Cathy Johnson’s Mini-class // Quick Sketching 1 - Lesson 2

Monday 22 April 2013


Can't really see much here!




Lesson 2 has been all about sketching a moving object and capturing the essence of it (it’s called gesture sketching, something I didn’t know). I was a bit afraid to start with the exercises. People and animals are not really my favourite subjects, let alone if they are moving. But after watching some of the demo videos included in the class, I geared myself up to the challenge and with some courage I gave it a go.

Drawing using a kitchen timer was one of the many tips given in the lesson. I have done this type of exercise before, but I had forgotten how useful it is to know how much time you have before you start drawing. It helps to decide if focusing on the big picture or looking at details. And this is a problem I always have. I tend to focus on the details when I sketch, and that sometimes overwhelms me, especially when I suddenly realise that I don’t have enough time to draw everything (which happens very often if you try to sketch when out and about with a 16 month old!).

Seeing an object as a number of basic shapes (circles, triangles, etc.) also helped quite a lot, especially when drawing animals. I had learned this technique at one of my botanical art classes, but never really put it into use.    
  
The results are far from great, but I’m hoping that with practice, and a lot of it, my drawing skills will improve.

My sketches from Lesson 1 can be found here.
More info about Cathy Johnson’s online classes can be found here.

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