Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Simplifying Your Subject Sketching
Some main points I learned from this section are:
- "Simplifying is something you learn to do as you look at the subject...an artist sees only what is important to his or her sketch" (41).
- A good way to practice simplifying is by doing three-minute exercises. They are a bit challenging, but will really help you only draw the essentials (41).
- Squinting your eyes when you look at your subject (the object you are drawing) will help you see only the darkest and lightest areas, eliminating the areas with a lot of detail (41).
Crawshaw tells the reader that "Three-minute exercises are fun to do and very important for teaching you to simplify" (48). He also suggests, "Birds are a wonderful subject for a three-minute sketch. Start by copying my sketches..." (48).
My first three-minute exercise turned out pretty well, as I copied Crawshaws sketches of birds. I was unable to get proper sketching pencils before this post, so I stuck to my normal #2 pencil.
The final result was not amazing, but as Alwyn Crawshaw writes, "There is no secret formula...except of course, practice, which gives experience" (46). Ill keep practicing three-minute exercises so that I can get better at simplifying my subject.
I found three-minute sketches to be very enjoyable, and I definitely simplified my sketches a lot more than before. By only sketching for three minutes, I didnt worry so much about the detail but focused on the main form and shape of the subject. I am pretty impressed with this method. You definitely can learn a lot in three minutes!
Have you ever tried doing a three-minute sketch? In general, what are your favorite things to sketch or draw?
Citation:
Crawshaw, Alwyn. Sketching. New York: Collins, 2008. Print.
Labels:
simplifying,
sketching,
subject,
your
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