Why Draw.....Life After The 200 Day Project

I have always loved to draw.  The first body of work I ever sold were drawings. I designed program covers for  the Dixie National Quarter Horse Show for over 10 years, with drawings (the drawing above was featured on the cover of The Chronicle of the Horse magazine).  I was successful with my drawings or illustrations, but I'm not sure I ever valued them and their influence on my painting until I realized how much they helped me decipher value.

While I was involved with the "200 Paintings/ 200 Days" project, I limited my time to a one hour maximum on each painting. I wanted to go with my first impressions and keep things simplified, therefore, I did not allow myself time to draw. As my confidence grew, I began to work faster and even had time on my final painting to do a quick value sketch before beginning the actual painting.  I realized during that painting just how valuable the sketch was. No, it wasn't the tight detailed rendering of the horse drawing above, but it was a depiction of the values and how they worked. I was also able to work with the placement of the basic shapes and study how they affected each other. Finally, I was able to decide, on paper, the actual direction of the rows for the best composition (I changed them in the final painting).  I solved many of my problems before I ever applied paint to canvas.

Drawing your subject before painting it will teach you so much about what you will be faced with as a painting develops. I like to think of these drawings, first on paper with graphite and then on the actual painting with paint, as the bones in the skeleton of the painting. It is so much easier to see what works and what doesn't before you deal with issues that arise when color is added.

I know how we artists are, once we get out in the field or set up in the studio we want to paint! Forget dragging things out with a sketch book and pencil. I get it and yes there are times I have a small window of time to work and I forgo the drawing, but that is becoming rare.  I hear a lot of my students say they can't draw and my advice for them is practice, practice, practice. Draw everyday.  I can't count the times I hear someone they can paint, but they can't draw. If you are going to paint representational work, you HAVE to have some drawing skills or you will always be limited as a painter.

So get your sketch book out if you are not already in the habit. Take it with you everywhere  (the ones to the left were done while was riding in the passenger seat of the car). Trust me, it will make a difference.