My Objective in Object Drawing

Scampering Lantern sketch, drawn from my great grandfather's lantern.

Drawing from life--objects, figures, etc.--never thrilled me as a young student; most likely because I struggled with it. It did not come naturally, and teacher's instructions to "just draw what you see" helped not at all. Bored by replicating something in front of me, no one ever explained to my young-self why it was useful. 

While I figured out its value (as a means to a creative end) in art school, copying objects remains difficult for my short attention span. I sometimes admire the technical ability of photo-realism, but I'll never understand the point of spending that much time with being a human camera as an objective.

 So, figuring out how to tweak an object to suit me helps, as does messing about trying to add a bit of personality. It's a great way to build a mental image library, hone skills, and have some fun.

This clock was drawn from the one that hangs in the living room. If the real clock was this goofy looking, it would please me immensely, but then I wouldn't draw it :)

Being a fan of the anthropomorphic tradition helps too--the illustrations of Sir John Tenniel and many other artists continue to inspire.

This lantern sketch was gestured out pretty quickly using a crimson Colerase pencil on toned gray sketchbook paper, and outlined with a brushpen. Crosshatching was added with Micron pens. A bit of blue Prismacolor and white highlighting--using a Uniball Signo pen--finished the sketch. Hope you like it, and

thanks for reading!

 

 

Mice!

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Been goofing around with mouse sketches. Mice have been a constant inspiration for artists for years. There's Mickey, and all the other Disney mice of course, plus those of Beatrix Potter. And the  Merrie Melody cartoon rodents, and David Petersen's Mouse Guard. So it's not exactly easy to come up with unique-looking mice characters.

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Nonetheless, I'm tryin'...

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...and it is fun!

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This fellow pleased me--I feel like he is pretty unique. The sketch at the top of the post turned into this detail of a larger acrylic work.

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When I was a skinny little kid I had out-sized ears and got called "Mickey" for a time. So here's a less skinny self-portrait prelim in my own honor. I hope it doesn't look much like the famous fellow who inspired my nickname.

Thanks for checking out my blog!

Scribbling in a Scribble-Book

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The word "scribble" has always killed me--it just sounds funny. When I was a kid and only wanted to unthinkingly make marks on a page, the adult comments ranged from the condemnatory "You're just scribbling" to "Quit wasting paper with your scribbling." 

But I didn't quit; remember how amazing it felt to zone out while the pencil or pen or crayon glided across the page and left multi-circles or wads of illegible marks?

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I'm still a fan. And even though I seldom make illegible marks--on purpose at least--I love the sensation of scribbling out sketches without really thinking.

 

I'd realized that I'm not always in the mood to think while sketching, but I'm too antsy to sit around with my family--just talking or watching TV--without drawing. So I grabbed this little, lined notebook and a pen, just for the purpose of mindlessly scribble-drawing. 

The only rule for myself: Use ballpoint pen only. 

It's been an interesting experiment. Here's what I've discovered:

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 1. My scribbles got better (well, at least more like my other sketchbook drawings) even without trying. Here's the first page, looking suspiciously similar to the drawings I did way back in middle school.

 

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2. As I messed with it more, my scribbles looked a bit less mindless, but they still were.

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3. I started reaching for the scribble-book more often than the sketchbook. Probably because I was enjoying the lack of pressure to make "good" sketches.

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That's really the point of any sketchbook, but somehow limiting myself to un-erasable pen on lined paper just added more freedom.

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4. I found myself developing ideas for finished works without having that goal in mind.

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 And, just like the "thinking" sketchbooks, the images that developed are sometimes getting used for finished artworks...

 

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 ...like this detail of a work-in-progress.

 

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So stop thinking a bit and scribble--it's been a great and fun thing for me, and I highly recommend it.

Thanks for the visit!

 

 

 

More Sketching with Scarlet

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When artists say they are "self-taught", I've heard they mean they've not been to college or art school. And if that makes them feel superior, well they must need that. Still, the label is foolish and full of pretense; I am happy to learn from everything and everyone I can, and to acknowledge the debt.

 

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 As I wrote in a recent post*, lately I began sketching with a scarlet Colerase pencil--learning of the technique from a fellow illustrator. Even though too many Colerase pencils have those hard, gritty things within the lead core, they are wonderfully freeing when you find a good one. I can throw down a gesture with the red, and then go into it with graphite, pen, or both--whatever seems to work.

 

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Done quite a few years ago, this acrylic painting has the scarlet under-painting technique I learned from a fellow painter. It has the same effect as the Colerase pencil in a way; the red paint here adds flash and life to the work.

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Now I need to go back into the sketchbook and finish some of these.

