Monday, September 24, 2012

Sketch Whatever's in Front of You

This last Sunday Ruth worked on her new painting. (We're trying to get some images and pictures on the walls before the parents come next month.) We've lived here now for about a year and a half and still have no pictures on the walls. It looks a bit bleak. Like an empty cave.

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon so while she painted and we talked I started drawing what was on the coffee table. What's great about sketching is that once you start, time evaporates. As we talked and she painted I finished the bottle and cup and then started on my camera. Drawing complex stuff is easier when you just take one line at a time and don't think too much.

After about an hour of drawing I decided to fetch the watercolors and add some washes. A rough sketch always looks better with a little color.

When I was done I realized how much I missed my daily sketching. There just seems to be so many other things to do. But sketching helps maintain my sanity.

Yesterday at Starbucks I was about to pull out my pen and sketchbook when one of the employees asked me and a friend if we'd like to sample coffee and cheesecake.

Should I draw or drink coffee and eat cheesecake?

I bailed on the sketch and enjoyed visiting with her and her two associates over coffee and desert.

I can always sketch tomorrow.

...dave
"Tomorrow is another day." - Scarlet O'Hara in Gone With The Wind

4 comments:

Isadore Braun said...

Hi Dave. Very impressed with your business sketchnotes on Flickr. Question: What tool or technique did you use to underline/highlight your dates and other headings without smudging the ink. Thanks.

daveterry said...

Hi Isadore: The key is to use waterproof ink. I use Uni-ball Vision Micro pens. (You can get them at Walmart for about $9 for four.) However, any waterproof ink will work.
...dave

omgparticle said...

Nice job.
Have you tried doing any digital sketching with the ipad? what app?
I have the bamboo for my desktop but was thinking of grabbing a pen for a tablet.

daveterry said...

omgparticle: Yes. I use GoodNotes. Check out this blog post for some of the details I wrote up:
Goodnotes - A Perfect iPad Sketchnote app