I sketch from television, or photographs--television is better because images move and you are forced to develop a quick way of getting your information down.

What separates the master from the student is the master's ability to say what he wants with as few lines as possible. In fact, that was one of the exercises we had to go through in school: doing 5-15 second sketches.

To get as much observational sketching done, keep your sketchbook with you at all times.

There are two types of observational sketching: a study and a gesture.

Same subject, but the above is a study and below is a gesture.

A study is careful analytical sketching, a way to learn as much as possible from your subject. A sketch could be a study, but a study does not have to be a sketch. When you are studying through sketching, you pay careful attention to the construction of your subject. You are drawing nouns; a chair, a person, a building... You are using mainly your left-side of the brain, comparing what you know about your subject with the way the subject actually is.

For example, I have issues with drawing shoes (especially men's shoes), so when I'm in the subway, I sketch careful studies of shoes. Drawing shoes carefully, I have discovered that though they conceal the feet, they may not look like feet at all (as in the case of those flat duck boots). I've also discovered that the heel of the foot protrudes farther back than I previously though. Also, most shoes tip up slightly at the front. Men's shoes also tend to stretch far beyond their toes--making their feet look bigger.

Various sketch-studies of footwear.

Another study.

These are the kind of realizations you come to when your sketch is a study.

When your sketch is a gesture, you are not concerned so much with the subject you are drawing, but with the action that subject is performing. You are drawing verbs: sitting, standing, leaning, singing, falling... You are drawing life and movement--even if you are drawing a building. As you draw you need to think about your subject as part of a bigger picture, or a story. Create a character in your mind. If you are drawing a tennis player, think about whether he is young or old, nervous, aggressive, injured or at full strength, is he distracted or focused... Even though your action may be "hitting the ball" a tennis player with a different personality and life experiences will move differently. To illustrate, let's take a look at the top tennis players in the world: Djoković, Nadal and Federrer. Federrer moves smoothly on the court. He appears to glide over it and none of his movements appear wasted. Nadal is a powerhouse. I link Nadal with a bull. He moves with force, seeming to plow through the court, aggressive and powerful and fast. Djoković on the other hand has a bounce to him. He is not as smooth as Federrer, but he also does not play consistently aggressively as Nadal. He changes his rhythm often, and I think that is one of the reasons he reached the number one spot in the world--he is unpredictable.

Some observational sketches. As you can see, some are better than others.

What matters is that they all tell a story, I can always pretty them up later.

Now, if you were sketching an inanimate subject, such as a chair, you also need to think of it in terms of life. I agree with Disney’s Pocahontas when she sings: "... But I know every rock, and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name..." As an artist sketching gestures you need to take that statement to heart and never forget it. A new chair will look much different than an old chair. As you are studying that chair think about the "life" it lead. Give it a personality. Create a story where that chair is a main character and gestures will come to you naturally.

These are very rough, but I hope you get the point.

CONCEPTUAL SKETCHING

Conceptual sketching, or internal sketching, is drawing ideas and images from your imagination.

The more observational sketching you have done, the bigger your internal, visual library, and easier it is for you to crate sketches from images in your mind.

I create conceptual sketches every time an idea for a new drawing, painting, or story comes into my head. However, unlike some artists, I do not sketch immediately on paper. I play with images in my head, and only put a few squiggles on a page, to keep the idea from slipping away. Only when I feel confident about my imaginary composition do I proceed by creating thumbnail sketches.

At this stage one of two things happens:

· My thumbnails translate perfectly from the image in my mind, and with a few strokes of a pen, I have a drawing I can develop into a piece of art.

· Or, as it's happening with my new project, the thumbnail looks nothing like the drawing in my mind, and I sit there frustrated trying to make the image work. Drawing pages and pages of useless thumbnails, until I give up and stare despondently at the drawings wondering why I cannot draw.

Initially I wanted to create this wide street scene, but then I discovered that it stepped

too far away from the characters. So I "zoomed" in on what's important. You can see

me trying to come up with a design in the tiny blue thumbnails above. I used the

image in the middle above, scanned it and made a bigger picture (14'' x 8''

approximately). I added more details and this is what I ended up with:

I'll play with the image more, but that's the idea.

For these types of sketches, I rarely use a bound sketchbook. I usually use loose scrap paper, or the cheapest print paper I have. I sketch with a blue pencil, and refine my drawing with a pen. Though, I rarely rip my drawings to pieces with frustration, there is something satisfying about tossing them on the floor, or stuffing them in a plastic bag hanging on my drawer as temporary recycle garbage.

If I happen to like my rough sketches, I may trim them and paste them in my sketchbook once I'm through with them.

The green sketches are tiny drawings I drew on a voting information booklet.

They represent some scenes from my novel.

So, there you have the two types of sketching, now let me try to offer some useful practical advice regarding sketching.

SKETCHING TIPS

How to sketch?

I'm afraid you will have to answer this question for yourself. My drawing teacher, BrianMcPhee, believes that an artist should not draw what is not there. Why waste your time drawing shapes and lines that do not exist, when you can spend your time interpreting what is there by careful observation?

On the other hand, in animation, everything is about form and construction, and we were encouraged to draw construction lines.

