Wednesday, June 30, 2010

One Minute Sketches











There has been some discussion about sketches through the weeks and folks looking to improve their time to complete a sketch. There are some tips out there, one I picked up along the way was the "One Minute" sketch. For the life of me I can't remember where I picked up this tip, but it did improve a few things along the way...

One thing it improves is your quickness, you have a short amount of time to make decisions so you have to pick what's important. Another is it helps you weed out the unnecessary stuff, you get down what you want to say and move on. Helps you focus.

What I do is divide my sketchbook page up in to small squares/rectangles, then I take a cooking timer and set if for a minute. Then I sketch what I can until the timer goes off 60 seconds later. I move on the the next rectangle and repeat the process. You get something that looks like the photos above.

These are a great idea as thumb nail sketches too and they really improve your time, especially if you think you don't have enough time to sketch, you'll realize you have more time than you think you do.

You can increase your time to 2 minutes, then 5. It's a great eye/hand training exercise.


Tonight's Sketch...


Well for once the weather and the site matched up....a few of us made it to sketch this quiet spot.

Here is one of Joan's sketches, she does wonderful watercolors...


Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Sketch Crawl #28 on July 31

The 28th World Wide Sketch Crawl will be held on July 31...

You can visit the forum at if you want to sign up and let folks know where you will be sketching and post photos later!


http://www.sketchcrawl.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=51

Monday, June 28, 2010

Wednesday Sketch Evening June 30 at 6:30PM - BYOC

We are going to try the Brookhaven Hamlet Gazebo on Wednesday night. Some folks doing some plein air painting there say its a nice place.

Directions coming from Patchogue, go through Bellport (via South Country Road) past the Gateway Theater and at the next traffic light, make a right onto Beaverdam Road. Make your next left onto Fireplace Neck Road. Drive pass the Brookhaven Elementary School. The Gazebo will be on your left, just park on the road. There's ducks, flowers, a wooden bridge, and the gazebo to sketch.



Sunday, June 27, 2010

Last week's sketches...




These are some sketches done by Tom Degruyl during last week's sketch outing in Bellport.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Artist Magazine July/August 2010

I am not finished reading this issue yet but I did just read an article tonight about sketching under the "Brushing up" feature...It's called "Draw once, Crop Often." It talks about the value of doing sketches before you paint. It improves your compositions for your paintings. Then, deviating from the thumbnail sketches that many artists do, this article talks about doing what you see, then cropping them as you go to try to get to the best composition. It's an interesting concept. I always sketch a few thumbnails in my sketchbook first before doing any painting and the best composition in the thumbnail sketches is the winner and gets to be a painting.

I also find that sketching first, then starting a painting, improves the painting and also clears my mind as a prep for painting...I can tune in the right brained side and it clears my head to focus better on painting.

So check out that issue, it also has some pretty good articles on plein air painting.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Sketches from last week


I am just catching up...here are some of the sketches done last week at Corey Beach.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Wednesday Sketch Evening June 23 at 6:30PM - BYOC

This week, since we haven't been having luck with the weather over at Corey Beach, we are going to sketch on Main Street in Bellport. As a basic meeting place, we can meet near the Phoenix Gallery, then folks can move on to sketch what interests them. There's a few storefronts, restaurants and and ice cream parlor in that intersection near the gallery. Just set up your chair and sketch whatever floats your boat...

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Wednesday Sketch Evening June 16 at 6:30PM - BYOC

This week we will be making another appearance at Corey Beach in Bayport. There's a beach, boats, restaurant, bay, docks, all sorts of fun stuff to sketch, rain or shine, we'll be there.

Here are the directions again:

If you are coming down Main street from the West heading East, you will pass Nichols Road, down the road a bit will be Mexican Restaurant, Meson Ole', just past the restaurant, turn right at Atlantic Ave. Go all the way down Atlantic Ave almost to the end and make a right on Middle Road. Make a left at FLO'S snack stand and go down to the end, make a right and we'll be along that road.

If you are coming down Main Street FROM Patchogue, look for the Yellow sign of the Meson Ole' Restaurant and turn LEFT on Atlantic Ave BEFORE you get to the restaurant, if you pass the restaurant, you went too far. Once on Atlantic Ave, go all the way down Atlantic Ave almost to the end and make a right on Middle Road. Make a left at FLO'S snack stand and go down to the end, make a right and we'll be along that road.

