Forced Time Limit on First Sketch (or my trick of Ten-Minute Warm-Up)

Despite the fact that I have been sketching daily for many years now, I know that the first sketch of the day is always somewhat an interesting snapshot of where I am at the moment on many layers of my life. It is usually an attempt to do all at once, and it is simultaneously filled with many emotions and a wish to step away from them and just look intently. It is usually overworked and rushed at the same time. In short, it is often a disaster - which is exactly why I keep my first sketches. Because they are raw and telling, and because it is a record of that day for me, and sometimes there are gems that only I know about in that first sketch. But if I know that I will have time to sketch for a longer stretch of time, it is very useful for me to get the very first sketch out of the way so that I can actually go past being greedy and throwing everything into "my one chance" and actually take time to look and make choices and change my mind and be ok with that all.

On a recent sketching outing with friends, I declared that the first sketch would be 10 minutes only, and I did it with whatever materials I touched first in my sketching bag, which really helped me to get to some very different sketches later. Scroll for process photos (I knew that my sketching companions would have a hard time sticking to 10 minutes so I had time to take photos - with this post in mind - it is possible that stopping earlier would be good idea:).

On My June Sketching Calendar: Egret Rookery

I keep a sketching calendar - it is a simple table where each cell is dedicated to a month and where I keep a list of things I might enjoy sketching that month. My June so far was not how I envisioned it, and I missed a bunch of things, but here is what I did not: an Egret Rookery! It is a very strange place where egrets of all kinds put a few odd sticks between branches of sycamore trees and call them nests. There are snowy and great Egrets, and night and blue herons (though I've seen only one blue heron so far). They walk around the area on the ground and fly around the trees, all this is accompanied by hilarious sounds and growing evidence of the presence of wildlife: remains of uneaten fish and such. I recommend wearing a hat, stretching your neck, being OK with constantly moving subjects, and getting a low ground position if you want to sketch.

I took my friends to see it for the first time, and we sketched for a bit. I am hoping to go again soon - before all the younglings are off the trees. 

Pencil Sharpener Revolution: Introducing Henry

I've been using colored pencils and sharpening them with various sharpeners. (A search on this blog shows that I mentioned my favorite sharpeners several times). And I am sure you know that graphite pencils and color pencils need slightly different approaches to sharpening. 

But recently I realized that if I need to sharpen a bunch pf pencils at the same time, the strain on my wrist is getting to a point of concern. Granted, this is a reason to work on my wrist strength - but on the other hand, having a backup that sharpens various thicknesses of color pencils well and does not send me to the icepack is a sensible parallel solution. Hence - recent purchase - introducing Henry the Pencil Sharpener. 

p.s. I am aware that my pencils might live longer if I skip the electric sharpener, but part of that long life comes from the fact that I would use them less, and my goal is to use them more - and enjoy it. 

Peony Season

I am hoping to find another bouquet of peonies (dare I hope for some late bloomers at Trader Joe's??) but the one I got this year yielded a bunch of sketches:

Drawing Pottery Made By Others and Making Holes in My Sketchbook

I've been sharing my own pottery experiments, but here are some sketches that I made with a very lovely shaped vase and a perfect little bowl - they have a similar color scheme, and I've been enjoying putting them into my still lifes when there is space on my table. I gift all pieces that I make - but these stay with me :) Both of these are sketchbook paintings created mainly with gouache, but also with many little experimental materials - so much that there were some holes in the paper, and I was repairing pages with tape.