some snippets of my farmscapes paintings in progress...
[farmscapes, september 2009]on my way back from visiting a fellow artist today, i stopped briefly to sketch some water...
[study of water, in graphite, about 15 minutes; maybe i should try watercolour...]
[second study - with three ducks, about ten minutes...]
[quick sketch looking through the hedgerow, also about ten munutes...]
i was thinking whilst drawing, of the process of learning to draw, how drawing is essentially translating the sensation of observing into a tangible, physical mark... i sketched quickly, using a near continuous line, using variants of pressure to deliberate and then assert each mark of the graphite... i made decisions but i did not judge the outcome, preferring to allow it to weave together and slowly build up...
the problem people have with drawing is that they judge too soon, making comparisons on a scale of likeness or realism rather than believability... a drawing can be convincing or credible without being realistic... graphite imparts the qualities of graphite... soft, irregular, tonal... a graphite stick may not be the perfect medium to quickly render the glassy reflectiveness and edges of rippling water, but it suits the spontaneous act of drawing, of making marks on a surface, taking a line for a walk or a quick stroll... in the countryside.