I found Ruskin's quote to be pretty uninspiring. Far better was the quote from J. Gurney in the book, The Artist's Guide to Sketching: "The more we sketched, the more we began to realize that sketching is both the motivation and the reward for experiencing new things."
I sketch because I have too. Whatever I'm drawing it becomes mine when I sketch it. It's not just on paper but in my mind. A connection to an experience I'll remember...
One of my favorite sketch memories: My sister and I love having breakfast out in urban diners. In downtown Cincinnati, tucked away in an Art Deco arcade was Hathaway’s, the go-to luncheonette of all the department store employees back in the heyday: sales people, buyers, window dressers, newspaper illustrators, etc. We heard that the original grill was closing, so we agreed to meet for one last lunch at the counter. After we placed our order, I opened my sketchbook and captured my sister’s caricature as we enjoyed our shared repast. My color pencil sketch included classic diner elements: the covered cake display, our straw and napkin dispenser and the window in the wall where our order appeared. It is a treasured memory for both of us.
I really enjoyed your note and picture of the great Caruso, intently focused in the act of sketching. Thanks James!
Sketching is a way of looking, a yearning to understand something before me. Often I catch myself asking, "What does this really look like?" One winter I was having trouble drawing trees and challenged myself to draw 100 of them. I didn't come close to my goal, but I had an unexpected gain: the experience taught me where to look for evidence of old growth patterns, to see clues to how the tree tracked the moving sun through each season. Now when I look at a tree I think about not only its structure but its existence in time. It is not a dead thing.
Karen, you beautifully expressed how visual apprehension is different from any other kind of understanding and that's why the skill of drawing was something that every school child had to master 100 years ago.
As I read this, a thunderstorm began rolling into the area. My friend visiting from Switzerland stopped in my room for an idea of where to place a recorder to capture the sound of the storm, and I suggested the greenhouse. That's the same greenhouse I sketched in ink, which you said you liked, a sketch I made while I on a video call with the same Swiss friend and later, another from Ireland. I found your article very relaxing to read, and all the points rang true. I don't know if I can offer more: it seems you've covered the main ones already. Maybe I'd add that sketching can help see back into our past, in addition to leaving bread crumbs for future generations.
One popular quote about sketching outdoors is by John Singer Sargent: "Painting from nature is not copying the object; it is realizing one's sensations."This quote captures the essence of sketching outdoors, emphasizing the artist's emotional and sensory connection to the environment rather than merely replicating what is seen. It’s widely referenced in discussions about plein air sketching and painting.
This probably comes under point #1, but if 98% of my work is practice for the 2% that is good, I try to do most of that 98% in my sketchbook because it's cheaper 😆
Great article! Sketching is definitely my first art love
I would add, to gain a sense - however fleeting - of empathy and understanding. I recall a citation from an art teacher, that even drawing a rock, for a moment, you become that rock.
I recall telling a person I was dating how while I was painting the feathers of a gull in flight I became the feathers, he replied ‘that’s disgusting’. It was that moment I realized that as artists we live on a different -more beautiful -plane than others do.
Sketching has helped me get back into painting after a long dry spell when motivation left me for some reason. I see it as practice for making art that later, when I return to oil, I'll be able to hang or sell or give away without shame!
All of the above, plus another reason: As someone with impaired color vision, painting outdoors (especially in Colorado’s super-watted, high altitude light) enables me to see my pigments far better than the brightest indoor lighting ever could.
I’ll always remember what a revelation it was, after years of struggling in comparative darkness, when I dragged my abandoned watercolors outside ostensibly to tint a sketch. Looking down at my paints, I suddenly noticed some of them were ever-so-slightly more vibrant. (And before anyone asks, no, those widely marketed glasses do not “cure” colorblindness, but merely shift certain wavelengths so they’re somewhat detectable. Sorta like if they invented sunglasses that allowed you to detect ultraviolet or infrared — you still aren’t experiencing it like a bird or insect can; you’re simply able to note its presence)
I still will make the odd color mix (hence my decidedly NOT limited palette — I need those greens, oranges and violets to crib off of) but! Plein air painting, especially with transparent watercolor on paper that allows for maximum brilliance, opened a world I thought had been shut to me for good.
Sketching, particularly outdoors, anchors me to a time and place which returns when I look back at the results. Memorable moments…sketching a French village wall from across a bridge when the heavens opened and my sheltered spot was shared, none of us daring to cross back while lightning was close, picking a quiet area in Mnt Rainier national Park to draw trees, and being joined by a school party, full of comments and suggestions,
Great insights into the subject of outdoor sketching and a highly inspiring write-up, especially for those who think that outdoor sketching is not so interesting. The most interesting part is that the value of these sketches changes over time. Future generations will undoubtedly find these creations a treasure trove of information and skills.
This article was spot on so perfect! I love that sketching really helps us to connect to nature, to people, to animals…. We learn so much this way because we are visual learners/ artists! We can allow ourselves to experiment with mediums….. yes I love relaxing and sketching connects back to past experiences and also experiences to help us move forward too! Thank you for sharing with us! I’m so glad I found you on Substack! I’m pretty new to this community! lol
Perhaps someone here might know of something I’m curious about. From childhood on I have suffered with virtually no depth perception. This could be an advantage for sketching, since I see as a camera sees, while the object is a flat picture. Yet it could be the opposite. Does anyone have an insight on this?
I found Ruskin's quote to be pretty uninspiring. Far better was the quote from J. Gurney in the book, The Artist's Guide to Sketching: "The more we sketched, the more we began to realize that sketching is both the motivation and the reward for experiencing new things."
Thanks, David. Tom and I were really on a "high" from sketching when we wrote that book.
