Sketchbook Education

"Leftovers"
(Finns Point Lighthouse)
sketch in moleskine

"Positive and Negative"

sketch in moleskine

"When Rain Doesn't Matter"

sketch in moleskine

Often I'm asked how long I spend sketching and why do not all things in my sketchbook turn into paintings. The answer is both simple and complicated. So here's my best effort at an explanation.

I set out to do at least 2 sketches a week in my book and each takes about 45 minutes once I settle on a location and a composition. Sometimes I do more and sometimes less. I can tell you that when I do less my work suffers and I have a feeling of disconnect. My sketches are the medicine for the ills of my art or a vitamin that supplies what I'm not getting in my regular art diet.

That brings me to why not everything becomes a painting. Sketching is immediate. It requires my mind to quiet and to be very much in the moment. Without knowing it I often am getting an education in composition, value and use of line. If I spend enough time doing it, I no longer worry if a sketch will come out good or "ruin my book". The law of averages will make the book appear to be pleasing to the eye. Also, without trying I will work out stale compositions and come up with new ways of looking at things. I notice my studio work becomes more decisive and less timid the more time I spend with my moleskine.

Yes, this was what the professors in college tried to teach us. I had many sketchbooks then but never kept them faithfully. I was always just looking for the means to an end. It often felt like an hour I couldn't afford to spare. Now I feel as I cannot afford not to spend an hour connecting with my pencil. Again a sign I have grown up a little. The funny thing is, sketching is play. Maybe I've figured out how to be a child again? I believe it is something even better.

One last note, CORZINE WHAT ARE YOU THINKING CLOSING THE PARKS?