If you go to this link, there is a little map that has points of interest in Bayport and you can click on that for more detailed directions.

http://www.goby.com/corey-beach-brookhaven--near--blue-point-ny/e-1928890

Friday, June 11, 2010

Dust in the City aka the Canyons of Man

You heard of Sex in the City, well this is Dust in the City. Pastel Artist Richard McKinley ventured into a new venue, painting Manhattan. If you are interested in reading about pastels, you can go to his blog at:

http://pastelpointersblog.artistsnetwork.com/default,date,2010-06-01.aspx

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Guest Artist, Roz Stendahl

I have a treat for everyone...I picked up the book "Creative Time and Space: Making Room for Making Art" by Rice Freeman-Zachary a while back while I was still stuck on the couch nursing the busted ankle. In it, there were a bunch of contributing artists that were interviewed on how they made time for their art.

I checked out their sites, and one that I gravitated toward, because her site and posts were fun, was Roz Stendahl. Roz is a member of the Twin Cities Urban Sketchers, her blog posts are amazing and very informative. She is also the creator of the button on our sidebar for the International Fake Journal Month. Her links are under our links section to the right...

I asked her if she wouldn't mind telling us about herself and why she sketches:

Here's Roz:

Why I sketch:
Well I sketch because I love to observe things and always have, so I'm always looking and writing and drawing. It's just like breathing to me. Getting something down on the page is more important to me than getting something perfect on the page.

The act of drawing is a bit like falling in love-noticing every nuance-whether it makes it into your drawing or not. (In drawing some bits you edit out and some you don't include because you don't yet have the skills to do so.) I find that if I keep looking and try to work out the visual puzzle then more and more unfolds. I love the aha moments of that discovery. "Oh, that's how this bird's beak attaches."

Another reason I draw and keep a visual journal is because it brings me into the present moment. It's something I can jump right into to observe-and I can still talk and share with people around me. Drawing doesn't take me out of the moment-or outside of the moment the way photography does for me. (I have friends for whom photography brings them into a moment, so I'm not against photography-it's just not immediate for me; it doesn't draw me in as closely as drawing does; I don't notice as much about something when I only photograph it.)

Also sketching and journaling brings an intimacy with the moment that I see lost to people who twitter-something I'm seeing more and more of thanks to the new phones everyone has-they are so engaged with their technology (and random people who may or may not be reading at a given moment) that they are taken away from their surroundings . They miss a lot. They don't seem to settle into the surroundings in the same way. When I sketch I get to still be in my surroundings, alert to those surroundings, responsive to friends in those surroundings, and of course, intimately involved with what has attracted my attention. The added benefit is that I now have a hard-copy version of my experience. I can return to it for resource material when painting (and again, have more details than my poor photos). I can also look back on it, which I don't do much. I really only look at a volume while I'm working on it. If I do go back to it after a volume is completed then it's because I'm looking for information and resources material.

But while the volume is active those earlier pages help give a structure to my sense of days, and that leads me to one of my most important reasons for sketching and keeping a visual journal-gratitude.

Drawing allows me to instantly touch my gratitude about life-my wonder at living in such a miraculous world. The more I touch that the more wonder and gratitude I want. And the less important my disruptions, distractions, disappointments, frustrations in life become to me. Drawing helps me put everything in life in perspective. It grounds me in my life and gives me the tools to change my life-to change my attitude, my state of mind in a way that productivity is possible to a higher degree. It focuses me.

I write about such things on my blog a lot, but I did write one specific post, "Why Journal." (http://rozwoundup.typepad.com/roz_wound_up/2010/05/why-journal.html) In that post I quoted from a much longer post on my International Fake Journal Month blog (http://officialinternationalfakejournalblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/international-fake-journal-month-ends.html), something I feel very strongly about the journal:

"You hold in your hands a document which says "I allowed myself to create; I allowed myself to take risks." I think creative risks are like loose rocks on a hillside. We scramble over them, slipping at times, at other times finding sure footing, so that we can get to the top of the hill and have a better view.

I think having a better view (of ourselves, our creative process, our place in the world, the larger world, the people in our world) is what regular journaling is all about."
So it is important to me to understand my creative process. All additional reasons I sketch and keep a visual journal.

I think it is important to understand the process of sketching and visual journaling will be different to each individual because it will reflect that person's individuality.

I sketch quickly because I want to use all my moments productively and my life can be a juggle of many jobs at once-I take time wherever I find it. For other sketchers working on a single page spread for an hour might be the way to move into this state of "observation-gratitude-wonder-being present" that I'm describing. I'm all for that, as long as they don't fall into the trap of "I can't start this drawing because I don't have time." Or the equally dangerous trap,"I don't have time to get this drawing right [or perfect]."

