Roz Wound Up

Project Friday: Dirty Brushes, Fun with Paint, and Working in a LARGE Journal

Above: A page spread from an 11 x 14 inch Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media hardbound journal. Pentel Pocket Brush Pen Sketch and DaVinci Gouache. I used a large filbert (about an inch wide) and a smaller filbert, about 3/8 inch wide) to paint all the strokes here. The image is too large to scan so I put it on the floor and photographed it. The light is a little odd and she looks more orange than she is. (It's Angela Lansbury—I'm still watching Perry Mason, but I needed some "comfort food" viewing and have been watching a little bit of "Murder She Wrote." I stopped to action to sketch this view. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I've mentioned before that my sketches have been getting larger and larger. It's that "Piecemeal Style" I've been working in. I just keep adding paper extensions as the drawing grows out of the paper size.

Left: Is a scan of what would fit. If you click on it you can see a bit more detail in the paint strokes. The color is more accurate in this image. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I decided that for my next journal I'd get the biggest one possible, which had paper that I liked. Making a journal this large would be costly because I'd have to waste a lot of paper to get this trim size with some sheets of paper. While I could use a 22 x 30 inch sheet with the grain running with the 30 inch length and get two pieces that were 22 x 15 and would fold with the grain to 11 x 15 it would mean I'd only get two pieces per sheet. I'd need 4 per signature which means I'd need two full sheets of paper per signature and with paper that size running about $4 or more a sheet it gets expensive quickly. Anyway, I don't enjoy binding books that large and since Strathmore already makes a lovely hardbound book with their Strathmore 500 series Mixed Media paper, I don't have to. (I wouldn't have had any place to bind it either as my worktable is stacked with stuff related to what's going on in the folks' lives right now.) So I went to Wet Paint and purchased one and got busy.

Left: Here's a detail view of one portion of the sketch. You can see thin and thicker applications of paint. And you can also see how I'm allowing my white brush to pick up other color when I'm moving around the face. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Opening this post is the last painting I made with DaVinci gouache. You can read about my final problems with DaVinci gouache here, and find links to my original reviews of it here. Today's image is actually the painting I did on the back of the Michael Kitchen painting, which caused that painting to start to redissolve!

I also wrote about my decision to not use DaVinci Gouache any more over on Artist's Journal Workshop. I did in fact talk to the grandmother and art mentor to my favorite 8-year-old and she thought he could have fun with the paint so it was packed up and sent to him. She knows the best ways to approach it so it won't put him off painting, but she knows he shouldn't use it in his journals (yes he has journals and goes landscape sketching with his grandmother).

Left: One more detail portion because I think the eye is kind of fun to see up close. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

But all this is background. I wanted to write today about playing with paint, pushing it around, which you can do even if the paint isn't your favorite!

As you can see in the details of the image I'm having a lot of fun quickly pushing paint around. There are thin underlying passages of paint that I worked in quickly and let dry (usually) before bringing in heavier paint. (You can work on other areas of the painting while a particular area dries.) There are layers of heavier paint smoothed in with other layers of paint, and there are layers of paint stroked on top of everything with a dry brush. 

This was all done very quickly with an attitude of play and "what can I notice?" I didn't worry about smoothing edges or hiding my brush strokes. I love seeing my brush strokes when I do this. They leave a trail that shows me how I was thinking at the moment.

I hope you have some time to play with paint this weekend, regardless of the type of paint you're using. I also hope that at least for one sketch you can let yourself go and not worry about your dirty brush (interesting things can happen) and not worry about making a perfect picture. Just work as hard as you can with your full attention, and ask yourself: "What can I notice?"

What can I notice about: the paint, the water amount needed (if the paint is watersoluble) in the brush or the paint; the paper, it's ability to take water, the length of time it takes to dry, the point at which I can add more paint to the paper (when I want to blend, when I want to cover, when I want to cover with a dry-brush effect on the final stroke; how dry paint has to be before I can go over it and not pick it up, pick it up slightly, be able to blend it smoothly (and how does the paper and paint on the paper look at each of those moments); what types of brushes make the types of strokes I want, how did I angle the brush to get that stroke; how can I make this form move away from me and look dimensional; how dark is this value; can I hide this pen line; do I want to hide this pen line; do I want to work in pencil because it will be easier to hide my lines; what works and what doesn't work; what do I want to try again; how does working large help or hinder me?

