Urban Sketching: Tricking your Brain
I've made it through weeks two and three of my Urban Sketching class at Flower City Arts Center. Our class size has dwindled as the weeks wear on. We've been doing exercises designed to silence the critical voice inside and the hush the rush to obsess over details. Here's the key:
Here's an exercise from week two. We were drawing from a local photo we had brought in. This one below is a local four-square with a generous front garden. The steps:
- find shapes
- find light and shadow
- finally and finally, go ahead with the details
I worked on this version in the center for a dozen minutes, fussing over details. Then Josi, the instructor, grabbed the version on the right in just a few minutes; it's much bolder, much faster, shapes starting out as cariacatures but evolving to fit together.
Where would you want to live? (left: reality, center: my 10 minutes of work, right: the instructor after 2 minutes)
Another exercise; draw with only a eyedropper loaded with black ink. This removes your ability to erase or do much more than mark light and shadow. Once that dries, fill in with water colors.
Ink first, then watercolor, C- across the table, rightside up and upside down
I found this really interesting as I prefer the right version right side up and the left upside down.
Monkey, Runners, C- across the table, Monroe Ave
In week three, we worked more on color. Again, tricks; we watercolored small cards blind, eyes only on a picture of orangey blossoms emerging from a pinkish jar. Once the water colors were down and dried, we came back with pencil to lay down the rest of the details.
These are nice
Finally, we could look at the paper, but still started with color then moved to pencil.
More vases, a Vermont-y schene
What are my takeaways?
First of all, the restrictions really help. Blind drawing, blind coloring, coloring first, working with the limitations and inherent ambiguity of my untrained water color brush mean that you always quickly get started and then drag what you've made closer to the real.
Second, I find myself so tentative with my lines and shading. I'm trying to force myself to be bolder. When drawing, reality is only a suggestion. If you make a line that doesn't fit the scene, you can make the memory fit the line.
Start with limitations then make a bold stroke.