I'm always encouraging people to realize that there is all sorts of time in their lives, just waiting to be filled with connection. And often, the act of drawing will begin that connection-lead to more understanding of a subject, start a conversation, engender wonder, or alter an attitude so you can turn with new understanding to the people in your life. People often don't realize that there are times when I spend hours and hours on a drawing, or a finished painting, typically something very detailed. It's a different mindset for me-satisfying in a different way. I encourage everyone to have two modes of working because both are valuable. My first goal of course, is to get people drawing, at whatever level or mode they are currently at. And because of that I tend, when teaching journaling, to stress what can be accomplished in a short period of time. If that seed can get planted I know the rest will weed itself out and the individual will find his own working level that will sustain him.

Which I guess leads to the penultimate reason I sketch-the teacher in me. I believe we can all be models of behavior for others, showing them the usefulness of certain behaviors by example. Sketching in public becomes a social and political act-What do we want our society to be like? How can we keep questioning things?

When I sketch at the zoo, for instance, I know that I am modeling a behavior kids might not otherwise see-it gives them options for how to explore their creativity and the way they connect with their own curiosity and wonder. It also allows them to frame "adult" in a broader way. There are many things society will push us to give up as we grow older. Our sense of wonder is constantly under attack by the stresses of adult life. The loss of wonder weakens the connection to empathy with the world around us (animals, people, the environment). I know sketching is one way to carry these elements forward in life, to show that it isn't about "perfect" but about doing and being focused and engaged. I believe you can change someone's life in a positive way, by giving him a glimpse of what else is possible.

OK, and the final reason I sketch, it's where I started-it's habit, it's like breathing, it's fun. Why deny myself so much joy? Even a sketch that doesn't work out quite the way I had hoped is one sketch closer to that sketch that does work, and that is so tremendously exciting that frankly I want to go sketch right this minute.

THANK YOU ROZ for sharing with us!!!!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

More Watercolor Techniques

Here's a link you can go to for more tips and techniques....if you want them emailed to you, you can sign up on this site.

http://links.mkt230.com/servlet/MailView?ms=NDQ2NTE3NAS2&r=NDgxMzE3NTk5MAS2&j=MTU4NTU2MTA5S0&mt=1&rt=0

Leave a comment if you have a problem with the link and you would like me to forward you the email.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Watercolor Techniques and Tips

The latest issue of Watercolor Artist Magazine, June 2010, has some great tips and step by step instructions for those of you that want to hone up on your watercolor skills.

There's also a great article about J.M.W. Turner's Sketchbooks that is inspiring to those doing sketchbook work.

You can pick up the issue at art supply stores or Borders/Barnes and Noble. If you cannot find it locally, you can always order a paper or digital copy on line at http://www.northlightshop.com/category/art-magazines.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Blogging and Sites

I would like to start a links page of our members. I am collecting some information now and will be posting a links page for our sketch members.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Wednesday Sketch Evening June 9 at 6:30PM - BYOC

Next week we will be sketching at Corey Beach in Bayport. There's a beach, boats, restaurant, bay, docks, all sorts of fun stuff to sketch.

If you are coming down Main street from the West heading East, you will pass Nichols Road, down the road a bit will be Mexican Restaurant, Meson Ole', just past the restaurant, turn right at Atlantic Ave. Go all the way down Atlantic Ave almost to the end and make a right on Middle Road. Make a left at FLO'S snack stand and go down to the end, make a right and we'll be along that road.

If you are coming down Main Street FROM Patchogue, look for the Yellow sign of the Meson Ole' Restaurant and turn LEFT on Atlantic Ave BEFORE you get to the restaurant, if you pass the restaurant, you went too far. Once on Atlantic Ave, go all the way down Atlantic Ave almost to the end and make a right on Middle Road. Make a left at FLO'S snack stand and go down to the end, make a right and we'll be along that road.

If you go to this link, there is a little map that has points of interest in Bayport and you can click on that for more detailed directions.

http://www.goby.com/corey-beach-brookhaven--near--blue-point-ny/e-1928890



Thursday, June 3, 2010

Art House CO-OP Sketchbook Project

The Art House Co-op is running another Sketch Book Project for 2010. Now is the time to sign up. If you are interested, you can go to www.arthousecoop.com. You have to join and it's $18 to do the project. They will mail you the sketchbook because they want them all standard sizes.

The Sketchbook will become part of their permanent Library of sketchbooks. It will go on tour around the country and it's final resting place will be Brooklyn, where anyone can come in and browse. You will own all rights to what is in your book, but's it a good way to get your sketches out there.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010