You get the idea. Have a fun weekend sketching and painting.

 

I Just Had To Show You These Two Sketches…

Left: Sketch of a character actor using the Faber-Castel Pitt Artist's Calligraphy Pen (outlined at end with the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen), 8.5 x 11 inches, Richeson Recycled watercolor paper. Oh, yeah, and schmincke gouache in the face, and acrylic Montana markers all over the background. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I am pressed for time this week but while I let a longer post "rest" I couldn't resist sharing these two sketches with you.

I was watching "Perry Mason" and something hit me about this man and the tilt of his head. So I sketched him. And added some light washes of gouache, because it was out on the plate, and it was watercolor paper, and why not…?

I had the TV stopped while I was sketching. This is back in February when I had bronchitis and essentially was studying to take the California bar exam, or so it seemed from all the little facts I absorbed about maritime law…

Left: Pen sketch only—of the actor moments later in the TV show. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

When I finished painting the first sketch I got called away from the TV (despite being sick I had some deadlines to meet). I came back after some phone calls and turned on the TV only to see a totally new expression on this character. Of course I had to sketch it too.

I have no recollection whether or not this character actor turned out to be the murderer (though I do have quite a lot of details about maritime law and insurance still retained in the brain), but when I was looking through my scans today I saw these and they made me laugh all over again.

I hope you have a great day, and week, of sketching, and have many surprises along the way.

Finches: Some Studies

Above: Fince studies, various pens, on Nideggen paper (in a 7 x 7 inch journal I made with it)—and some stenciling with rubberstamp inks. Oh, the white is from a Montana acrylic paint marker—and that red sketch is watersoluble ink so the white marker picked up the red and made PINK. Even better because I discovered in April that I love PINK. (Left page cropped for privacy.) Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I would have to say that one of the perks of the new living arrangements for Dick's parents is that daily I get to see lots and lots of finches up close and personal. I have to walk by an aviary every day. I stop and sketch the birds and also take a couple photos for later to refine my sketches. 

Nothing calms me more than watching birds for a little while. I understand why they are part of the facility.

Once in while my in studies pay off. The bird labeled "Yes" will become a painting.

(I used Brilliance rubberstamp ink pads to stencil the pink and copper on these pages, and Versamark White for the white stenciling on the bottom page spread. You can see me demonstrate how I use this very stencil in my portion of the presentation of 3 favorite tools in Favorite Tools of the MCBA Visual Journal Collective—Part 2 [I'm in part two.])

Below: More finch sketches, on a background that I had pre-stenciled with rubberstamp inks (pink and white). I worked some gouache into this spread as well, and also used gouache that was on the palette to outline some of the stencil design and write some notes. 7 x 7 inch handmade journal with Nideggen paper for pages. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Even More Bad News About DaVinci Gouache

Left: Sketch of Michael Kitchen as DCS Foyle in "Foyle's War." Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media paper hardbound journal, 11 x 14 inches. DaVinci Gouache over Pentel Pocket Brush Pen Sketch. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

On May 15 over on the Official International Fake Journal Blog I posted an update to my review of DaVinci Gouache. "Beware."

I mentioned that I was working in a Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media paper journal and the moisture from one painting reactivated the paint on the previous spread.

(My original review of DaVinci Gouache appeared on that blog on April 24, 2013. I had lots of reservations about it even then.)

Today I've posted the painting that was dry and then reactivated by painting on the next page. This has NEVER happened before to me with this paper or any other of the papers I use to make my journals. It was a shock. 

I knew the paint reactivated when I put PVA on the back of my paintings that were done on thin pieces of graph paper for my fake journal, but this took me by surprise.

In the above photo you can see across the gutter to the left hand page and underneath the glassine (which was added after the fact now that I know this can happen) you can see how some of the paint from this right-hand page lifted off and "printed" on the facing page. This of course means that the painting as I left it is no longer as I left it!

