I talked about this sketch project in my post about my goals for the year. A lot of us artists have a recurring goal of “sketch daily.” I know I have tried to start sketching daily about 50 times, but it always peters out after about 3 days.
In late December, I identified the reasons I never wanted to sketch:
- It was too hard to search and find a subject each day
- Or, the subject was boring (a fence, a landscape, a building… to me, these are boring to sketch)
- The task was too large and would take too long
- What am I going to do with all those sketches?
This project solves all of those issues. Here it is:
I bought a daily calendar at the bookstore. There were tons of choices, but I went for wildlife photos (I LOVE sketching animals). Each day, I sketch the animal in the photo on a small spiral-bound sketchpad.
It takes 3-5 minutes, unless I really get into it. And I am beginning to look forward to it. As I said, I LOVE sketching animals. I used to do it all the time as a kid. And with the calendar, I get a beautiful animal served up each day without me having to go searching online for a subject. Working on a small sketchpad makes it easy to keep it small and simple, so it’s not overwhelming.
If I miss a day or two (when company comes over or I travel, it rarely do it), it’s still not overwhelming to catch up, since each sketch takes up so little time. There’s little pressure; if the sketch doesn’t go well, that’s okay – it’s just an exercise and tomorrow is another chance!
The practice is already making me improve and become more confident. I am beginning to experiment with style, and to find the joy in sketching again.
So if you’ve been searching for a project that makes you excited to sketch daily, try it out! You can find daily calendars for all sorts of subjects – get one that speaks to you and makes you itch to pick up that pencil!
If you’d rather live vicariously, I’m sure some of the sketches, as well as digital illustrations inspired by the sketches, will show up on the blog. And I’ll let you know how my enthusiasm fares as the year goes on!
By the way: I got this calendar by Bela Baliko. I am loving it so very much – highly recommend it!
Category: General, Illustrations
Wow! that’s such an ingenious way to tackle that issue! Great job analyzing and finding a solution.
Holy CATS your sketches are phenomenal! I draw every day too and a) they are rudimentary, like comics, but I have fun and they go well on pots and b) I use pencil or brush but rediscovered fountain pen this week, awesome! Keep it up and Keep sharing!
These great! I love the bear :) I was thinking of doing something like that but with clay, like we learned in Ian Gregorys class. I need someone to make me follow through! Good job, keep up the great sketches!
Thanks everyone, I think it’s working well. @gary I love your sketches, that’s what made me decide to start sharing mine. It’s great to see different styles.
@callie, that’s a good idea, sketching in clay! Quick little maquettes, you could take a picture and then mash them back up the next day…