Constant Practice

     I think, as an artist, you never stop learning. When you travel and see different culture, adventure, meet a new person, notice a new color on a brick, even experience new technology you store it away, consciously or no, to the file cabinets of your memory. But more than that, there is no better way to train your artistic hand than to use it. Art is skill, not a talent, and much like any other skill it can wax and wain with time. Like taking 6 months off from the gym, 200lbs isn't as easy to lift as it once was- and the same is true for painting/drawing.

    Yes, with every new big painting you learn and grow your skill, but daily I think one should do quick studies of a thing. It is in those moments of seeing a problem before you, setting forth to solve it, and learning from it that both your hand, muscles and mind grow. Action begets action begets experience begets wisdom, I say! 

     Personally, I adore figure drawing. I held a pencil long before I held a brush. At times this has come back to bite me, as a painting and a drawing are not the same thing, but done together and thought of as one and you begin to change the way you think. Different aspects of what you want to get on the page become important and not so much the problem itself but the way you go about solving it evolves into something new. 

     After months of absence from figure drawing I've recently taken it up again digitally. The Croquis Cafe channel on youtube offers a weekly challenge on different models and timed drawing sessions. I've fallen in love with it and thankfully I'm working my way back in the videos so I've got plenty to choose from! 

     I'd like to share some of my favorite pages of sketches over the past few months from these sessions, none taking longer than 5 minutes. I hope you enjoy  and remember that it's the journey and not the finish!