Well if that weren't bad news enough this past week we've had some very humid days. I went to type a transcript of my 2013 fake journal because the handwritten text is not readable in the video I shot. (You can read the text from my 2013 fake journal here.) Happily, because I have not had the pages photographed yet (it's too large and cumbersome, and deformed, to fit on the scanner) I had placed pieces of glassine between the pages. As I turned the pages while typing I discovered that just the humidity in the air was enough to ACTIVATE the gouache and make it tacky—gouache that had been dry for weeks had been reactivated. It actually stuck to the glassine! Nothing sticks to the glassine.

Right: A scan of the painting which has been color corrected to match the actual painting. Cropped to what would fit on my scanner, which is about 11.5 x 13 inches. I only wanted to make one scan and not patch things together. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

What you may not know, or remember if you read earlier posts about my 2013 fake journal, is that it is so over stuffed with stuff that it is impossible to close it. It yawns open at about 9 inches. In order to avoid putting pressure and strain on the binding I elected to store this journal open at the center, "flat," in an archival box. (The box has arrived, but I hadn't put it in the box yet.) It has been sitting half open on a table so there has been no pressure on any of these pages, pushing them into each other to facilitate sticking. 

There was just simply some humidity in the air causing the components of the paint to reactivate and become tacky again. Which in turn resulted in the paint sticking to glassine in some areas.

So while DaVinci Gouache may have little problem with cracking (and frankly I have little problem with cracking when painting with my two favorite gouache brands: Schmincke and M. Graham, so that's kind of a moot point) this is pretty much a deal breaker for using these paints in a journal: the fact that the previous page's work will reactivate when you work on the next spread, and the fact that weeks later changes in humidity can reactivate the paint.

Left: Detail from the Michael Kitchen sketch. The cheek area did not sustain too much damage from the reactivation process (that's deliberate dry brushing going on there breaking up the paint), though there are problems with the nose especially in the white highlights which were the last layer to go down. I'm unclear whether certain colors tend to pick up more than others or it's simply a matter of how much moisture comes through the paper. When I was using PVA to glue paintings into my fake journal it seemed to me that all colors lifted off equally, but then I was dealing with a lot more moisture applied to the back of the entire image uniformly in the gluing process. I just wouldn't trust any color in the line. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I can't recommend this paint for anyone working in a visual journal anywhere on the planet, unless you're in the middle of an arid desert where there is never a rainy season!

While you may enjoy aspects of working with this paint (I've discussed them in my review; and I admit there are some fun things about this paint) I really urge you to use it only on flat paintings that will be framed. I caution you from using it in either a bound journal or a loose-leaf journal (in which your paintings are stacked in a box for instance; pages or loose leaves will end up sticking together). 

If you've started in gouache with this brand, let me tell you that you don't know how much of a joy working with a great brand of gouache can be. I urge you to try either Schmincke or M. Graham gouache brands as soon as your budget allows. (And you can read why all over this blog but the Gouache Compendium will get you started.)

I forgot to mention that for this painting I worked with two filberts, one rather large (about 1 inch), and the other about a 3/8 inch wide. I'm able with the filbert to go on the side of the brush and create thinner lines of paint. Sometimes for end details I'll go in with a very fine (1, 0 or even 000) round brush, but on a quick sketch like this I never bother changing brushes just as I don't bother putting on my glasses. The small filbert I used had been severely damaged using this sticky, tacky paint in my fake journal so there are a lot of errant hairs causing a broken line. Also DaVinci gouache doesn't have a PB60 in its line so you'll notice that my darks are mixed differently from my usual palette creating blacks that I think tend to green (which I don't care for).

A Video Flip Through of My 2013 Fake Journal Is Finally Up

I was finally able to shoot a video flip through of my 2013 fake journal. I've embedded it here for folks who don't read the Official International Fake Journal Blog.

My 2013 fake journal represents 19 days of journaling and a few days more of prepainting those backgrounds so it was the piece of creative work I did mostly from March 31 through April 18. 

I would love for you to see the video so I've embedded it here as well as on the other blog. If you are interested in the contest connected with the video you can read about it in the original post—but do so before Sunday evening because the contest is only lasting 48 hours from the posting of that post.

I had great fun selecting royalty free music from Kevin MacLeod's incompetech.com. If you aren't familiar with his site be sure to visit it and look around.  

