Above: Scruffy pencil dog from imagination. Two colors of Prismacolor on a laid-texture paper in an Exacompta sketchbook (approx. 6 x 8 inches). Click on the image to view an enlargement.
(Part I of this series appeared on Monday, August 29, 2011.)
One of the results you should expect when you start to change things up is that you'll end up going down some interesting side paths. Gearing up for "Paws on Grand" I found that I became so entranced with the laid texture of one of my practice papers that I started doodling more and more drawings.
But this side path, while enjoyable, wasn't getting me to faster sketches. Was it a waste of time to draw on a paper I wasn't going to be using?
Left: Detail of the scruffy dog's face. I'm enjoying myself way too much with those sharp pointy pencils on this laid texture. That's too much detail for the time I'll have on the day. But it's interesting to see what comes out. Click on the image to view an enlargement.
No, because it was focusing me on the texture possible with the pencils I thought I would be using. Also it was forcing me to work smaller with those pencils.
And it was encouraging me to play—which is what I needed.
I took an additional side journey off to Wet Paint where I purchased some Arches Text Laid. Usually I get the Text Wove (Velin Arches), but I thought, hey, I'm having so much fun with this other laid paper…maybe…but that's a discussion for another day.
Side paths, they can be very fruitful. Explore some.