I sketch because I have too. Whatever I'm drawing it becomes mine when I sketch it. It's not just on paper but in my mind. A connection to an experience I'll remember...
YES. We own it, or even better, we're connected with it, after we sketch it.
Love this! Very much rings true for me
One of my favorite sketch memories: My sister and I love having breakfast out in urban diners. In downtown Cincinnati, tucked away in an Art Deco arcade was Hathaway’s, the go-to luncheonette of all the department store employees back in the heyday: sales people, buyers, window dressers, newspaper illustrators, etc. We heard that the original grill was closing, so we agreed to meet for one last lunch at the counter. After we placed our order, I opened my sketchbook and captured my sister’s caricature as we enjoyed our shared repast. My color pencil sketch included classic diner elements: the covered cake display, our straw and napkin dispenser and the window in the wall where our order appeared. It is a treasured memory for both of us.
I really enjoyed your note and picture of the great Caruso, intently focused in the act of sketching. Thanks James!
Sketching is a way of looking, a yearning to understand something before me. Often I catch myself asking, "What does this really look like?" One winter I was having trouble drawing trees and challenged myself to draw 100 of them. I didn't come close to my goal, but I had an unexpected gain: the experience taught me where to look for evidence of old growth patterns, to see clues to how the tree tracked the moving sun through each season. Now when I look at a tree I think about not only its structure but its existence in time. It is not a dead thing.
Karen, you beautifully expressed how visual apprehension is different from any other kind of understanding and that's why the skill of drawing was something that every school child had to master 100 years ago.
Thanks! I am loving your questions.
As I read this, a thunderstorm began rolling into the area. My friend visiting from Switzerland stopped in my room for an idea of where to place a recorder to capture the sound of the storm, and I suggested the greenhouse. That's the same greenhouse I sketched in ink, which you said you liked, a sketch I made while I on a video call with the same Swiss friend and later, another from Ireland. I found your article very relaxing to read, and all the points rang true. I don't know if I can offer more: it seems you've covered the main ones already. Maybe I'd add that sketching can help see back into our past, in addition to leaving bread crumbs for future generations.
Thanks for sharing those memories, Zoungy.
One popular quote about sketching outdoors is by John Singer Sargent: "Painting from nature is not copying the object; it is realizing one's sensations."This quote captures the essence of sketching outdoors, emphasizing the artist's emotional and sensory connection to the environment rather than merely replicating what is seen. It’s widely referenced in discussions about plein air sketching and painting.
This probably comes under point #1, but if 98% of my work is practice for the 2% that is good, I try to do most of that 98% in my sketchbook because it's cheaper 😆
Great article! Sketching is definitely my first art love
cheaper....and also you don't have to show anybody. I heave a friend who thinks of those practice layers as "rehearsals."
I would add, to gain a sense - however fleeting - of empathy and understanding. I recall a citation from an art teacher, that even drawing a rock, for a moment, you become that rock.
I recall telling a person I was dating how while I was painting the feathers of a gull in flight I became the feathers, he replied ‘that’s disgusting’. It was that moment I realized that as artists we live on a different -more beautiful -plane than others do.
To capture a moment, an emotion, or sense that one can't put into words and that photography can't describe.
Wonderful- we need to keep all of that in mind as we undertake our own humble endeavours!
Sketching has helped me get back into painting after a long dry spell when motivation left me for some reason. I see it as practice for making art that later, when I return to oil, I'll be able to hang or sell or give away without shame!
All of the above, plus another reason: As someone with impaired color vision, painting outdoors (especially in Colorado’s super-watted, high altitude light) enables me to see my pigments far better than the brightest indoor lighting ever could.
I’ll always remember what a revelation it was, after years of struggling in comparative darkness, when I dragged my abandoned watercolors outside ostensibly to tint a sketch. Looking down at my paints, I suddenly noticed some of them were ever-so-slightly more vibrant. (And before anyone asks, no, those widely marketed glasses do not “cure” colorblindness, but merely shift certain wavelengths so they’re somewhat detectable. Sorta like if they invented sunglasses that allowed you to detect ultraviolet or infrared — you still aren’t experiencing it like a bird or insect can; you’re simply able to note its presence)
I still will make the odd color mix (hence my decidedly NOT limited palette — I need those greens, oranges and violets to crib off of) but! Plein air painting, especially with transparent watercolor on paper that allows for maximum brilliance, opened a world I thought had been shut to me for good.
So there’s that. :)
Sketching, particularly outdoors, anchors me to a time and place which returns when I look back at the results. Memorable moments…sketching a French village wall from across a bridge when the heavens opened and my sheltered spot was shared, none of us daring to cross back while lightning was close, picking a quiet area in Mnt Rainier national Park to draw trees, and being joined by a school party, full of comments and suggestions,
Great insights into the subject of outdoor sketching and a highly inspiring write-up, especially for those who think that outdoor sketching is not so interesting. The most interesting part is that the value of these sketches changes over time. Future generations will undoubtedly find these creations a treasure trove of information and skills.
This article was spot on so perfect! I love that sketching really helps us to connect to nature, to people, to animals…. We learn so much this way because we are visual learners/ artists! We can allow ourselves to experiment with mediums….. yes I love relaxing and sketching connects back to past experiences and also experiences to help us move forward too! Thank you for sharing with us! I’m so glad I found you on Substack! I’m pretty new to this community! lol
Perhaps someone here might know of something I’m curious about. From childhood on I have suffered with virtually no depth perception. This could be an advantage for sketching, since I see as a camera sees, while the object is a flat picture. Yet it could be the opposite. Does anyone have an insight on this?