At the end of May I'm going to have some photos taken of the pages of this journal. I should be able to post some detail shots of various elements of the journal. All that, and more about my character for 2013, will happen over on the Official International Fake Journal Blog. I hope you'll stop by and check it out now and then.

Also, in a couple days when I've compiled it, I'll have a list of links to various other artists who have done an end-of-project write up about their participation in IFJM 2013. They share some thoughts about how the project went for them. (Right now on that blog there is a list of participants in the right-hand column so you can go visit their work.)

This is the craziest thing I've ever tried to do during all my years of fake journaling—the tightest deadlines, the most intense production, and a character who is only superficially similar to me—it's that nearness that almost made my head explode. But it's also a journal from which I've taken a lot of energy and joy back to my regular journal. It has planted new seeds of thought in my mind and made me think anew about something so indelibly a part of me. It was worth all the almost sleepless nights.

Sketching Folks on Project Runway

Left: Faber-Castell Pitt Artist's Calligraphy pen sketch with gouache. 8.5 x 11 inches, Richeson Recycled watercolor paper. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

SPOILER ALERT: I write about which designer won season 11 of Project Runway, so if you haven't watched the finale, you've been warned.

While I seem to be forever attired in T-shirts and khakis (and sometimes Gramiccis) I have to admit that I really enjoy watching "Project Runway" to see what people come up with in a limited time frame. (Sometimes the contestants annoy me, but this season [11th] which just wrapped up last week didn't seem as bad.)

Michelle won and I have to say, if I didn't have a "uniform" I would wear clothes that she makes—I loved them all. But then I would just wear them forever even after they went out of fashion, which doesn't matter to me. I enjoyed her clothing vibe. In fact she made a pair of pants and a top one week that I could wear in different colors everyday of my life. I'm glad she won. I hope she has some success. (If you click on the link I made to her name you'll see an overview of her clothing in a short video and at 1 min. and 53 seconds or so you'll see the top and pants I could wear every day.)

While Stanley didn't win he was the designer who was the most fun to sketch. So today here are two sketches of Stanley, and then a page of gesture sketches. 

Left: A Pentel Pocket Brush Pen sketch on sumi paper, with a background added with a Montana acrylic marker (15 mm wide nib). Also 8.5 x 11 inches. The moisture from the marker warped the paper, hence the wrinkles when I scanned it. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

When sketching both versions of Stanley I actually stopped the program on the DVR. When I was working on the page of gestures I let the program run and tried to carry details in my memory.

 

 

Left: Designers on Project Runway season 11. Top Left—Michelle who actually won the season. These gesture sketches were made after quick looks, relying on my memory. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

The Amazing James Gurney Does a Plein Air Gouache Sketch in Monterey

 

If the above embedded video doesn't work see James Gurney's gouache sketching video here.

My friend Diane sent me a link to this wonderful 3 minute video of James Gurney doing a plein air sketch in his sketchbook using gouache. He is amazing. He removed two portraits he wasn't happy with from his page, put in a background tone and then painted…well just go watch the thing. 

I think gouache is amazing, and fun to use.

But when you see someone like Gurney whose talent is so superlative work with it, well you just feel happy.

You might also want to watch this video if you don't understand the fuss everyone is always making about "values."

Another Peek into Roz's 2013 Fake Journal—A Dog Portrait of Course!

Above: Page spread in my 2013 fake journal, April 2, 2013. Read about this image and see detail photos from the process in the post. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Yesterday on the Official International Fake Journal Blog I posted a bird-related page spread peek into my 2013 fake journal. This journal is impossible to scan and I haven't had time to video tape the thing yet. (At the rate I've been going the book will be filled by April 18, at which point I'll have some free time to video tape it!)

Most of my extracurricular art time this month has been spent working on this fake journal. Because of that, and certain family circumstances, I won't have time to write on both blogs—especially on an almost daily basis like I do here at Roz Wound Up. 

I wanted to give you all a heads up, that even though fake journaling isn't your thing, you might want to wander over to the Official International Fake Journal Blog from time to time in the next few weeks. It's there that I'll be posting not only more peeks into this journal, but reviews on the materials I used to create it. Materials like—gelli arts printing plates, various acrylic paint products, rubberstamp inks, a variety of papers, pens, and Da Vinci Gouache. I'd hate for you to miss any of that.

