#002 Observational Drawing
Keeping a sketchbook and drawing from life.
I love drawing in sketchbooks and take one with me everywhere I go. I’ve become quite addicted to drawing from life as it is now part of my day and I can’t imagine a day without it. In this post I’m going to talk about why I keep a sketchbook, my thoughts about drawing and how my sketchbooks have changed since I started an MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art.
#walktosee and wonderful people
I started drawing in a sketchbook regularly in lockdown. I did the Good Ship Illustration course ‘Find Your Creative Voice’ and discovered a world of sketchbooking and the Instagram hashtag #walktosee . It really changed everything. Before that my sketching had been sporadic and not always from life. I painted regularly but often from photos I’d taken.
Drawing every day and posting sketches on Instagram opened up a new community to me. I found other people that were excited about capturing moments in their sketchbook and keeping a daily practice. I love seeing what others have captured in their sketchbook; it’s as if they are taking you there too, especially if they take a photo of their sketch on location.
Capturing a moment and recording my day
Sketching has completely changed my outlook. I used to get frustrated in queues and when there were long delays but they are now perfect opportunities to draw. Time passes so quickly and whether I like the drawings or not, there’s a feeling that there’s never any wasted time. My aim is to capture a setting, people or a moment and that makes me see things differently. I’m constantly distracted by things I’d like to draw and my sketchbook has replaced my camera. I love the feeling of opportunity about any situation which could be recorded in my sketchbook. It’s disappointing when I see something I really want to draw and it’s fleeting or I don’t have time to capture it; however, the possibility of capturing things makes me see the world with my eyes open wide.
Documenting life and finding narrative in every day
Keeping a sketchbook is like a visual diary. When I look back I can remember where I was, how I felt and who I was with when I did the drawing.
The more I look, the more I notice. I love recording little details and narrative, time passing and storing memories of where I’ve been and what I’ve seen. It’s a great reference to have for picture book illustration.
Getting out of my comfort zone
Since I’ve started the MA there’s been an adjustment in how I feel about sketchbooks and their role in my development as an artist. We are encouraged to experiment with new materials, techniques, composition and mark making and as such I am constantly out of my comfort zone. I’m pushing myself to take risk and that results in many ‘bad’ drawings. My sketchbook is now much more of a thinking document as well as a place to capture my day. It can be frustrating when I can’t capture things as I would like but my focus now is what I’m learning from each drawing that hasn’t worked out. Whilst it’s daunting, it’s a new relationship with my sketchbook and as Warwick Hutton who lectured at Cambridge School of Art wrote:
‘Good drawing needs bravery and humility at every stage of your life…’
Taking risk
I’ve realised that part of being in my comfort zone was that I would generally draw within my ability. I may have taken risk with colour, composition and drawing people and there would be some bad drawings, but I didn’t often draw things that I knew I would find really impossible. Now I’m aware of what I need to work on and have to target those things. Learning about perspective and eyeline, how big people should be in a setting and the fact that if the ground is flat, their heads will be at the same height regardless of how far away they are. It’s difficult to remember all these things at once but I can see progress.
Really looking
I’ve been enjoying reading about drawing. In the book ‘Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain’ Betty Edwards explains that the left side of our brain takes over and often stops us from really seeing what we’re drawing by referencing what it already knows e.g. what a chair looks like. I’m trying to really look at tone, negative space and edges to help quieten what I assume I see and focus my eyes. In his book ‘Drawing, Seeing and Observation, Ian Simpson describes a drawing paradox: ‘You can’t draw an object until you’ve seen it but you don’t see it until you’ve drawn it’. It’s exciting to be observing things so closely and feels like a creative workout.
Breakthroughs
In tackling things I find impossible and keeping a sketchbook which looks nothing like my others, I am seeing glimmers of something new and finding breakthroughs. I’ve always been drawn to work with lots of texture and have been looking for a way to bring this into my own drawing. After a challenging MA day of tonal collage when nothing seemed to look right and I spent a lot of my time chasing bits of textured paper that had blown away all over Jesus Green, I had a breakthrough. I looked out of the train window into the dark and glimpsed a motorway through the trees which was dotted with car headlights. I grabbed some tonal paper and the liquid charcoal I’d been using and tried to capture it. This picture somehow captures the feeling I had when I saw the motorway and I’m excited to start working on texture to create atmosphere.
100 day project
I was inspired to start a 100 day project of drawing people every day from life by Ella Beech. It was great timing as I knew I needed to practise drawing people. This project gives me a focus and the pressure is taken off the end result being a good drawing and Instagram worthy. It’s a daily practice and good motivation to draw from life every day.
Radio Suffolk
Earlier this year I was interviewed on Radio Suffolk and recorded an audio diary whilst I sketched on location. It was the first time I’d talked about sketching and thought about what it is about drawing from life that I love. You can listen to it here.
Subscribers’ sketchbook peek
I’ve been drawing in black and white for the first time during this module on the MA and I’ve been trying to work out which materials to use to make marks that I like. I’m now working on using black and white and one colour for composition and narrative.
What I’ve been reading
I’ve just discovered this book by Gianni Rodari and illustrated by Valerio Vidali. It is so beautiful and inspiring. It is a collection of short stories told by a character who travels for work and calls his daughter on a pay phone each night to tell her a bedtime story. Many of the illustrations are gatefold, attached to the gutter like postcards or a full spread and are so playful.
A picture book that I love
This book is so fun to read out loud and is very interactive. It tells the story of Goldilocks with changes to characters, setting, format and language and it is so clever how the humour builds through repetition.
That’s all from me. Thanks for reading. I would love to know how you started sketching from life, any questions you have and what you love drawing. If you have found anything useful, please let me know in the comments below.
Speak soon,
Charlotte
So inspiring to read about how you feel about sketching and your sketchbooks. Thanks so much for sharing Charlotte :)
Such a lovely post! Perspective is so tricky for me too—look forward to seeing the range in your drawings as you push yourself out of your comfort zone!