Using Little Bits of Paper

I write about using little bits of paper every so often. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I have another post on this coming up later this month.

Here’s a sketch I started on a yellow legal pad. I was trying to decide if I would sketch or paint, and I wanted to feel some things out so I grabbed the yellow pad. Then I realized that I was going off the edge of the legal pad, and had run out of time to paint.

So I tore the yellow sheet down so it would fit in my journal, stuck it in place with decorative masking tape, extended the drawing turning it into one of my piecemeal pieces. I put in a  background using a Montana Acrylic marker to isolate the head and shoulders.

Why bother?

I still had energy to sketch. I wanted to start working out some of the values (under and around the nose and in that hair). I wanted to experiment with the types of shading I could use to indicate the 5 o’clock shadow. I wanted to place the head on a neck and shoulders.

For all those reasons it made sense to keep going. Most important I know myself.  I know that I often end up with something more pleasing to me than a beautifully finished painting when I keep pushing a sketch. I like having the steps of my process visible in this piecemeal piece.

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