I'll continue to post here as time allows. I have lots of faces to show you from an on-going project, as well as other updates and art. But if you don't see something here, you might want to check out the other blog for interesting news on a variety of topics.

Perhaps of greatest interest will be in how I took a totally unlikely and unsuitable (for mixed media) journal—the Leuchtturm 1917 Notebook—and filled it up with mixed media. The results were surprising. (The link in this paragraph is to my original review of that commercially bound journal. The results will be upcoming on the Official International Fake Journal Blog.)

Briefly, because if I explained here everything that is going on in my fake journal everyone would simply pass out or miss his bus, this journal was about layers, and using inexpensive materials. (Though it is arguably the most expensive journal I've ever produced since I didn't have any of the inexpensive materials to use in it until I went out and got them in order to use them in this book!)

Since the approach was layers I had plans to take photos of everything each step of the way and compile it into a number of posts and videos. Personal time constraints are making that impossible, but I do want to look at some of my approaches and I love this spread so I thought I'd do that here today and if you're interested in more you know where to go.

Left: The spread with the Sumi paper and collaged papers in place. The lavender is acrylic paint. I created a monoprint using the Gelli-Arts Printing Plate. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

First off in the above spread I used a Gelli-Arts Printing Plate and some cheap acrylic craft paints (all reviews will eventually run on the other blog so this is just quick notes about the process) to create a monoprint on Sumi paper that was larger than the page spread. That's the purple paint you see everywhere. I glued that complete sheet down over the spread. When it was dry I trimmed the edges (you've seen me do this in a video—if you missed my Strathmore Visual Journaling class in which I also demonstrated this you can see it on a smaller scale in this video here).

In a departure from my usual practice I used PVA for gluing the large pieces throughout this journal. (My rationale for that choice will be described in a future post on the other blog.) I didn't worry about weighting things or bubbling of paper. This journal has an absolutely scrumptious bulky-crackling to its pages.

Next I collaged some decorative papers at the top and sides of the spread. At the far right you'll see gold metallic paper under the dog's ear.

Left: A detail showing the line work sketch. I drew directly on the page with the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. (It doesn't like to dry on the type of metallic paper I was using at the right edge, but I knew I'd paint over it.) I was using sketches I made from life and a couple photographs as reference. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

When I came to this page on April 2 I decided to draw and paint a dog portrait. (This is my muse Sophia Grace, only I've changed her color a bit. She's so lovely.)

I struggled a lot deciding on whether or not to paint this sketch or leave the line work. I loved the background and wanted it to show, not be painted over around the dog. Conversely I didn't want to hide the line work. But the driving force of this year's fake journal was letting things go, and not being precious about things like line work. My character dove in and painted over the line work with Da Vinci gouache (after giving me a moment to photograph it!). I used that gouache because it is less expensive for the volume I was going to go through, wanted to try it, and wanted to experiment with a different set of pigments (they don't make a PB60). I'll go into my findings about this gouache when I review it on the other blog.

Left: A close up photo of the painted dog-portrait so you can see some of the brushwork. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Once the painting portion was completed I decided to rubberstamp in the background. Some stamps were used as background texture (dots, squares, lines, and text). But I also used a large alphabet to stamp my character's thoughts on the page in large pink letters. "Letting things slip." Before stamping the letters I cut and positioned a mask of tracing paper on top of the painted dog.

My character ends her journal pages with a stamped red dot and the date written around that dot. You can see this at the bottom of the right-hand page.

There you have it, a close look at the construction of one of the page spreads in my 2013 fake journal. In the coming weeks I hope that you'll take a moment to venture over to the Official International Fake Journal Blog to see other spreads and reviews of the different materials and products I used to create the journal. Maybe next year you'll join us?

Life's so short, why live only one?

 

Some Quick Gouache Faces

Left: Red Schmincke gouache on Stonehenge paper. (8.5 x 11 inches.) Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I was a face sketching machine at the beginning of this year, trying to get ready for the annual portrait party. Sadly I missed the party due to illness but I'm buried in faces and have many I want to share with you still.

