State Fair - Sketching Experience #3

Today was my third visit to the State Fair. It was a day to take in the sites and sounds of the fair. One of the highlights from today were going to one of the Minnesota Cooks presentations that featured friends of mine from York Farm. Another highlight was going to the 1 pm presentation in the Fine Arts building where I got to hear a watercolor artist, John Salminen, give a presentation and a demo.

As far as sketching goes, I learned a valuable lesson. Either sketch earlier in the day or make sure you know which days the animal barns turn over. That along with making a rookie error of forgetting that there is another animal barn way in the back made life a bit challenging. While I didn't really want to sketch cows that was my only option besides horses and I decided that cows would be easier.

I only had about 40 minutes, but that was okay. In truth, I think I was a little hung-over from sketching yesterday.

Here is the sketch that I liked the best.

None of the cows that I tried to sketch stayed very still. While I wanted to work on faces, it was challenging. My last sketch was a quick one of a cow's body, since this cow was eating.

The other interesting experience was going to the Education building and seeing the art created by kids from 1st grade to 12th grade who are in 4-H. I enjoyed looking at the drawings and paintings by these kids and young adults. Some of the work was amazing, but I was impressed by all of the kids putting their work out there. For a brief moment, I was a bit envious. I don't know why the drawing and painting bug didn't bit me earlier in my life. While I was feeling this way, I heard a man with his wife and young child bemoan that he just couldn't do any of this. He just could not draw. Give him a piece of wood and a saw and he could do something with it, but he just could not draw.

So many people feel this way and it's simply not true. I wanted to tell the guy that, but I didn't.

State Fair - Sketching Experience #2

Today, I went to the State Fair to sketch, sketch, sketch with me, myself and I. Given that it was rainy and early when I arrived, the grounds were mostly empty. At 9:30, I met up with a group of sketchers, since it was the first of the two Minnesota State Fair Sketch Together gatherings, organized by one of the Urban Sketchers in the Twin Cities. People were friendly and the organizer had buttons for everyone! When the group broke up to go and sketch, I headed to the swine barn.

This is my favorite sketch and it was a good way to approach sketching at the fair. Draw, use plumb lines, and show the refinements that represent the truer dimensions. I did not have enough room on my paper to correct the snout. It should have been a bit longer.  While I was working on this sketch, it was just me and the pig. All the rest of the hustle and bustle and noise of the barn faded away. I was "drawn" to this pig because of the way his ear was flopped over.

I would like to figure out  how to sketch items smaller, but things really get wonky when I try that.

What surprised me was that I was mentally exhausted after actively sketching a little more than 2 hours.This estimated time did not include the time I took breaks. While I wasn't planning on staying until the 4:30 post-sketching meet-up, I was planning on sketching for 1/2 day or so. I briefly switched to sheep to see if that would help. It didn't. My brain was done and so was I. I went home earlier than expected and took a lovely nap.

State Fair - Sketching Experience #1

Yesterday was the opening of the Minnesota State Fair. The weather was perfect. While I plan to sketch each time I'm at the fair, I only have one time scheduled where the sole purpose is to sketch. The other times, I'll just take break away from whoever I'm with to sketch for a bit. Yesterday was one of those types of days, so I only sketched while one of my friends checked out all of the birds in the Chicken Barn.

It was thrilling to be at the fair and to be sketching! There are so many birds and animals. You can get close to them and many of them stay relatively still.

Here is my favorite sketch from the Chicken Barn. This is a  sketch of a Valencian Figurita pigeon. This bird had puffed its chest way up and out and some of its feathers were ruffled.

Each time I go to the fair, I plan to post a picture of my favorite sketch. I'm keeping things simple. Just a sketch book and a few pens and pencils. I'm not going to try watercolor, major shading, or hatching. It's mostly going to be about catching shapes.

Tonight's Drawing Set Up

For today's daily drawing practice, I decided to pull a couple of peppers from the refrigerator and to practice drawing the different shapes at my kitchen table. It did not go exactly as planned.  

By the way, the cat is allowed on the back of the chairs. When he and his brother were kittens, I thought it was cute. Big mistake! It puts him way to close to the table, causing things like this to happen. 

A Ducky Duck

On Friday, I stopped at Como Zoo on my way home from an appointment. I had my "good" paper pad with me, since it's going to be used for any and all drawing for the next week as a way to chip away at the idea that certain paper is precious and can only be used in special circumstances. I confess that I did feel mild discomfort using the "good" paper, but it was minor compared to my experience earlier this week. At some point while warming up, this concern faded away.

I continue to be fascinated by the flamingos, but only spend a few minutes with them each time. They move too much. When it gets frustrating, I usually try a few ducks before wandering off to other birds and animals. I lucked out on Friday and found the perfect duck. Since he was resting, he was mostly still. The light and his position let me see how his neck attached to his body and head. It was one of those "aha" moments. Prior to this when I sketched ducks, they didn't have necks.

Another bonus is that it makes flamingo necks make more sense, even though their necks are so much longer. Flamingo necks seem like they are made out of elastic, since they can stretch them so high or hold them close to their bodies, and the thickness of the neck varies upon the amount of stretch. Even so, they attach in a similar way, so this duck sketch gives me a better understanding of the equivalent part of a flamingo, making it a two for one revelation.

I also like that I was able to draw an eye that looks appropriately grounded in an eye socket.

Yes, That Does Work Better

Yes, it does work better to use appropriate paper and, yes, the best paper for watercolor is more expensive than the stuff I usually use.  Surprise!

Two nights ago, I played around with a purple pepper that someone gave me from their garden. The experience was enhanced by using paper suited for the task. It was fun, trying to push the color around where I wanted it.

All of this led to a good conversation with my partner. Beginners need the good stuff, probably more than the experts. An experienced cook can julienne up a bunch of vegetables with any old knife much better than a beginner. Why can it be so hard to honor the spirit of learning and use an appropriate tool that will help you learn?

Delayed Happiness

After a long, long hiatus, I made it to the Como Zoo yesterday to sketch. I visited the flamingos and ducks, puffins, and big cats. My goal was to do some rough sketches and play with watercolor using good paper for a change (a soft cover Strathmore Mixed Media 500 pad to be exact). When I've played with watercolor here and there at home, it hasn't gone well. This is mostly because I am learning and have no idea what I am doing, but it doesn't help that I've been using cheap paper.  Yesterday was the day that I was finally going to use the "good" stuff.

Normally, I am in my happy place when I am at the zoo, but that was not the case. I felt anxious and I think it was because I was using "good" paper. It felt wrong to use it for warm up sketches. Plus, I never got around to playing with watercolor. I kept thinking that I should have bought some of the crappy paper to use, because it felt like I was wasting my "good' paper. All of this caused a massive uprising of the internal critic who resides in my head.

Today's conclusion is that good paper is no good if it does not get used. While I have a lot of practice paper, I think it's time to spend a week or two using the good stuff to get over the idea that any paper is precious.

Looking back at yesterday's sketches, they are decent practice sketches of items in life. The fact that birds and animals move, so that I could not finish any sketches, did not frustrate me as much as usual. Also, I like that I have practice drawings overlapping each other. For a very long time, it just felt wrong to overlap things. Now, I'm trying to be deliberate. Sometimes I overlap. Sometimes I don't. Most of the time, as Roz would say, I'm not out to make a pretty page. I'm trying to learn!

I am going to try and not step on my own happiness in the moment by getting obsessed about things that don't matter. (Smile). This is a good philosophy to apply all realms, not just drawing and painting.

On a separate, here is an outline of Dorian that I did several nights ago. To me, this one captures her face and body position quite well, except for the lines that denote her hip.