In a week where I’ve written about creative momentum and using any space of time for your drawing habit, I wanted to remind you that simple, quick (30-minute) sketches can be so valuable if you follow through on your intention.
The two direct brush portraits I did on this page spread were my end of day “looking” session. I referred to two muses from the Sktchy app (Museum by Sktchy as it’s called now).
My intention was
- to work with direct brush;
- to use the very limited, leftover palette of a blue, a red, and ocean grey (from Schmincke);
- to work on toned paper (the defunct Zerkall Nideggen);
- to work on beard portraits with two of my favorite muses; and
- to notice where the light is in the reference and paint that even if it doesn’t make clear sense to me, because usually in focusing on what I’m seeing I come to an understanding about it…
With those thoughts clearly in mind I decided at the last moment before starting to paint, that I would tape borders around the page so that I could fill the background of each sketch to those borders.
A painting sketch doesn’t have to have all the values to capture what you’re looking at (verso page). You might want to make notes on the page if you think you’ll forget what your looking at.
And a painting sketch doesn’t have to be finished, it just needs the light and shape that attracted your attention (recto page).
This is a form of visual note taking that will help you keep your momentum and have fun in the process.
Give it a go when your time for painting is limited.
