Sketching constantly

I’m in it everywhere

what a miracle trees lakes clouds even dust

-Ikkyu

On holiday home, I tried to take everything in by keeping my eyes open to every detail. And at the same time, moving my hand in a continuous blind contour as I was a passinger in the car, or going along in the boat, or on the paddleboard, or even walking. Then filled them in later with whatever art supplies were around.

On the road to Onion Lake for the chuckwagon races

They are rough and loose and helping my eye-hand-heart coordination. Wherever my eye was drawn, my hand would follow.

Great blue heron, watching from a rock on Lac La Ronge. I got a quick sketch on the paddleboard before she (he?) flew away

An island on Lac La Ronge. I would like to do a bigger ‘finished’ one of these. The colours of the tree trunks beneath the burnt bark was a beautiful pale yellowy beige and also pink. Not evident in this sketch, but really striking.

A willet we saw on a lake near the farm. I did this one with Art Graf soluble graphite, from a photo. I wasn’t quick enough to draw it on the spot.

I’m getting pretty good at remembering to have a sketchbook on hand at all times, and that’s helping me with my observation skills, I think. Not thinking about the outcome but just following the lines and shapes. It lets me stay in the moment whereas I used to just snap a photo…which went into a deep bottomless well of other photos, never to be seen again.

I prepared some of the sketchbook pages with acrylic paint swirls beforehand.

More roads and prairies and posts

You get the idea. Just lots of these type of sketches, over and over. It’s fun to add colours later.