My second animation drawing teacher, Mark Thurman, one day had us observe and draw the same subject in 4 different ways:

1. The Simplified Geometric Shape—the main geometric shape of the pose (triangle, square,…)

2. The Line, Dot and Dash—very rhythmic—the eye fills in the space between the dots

3. The Skeletal Form—instead of a person, drawing their skeleton (simplified of course)

4. The Angular Geometric—focusing on the negative space surrounding your subject

I sketch these days, by combining all of these methods. I love to roughly block out a shape, focusing on angles, negative space, and action line, then I refine my shapes, and add details, leaving bits of my drawing roughly finished. If I have problems with structure, I try to figure out the skeleton of my subject.

When sketching, I always focus on what is important to me. I ask myself: "If I was going to take this sketch and develop it into a finished work of art, what do I need to take down, so that I can finish this drawing when I get home?"

In the end, sketching is an artist's shorthand.

COMMON MISTAKES

1. Thinking that your drawings have to be perfect.

"Don't strive for perfection, but for excellence." I've seen this quote on a list of useful life lessons in my doctor's office, and it changed my life. Nothing can kill a drawing as quickly as perfection can. Nothing in this life is perfect, by striving for perfection in your work, you are striving for artistic death. This is one of the reasons I do not like computer graphics as much as hand-drawn art. Clever computer artists know to allow imperfections in their work.

2. Human tendency to straighten everything.

Let's say you are drawing a person in profile standing. A beginner will draw the head, the neck, the torso,... all one stacked on top of the other. In reality, a profile of a person, is a bunch of connected curves: head pushes forward, neck pushes back, chest pushes forward, back curves, bum sticks out,...

Therefore, when drawing, exaggerate the angles as much as you can--to the point of being ridiculous--you can always pull back your drawing, but you will never realize its full potential until you exaggerate.

3. Not drawing hands and feet.

Feet and hands can be more expressive than the entire body when it comes to drawing gestures. Yes, hands and feet are tough to draw, but to draw them better you must practice, so don’t ever draw a person without hands and feet.

4. Drawing without thinking.

As you draw think about what you are drawing. Find your "mission statement" and stick to it. For example, you want to draw: "A person leaning on the hand, elbow supported by desk. "Your verb is: "leaning". Feel the pose you wish to draw. Feel the pressure of the hand against your chin, feel the pressure between table and elbow. Feel the bend of the back. Is it a slight lean? An exaggerated lean? What is the story in your drawing? Why is this person leaning? Who is this person? Is he tired? Is she bored? Is it a momentary weakness, that will pass in a moment? Is she thinking?

5. Trying to fix a drawing.

Move on. Do not try to fix bad drawings; just redraw the pose, learning from your mistake. (This of course applies to sketching. If you are drawing for a painting, fix that drawing until it's perfect, because painting over a bad drawing, will result in a bad painting.)

6. Focusing on details, before getting the gesture down.

I have issues with this. Sometimes I see something that excites me, and I focus on that exciting detail, before getting the pose down--the results are usually hideous. My solution: tiny gesture drawings. The drawings are so small that there is no way I could draw the details. After a few of these, I am mentally prepared to tackle a bigger sketch.

7. Not enough time.

Time-limit yourself as you sketch. A great sketch can be made in 30 sec. A good sketch in 15 sec. Find your story and your mission statement and draw that with as few lines as possible. Just the bare essentials that will allow you to refine your drawing in the future. Of course, this refers to gestures.

8. Getting attacked by strangers who do not wish to be sketched.

This rarely happens, but a way of avoiding it is simple. Pretend you are sketching the person behind them, or that you are looking at them blankly (as if you are thinking and looking at them but not seeing them). You must learn not to flinch when your subjects look at you. Just shift your focus behind them, and you should be fine. If someone goes crazy on you, be prepared to rip out the drawing and destroy it.

9. Dead drawings.

I've already touched on this above, but I'll stress it here. Nothing in life is straight. Drawing perspective with a ruler can therefore kill your drawing. Earth is not flat, therefore nothing on earth is perfectly straight. Even house walls tend to be leaning slightly, or curving slightly. In fact, the only time you should use a ruler is for graphic tiles, or metal pipes--something man-made that can withstand a lot of stress may be straight enough to be drawn with a ruler, but I suggest you practice drawing freehand even those "straight" lines.

9. Drawing does not "feel" right.

Hold on to that first impression that inspired you to draw! Become your subject. Even if your subject is a rock, become that rock as you draw. Think: "I am a rock. I'm sturdy and rough. I am tough, and strong, but a well-aimed force can smash or shatter me. I was beaten by rain more times than I can count. I'm covered with dirt and moss grows over me..."

I think this is where the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" comes from.

10. "I'm killing trees!"

Accept it. If you draw on paper, you will kill lots of trees. If you feel guilty, plant a tree, use scrap paper, see the image in your mind before drawing... However, once you are drawing, put that thought out of your mind and focus on what you are doing.

Well, this is all I can think to relate at the moment. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. If you have further suggestions, or sketches of your own you would like to share, e-mail me at info@artofmili.ca.