Sketching...Anyone can do this!

  Once and a while when someone is viewing my sketches, they might make the comment that they wish that they could sketch or that they cannot even draw a stick figure. Actually, I believe that anyone who can put a pencil, pen or brush into motion, can sketch. I believe that the real problem is not with the persons sketching or drawing abilities, but rather with what society has dictated to us as to what is good or bad when it comes to artistic creations. Yes, there are certain rules that make since. But these rules have been broken by some that have become very successful, famous artists. A perfect example that always comes to my mind is Picasso. Do you think his drawings look like he followed any “rules?” 

 Think about this; When you were a child and you drew a picture, you drew exactly how you saw the subject, whether it was sitting in front of you or just from your imagination. Maybe you can even remember how good you felt about yourself at that moment? That drawing you did was as pure and real as it gets. Then, as you got a little older, the criticisms started; “Well, It‘s not quite correct, do it this way or that way”. Soon you start feeling that because your drawings don’t look like Leonardo Di Vinci’s, you think that you don’t have those abilities. 

This Sketch came from two different sources.It was later refined into a formal painting.

This Sketch was done very fast during a road trip. Not too detailed and I didn't worry about how "good" it looked. It was for my own information

I did this sketch of this old tree truck the forest. I used my imagination and placed the door where there was an exposed area beneath the bark. This sketch was used as an illustration in short story. 

This sketch was done in watercolor and ink during a hike on an old European cobblestone road. 

 Here is a sketching challenge for you. Get a blank sketchbook and a pencil. Pick a subject in the room. Just relax and without analyzing it, sketch it just how you see it. If you don’t like where you drew a line, then draw over that line but don’t use your eraser. In the beginning, I would advise to not show your sketches to anyone so that there is no interference or manipulation of your true self.   They are for you.  Keep your sketchbook nearby and when you see something that catches your interest, sketch it. Soon you will have a sketchbook filled with your visual interpretations. Chances are, when you review them you will smile and feel good about it. 

 The sketches and drawings I do have multiple value to me. I do it because it’s therapeutic, it’s a record of things and places I’ve seen and some serve as references for future paintings. Some sketches are fast and loose, others are more defined, and it all depends on my resource of time at that moment. 

  So, if you are inspired to sketch, at least do it for yourself. And if you do decide to share your sketches with someone and they start to be a critic, don’t take it personal. I wonder? How would that person respond if you asked if you could see their sketches?