If I was self-taught, I'd still be drawing and painting the way I did when I was four; with a number two pencil on bond paper, or dragging out the Sparkle-Paint set.

Thanks for reading!

*Recent Post

 

 

 

 

 

Top-Hatted Bird with a Mouse

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This is a detail from a piece just completed--no title yet.

Wanted to do a painting in the style I used for my spiritual works a few years back, but was curious both about how the goofy subject would look with looser paint and also curious about how acrylic gouache would handle as opposed to acrylic paint. The fluidity, matte finish, and opacity of the gouache was a good change from acrylic paint.

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Here's a shot of the bird's head at about the halfway completed stage. I drew the piece freehand on the board after priming it with a burnt sienna acrylic primer. After outlining it with a brush and india ink, I sealed it with matte spray and then started whacking in the color.

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Here's the bottom half of the pic at near completion.

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The old bird completed.  Hard to tell maybe, but I lightened pretty much everything on the bird. It's on a pine plaque, about 6" wide by 23" tall, and was painted for an upcoming show at Valkarie Gallery.  I'm pleased to be showing Fresh Works along with two super-accomplished artists; Karrie York and Kayla Edgar!

Karrie's site: Karrie York  Kayla's site: Kayla Edgar

Valkarie Gallery is a fantastic place with unusual and fascinating shows. If you are in the Denver area, please stop by and check out the show and gallery! Here's the link:

Valkarie Gallery

And thank you, as always, for reading!

Serene Sketching in this New Year

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 Finally, January!

I enjoy the holidays, but always look forward to the quiet winter months. Months when I can disappear into my work. The past four days have been the wind-down, so random sketches have been the order of the days.

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Just little studies that somehow clear my head of the clutter and get my fingers ready for the next studio project.

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I liked this one, but couldn't resist messing about with it more.

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The best thing about sketching is that it really doesn't matter that they end good or bad--it just feels good to play.

Posted these and much more on Instagram. 

I invite you to follow me there by clicking the Instagram button in the right-hand column.

I wish you a truly relaxing winter, and

Thanks for the visit!

Lantern Fascination

Lantern sketch via http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

Lantern sketch. Brush and ink, watercolor.

I notice recurring motifs in artist's works--Heath Robinson drew lots of patches and pitchers; Rackham had his pollard oaks.

Not putting myself on their level, but I noticed lanterns show up frequently--not really consciously--in my pictures.

So I dragged all my sketchbooks to the couch--even ones from my youth--and proved that beyond a doubt. There are a lot of them.

 Maybe the fascination comes from this one:

Great Grandpa's signal lantern from when he worked on the railroad. He gave it to me before he died--I loved him and treasure it. Not sure that's enough of a reason to include them so often though.

At any rate, I've posted some lantern sketches before, as prelims for a project,   http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/2013/06/illustration-construction-part-one.html but here are a few more, past and present:

 One from art school years.

One from my younger days.

In thinking about the symbolism of lanterns in literature and art, I figure they most likely represent truth, or the light of God, or wisdom. But I'm guessing. Most of mine were drawn without really thinking, and without resource.

From a older watercolor illustration (unpublished).

From a random sketchbook page.

Gave in and googled "Tarot symbology of lanterns". This from the Tarot Reading Psychic: http://tarotreadingpsychic.com/tarot-symbolism-the-lantern/

"Power of intuition, truth and courage; hope, healing and the quest for new found enlightenment through spiritual wisdom; new found awareness; a reminder that every dark path has a light" (Really?)

  

via http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

Another simple oldie

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Can't remember the title of this one. From the 90's--this pic came from the 

catalog I think. I remember working hard to come up with the face on the lamp.

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 Always liked this pen and ink sketch.

Detail from a watercolor done about three years ago.

A sketch fragment

Detail from One-Eyed Wizard via http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

From a sketch done this week. Lanterns lend themselves to the anthropomorphic pretty well--this one's from a Welsh miner's lamp in my collection.

I've never been much for analyzing my works and the motifs that recur, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that the lantern fascination goes hand in hand with my admiration of the past, and the feeling of being born into the wrong century (or nostalgia for a past life?).

Leaving you with a quote by W.B Yeats:

 “People think  I am merely trying to bring back a little of the old dead beautiful world of romance into this century of great engines and spinning Jinnies. Surely the hum of wheels and clatter of presses, let alone the lecturers with their black coats and tumblers of water, have driven away the goblin kingdom and made silent the feet of the little dancers.”

I can relate. Nothing wrong with shutting off the glare of a computer screen and letting a bit of soft lantern light and a couple of goblins into the room, is there?

As always, thanks for the visit.