Being Happy with the Little Bits—or Keep on Pushing to See Where It Goes: Part One

Left: Quick portrait sketch, from a 19th Century photograph. Faber Castel Pitt Artists Brush Pen and some light washes of Lukas gouache. The journal is about 8 inches square and I turned it on its side to work vertically. The journal is made with Folio paper, which is a printmaking paper, not a watercolor paper. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Last week I wanted to practice drawing people, something I don’t do often, frankly I’m more interested in birds. One evening I was up late and I burned through some quick portraits that I am going to write about as a four-part series this week. (Four parts because I wanted to break it down in to smaller chunks for people who stop by every day! Thank you!)

I’ve written before about perfectionism and how that stops people from being productive. I’ve encouraged journal keepers all my life to just get things down on paper and then consider them and move on. We learn things through the practice of keeping a visual journal. One of the most valuable lessons we learn is how the materials we choose to work with actually work. You learn this in a less pressured environment than if you were making a final painting. And we also learn how to push things and how far to push things.

The “think method” advocated by the "Music Man" doesn’t work well when mastering sketching and painting. You actually need to put pen to paper, and brush to paper.

Too often I see people who have made some valiant attempts and they give up because they didn’t get what they wanted or what they saw in their mind. A healthier approach (healthier than giving up, and healthier than beating yourself up, or letting your internal critic do it) is to celebrate and enjoy the act of actually getting something down on paper that you can now look at, analyze, and work from towards the improvement you want to see in your work.

To this end I advocate being happy with the “little bits.” You can define little bits to include what you want and need included. For me "little bits" includes even the practice sketches because they are leading me to something else.

So on this day, that first sketch, shown here, which was the first time I had any time to sketch that day, so it was a warm up, is something I can celebrate. I took the time to sit down, regardless of how I was feeling, how distracted I was, and put pen to paper.

Next, while I’m not thrilled with the actual drawing (it didn’t end up looking look much like the actual photograph) I didn’t dwell on that. It’s the obvious thing. What I did dwell on was, where can I improve my rendering so that it looks more like the person? The obvious answer is to get more of the angle of his eye lids, more of the character of his lip, etc. You can go around your drawing and note all these things, again in a positive way that will actually make you excited to go on to the next drawing, rather than stop and throw your book into a drawer. (So practice a positive dialog with yourself.)

The next “little bit” that I can enjoy about this sketch is what happened to the paint.

Right: Detail from the sketch, showing three points of interest in the paint handling. These points are discussed in the text which follows. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Here are some interesting things that happened with the paint—

A: A second layer of paint applied while the first was mostly dry, but not totally dry, resulting in a roughly feathered edge that might be exactly what you are NOT WANTING to achieve.

B: A second wash of color was applied to a wet wash on the paper. The water and wet pigment in the brush PUSHED the wet wash already on the paper out of the way, creating a balloon. These can be interesting and some watercolorists love to use them; others avoid them like the plague. If you pay attention and learn what causes something then you can repeat it at will when you want it, or practice patience and avoid it.

C: Some really cool granulation of the two paints (Cinnabar Red Light and Ultramarine Blue) occurred here. This is useful because the Lukas gouache I was using is something that I don’t use often. This little exercise in quick sketching helps remind me how the paint works and what effects I can get with it.

Note: Lukas gouache doesn’t have the pigment numbers on the labels, and it also has a very chalky consistency. I like to use it for certain subject matter, or to get a certain effect, but mostly I don’t use it any more. If you are going to use this for your primary gouache I recommend that you do research as to which pigments are used, and in which combinations in this paint. It is labeled “extra fine” and advertising copy tells us that it is made from the highest quality pigments that are lightfast and permanent. One ad blurb I read also stressed that these were single pigment paints (always nice when you’re blending). I can tell you the paint is rich and creamy, and on the stiff side, which some folks really like, especially for dry brush applications. There is a bit of a chemical smell, which is one of the reasons I so rarely use this paint now. (Less of a chemical smell than Winsor Newton, however). And there is the chalkiness. If you already use Winsor and Newton or Holbein you’ll probably like this gouache too. If you use M. Graham or Schmincke gouaches then you’ll be a bit frustrated. Jerry’s and AWS both sell it mail order.

A, B, and C, are all bits ("little bits") in this sketch which make me very, very happy. The execution of these points helped remind me to think consciously when applying color to this paper (not a watercolor paper). The process helped get my mind focused and on track for more efforts. I went on to make 3 more paintings (two more page spreads) using this photographic reference. After my quick analysis and enjoyment of the "little bits" I was excited and happy to get going on the next pieces.

So the next time you complete a sketch that isn’t what you had hoped, DON’T STOP. Look at what you just did and find some section of that sketch that really accomplishes what you wanted to accomplish. Think, remember, take notes if necessary, on how you accomplished that little bit. SAVOR IT. Let it roll around in your brain. It’s a good thing. It’s on paper. If you were paying attention (and you need to be paying attention) it will be something you can do again and again.

Every sketch we do has something that is stellar in it. Your internal critic just doesn't want you to know this. Enjoy those bits. If you start recognizing those stellar bits you'll come closer and closer to putting them together in a final painting project that looks more like what you have in your mind!

(You'll also find yourself smiling a whole lot more. These little bits are just going to make you happy.)

Do a quick sketch right now. Get your head on task—really show up, no matter what else is going on in your life. Then look at your sketch. After you have savored the little bits you’ve found all about your sketch that worked, or were interesting, you’ll find you are ready to start all over again. So do it, push some more, do another sketch. (I’ll show you my second sketch tomorrow.)

Comments

[Tim]

Roz,
These are magnificently helpful. Please keep talking.

[Roz]

Tim, I'm glad you are enjoying these. I finished the other two parts this afternoon and they will post Wednesday and Thursday. Hope you are doing some sketching series!