Both of the images in today's post were done with direct sketching using a brush and leftover gouache (i.e., gouache put out for another painting session and left to dry, spritzed with water and used).

Both are also before I got sick. 

I think they are fun because of their looseness but also because I can see I'm searching for the facial structure and the shapes.

Both men are character actors I saw on episodes of Perry Mason, because on each of these nights no live models could be found! (And there are a gazillion episodes of Perry!)

Left: red, blue, and a little bit of white (tinting the blue) Schmincke gouache in a direct brush sketch on Richeson Recycled watercolor paper. (8.5 x 11 inches) Click on the image to view an enlargement.

If you want to work with a brush in your sketching but you find that the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen's rich black lines are a little too strident for your mood on a particular day, look down at your palette and see what else you can use. These experiments can lead you in fun, new directions. And because you're using gouache you can paint over stuff (more carefully than I have if that matters to you). Go have some fun with gouache.

Some Quick Sketches—Let the TV Keep Running!

Left: Three quick sketches while the TV was still running. Faber-Castell Pitt Artist's Calligraphy Pen and gouache on 8-1/2 x 11 inch Richeson Recycled watercolor paper. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Since people don't stand still for you when you're out and about sketching, I find it helpful to practice "speed sketching" by watching TV and NOT STOPPING the action.

The result is more of a memory drawing (my memory only lasts about 30 seconds) than a gesture drawing. Sometimes there are only fleeting views of someone on the screen.

I try to remember what interested me about their pose and then scribble something down onto the paper. 

I slop some paint on and then I have to rewind the show I was watching because the image I was sketching is long gone, and I was looking at my paper painting and not paying attention to the show, so if I'm to know what happened I have to go back.

Not something you can do easily if you watch TV with others!

Left: Another quick sketch made while the TV was still running. But for this one I actually rewound the show to check on some things before I added paint. Faber-Castell Pitt Artist's Calligraphy Pen and gouache on 8-1/2 x 11 inch Richeson Recycled watercolor paper. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

While I never get my proportions right on these quick views I find that I can still see what it was that interested me in the original moment of viewing. My brain can only hold on to that one small thing for that long. In the first image I posted it was the woman's bust line, square collar and curved shoulder which caught my attention. In the second image I was struck by the floppy, odd "bangs" and dark eye make-up. Later I learned that the hair could actually be put up in a Mohawk and it all made sense!

These were all contestants on the recent season of "Face-off" which is a special effects competition show I love. (You get to see people sculpting and molding prosthetics for film characters.)

If you want to sketch from the TV while it's still running I recommend that you do the following:

• Watch intently and if something catches your eye, start sketching immediately (i.e., have your pen and paper in hand all the time). 

If you haven't done this before watch until the person or animal is no longer on the screen (1 to 5 seconds is often typical) and try to remember everything that "spoke" to you. Then rewind the show and watch that bit again, before drawing to give yourself another go at seeing.

• Even though the subject is no longer on the screen try to get down on paper what it was that attracted your attention without worrying about your sketch being perfect. 

• Throw some paint on your sketch. This is a very quick way to add shadows and color notes. It's fun to try and recall what color something was. I think this is a useful exercise not just for painting but for improving your memory in general.

• If you've been intent on sketching from memory what you saw only briefly by now a couple minutes will have passed. (I typically get a 1 to 5 second view, a minute to 90 seconds of scribbling, and 1 to 2 minutes of painting—depending on whether or not I'm letting layers of paint dry. If you are letting paint dry before putting on additional layers you're going to have more painting time.)

By letting the TV continue to run you have to force yourself to remember where all the body or facial parts were, the shading, the colors…but often you also get second, and third views of the same subject if you look up. They are in a different position, but chances are they have the same outfit on. Someday I may be able to extrapolate what a person looks like rotated in space, but for now this is a quick way to practice, to see another view and incorporate it with the information you've already absorbed.

• At this point I rewind the show to my original sighting and get back into viewing the show. Typically in less than 5 minutes my attention is caught by something else and I start all over again.

I can do this for a couple of hours and end up with several pages of interesting sketches. They might not be pretty, but I learn a lot in the process.