Sketching and Flow

Posts about the value of sketching get repetitive, but what that really means to me is how important regular sketching can be.

Sketching means doing quick but well-observed and considered drawing(s) whatever qualifier might be added. For example, some people want to define "quick" more precisely. Some people sketch with very limited tools--something to mark on and something to make marks. Sketching is something you can do with almost any medium, from oil paint to pastel to graphite. It isn't the medium that is important. The repeated activity itself, the mental and aesthetic gymnastics coupled with careful observation, is the secret. Humans learn best by repetition. Sketches are often more lively than studio works, too.

"La Rambla," 3x5 watercolor sketch done on the spot

Daily sketching, for me, has provided opportunities for "flow," that state of concentration and creation that focuses the artist or writer or athlete as they progress. The flow state excludes external stimuli somehow, so that the entire consciousness is involved in the immediate task. In that state, making images becomes nearly reflexive. That is, the images are not the result of conscious thought. In that state, each stroke of a brush or pen is not thought out, not reasoned, so much as felt. Since sketches aren't commonly even shown to others, the result, if pleasing, can be kept. If the image isn't what I want, it's only a sketch and out it goes. This little view of La Rambla, the famous pedestrian street in Barcelona, was done outdoors and quickly. While having some liquid refreshment at a sidewalk cafe I drew a view along broad, tree-lined street in my pocket sketchbook.

"La Rambla," 8x10 studio watercolor

Later on I made a larger watercolor painting using the ink and wash technique. It was important to make the trees and buildings lining La Rambla believable, but I wanted to show the people more coherently too and also to give a sense of place. Using the reference above plus other sketches and photos helped a great deal, but the experience of drawing the same motif earlier allowed modification of various elements plus a change in vanishing point and perspective.

"Be always drawing," is a quote I've seen attributed to da Vinci, but regardless it's excellent advice. The more you draw, the more accomplished you can become.