The Importance of Drawing and Sketching...

​The Strange, Wooden 'Thingy' In my Art Studio...

​In the corner of my art studio, I have a strange looking 'thingy'... It's made of wood, it goes up and down and tilts at all angles...
 
I use this strange wooden 'thingy' to plan my paintings and map out the outlines before transferring them to canvas... But what was this strange wooden thingy originally meant for...?

Aha! I've got it! It's meant for actually drawing and sketching!
It's no wonder I forget, since I've been neglecting that area for way too long. 
​
My issue has always been time... If I have time, I will always paint first and then of course time runs out! But actually, sketching has always been something I LOVE to do! And I don't mean intricate drawings, I mean capturing expressions and mood in just a few minutes with a pen or a pencil and more importantly, without any concerns about how it will turn out!

Anyway, I read through one of my previous posts on time management and realised that there is one area of my life I could definitely change... And that's what I call 'my morning hour'.
 
Every morning for the last year or so, I've been getting up an hour earlier than I need to, just so I can enjoy a rare hour to myself with no distractions. I leisurely eat breakfast, grind my coffee beans and sink in to the armchair to watch my favourite TV show...
 
That's great, but what if I dedicated that hour to drawing, sketching and conscious learning instead?
 
Well since I had that 'aha' moment I've been doing exactly that and I can tell you that starting my day with one hour of sketching has been a revelation! I am filling pages that would otherwise have remained blank and of course I'm brushing up on my skills every day.

​But the main benefit I've noticed is that it has completely changed my frame of mind for the day because I've scratched my creative itch before I do anything else!

Q. So, where could you find time in your day to brush up on your basic skills? 


Week in a nutshell...

Treated myself to:  A new external microphone for my Mac. The 'Blue Snowball Ice'.
Inspired by: The YouTube Channel, 'Semi Skimmed Min' Well worth a visit if you love sketching!
Doing: One hours sketching before work each weekday (and loving it).
Discovered: The YouTube channel 'Croquis Cafe'. Perfect for practicing life drawing!


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