Sunday 4 October 2015

Plantlife Madeira




Black 0.8 marker in 21 x 20 cm sketchbook

always go on holiday with my sketchbook with the honest intention of filling it with drawings. Sadly I find that wandering about just looking at new things is an activity in itself that takes up most of my time. As a result, the opportunities for sitting and drawing are rarer than I'd like. Perhaps if I could develop a more rapid sketching style, I could get more done, but I'm afraid I'm a careful observer of fact and detail ...

Anyway, in an attempt to set aside some time purely for drawing, on Wednesday Pat and I went off to the Botanical Gardens on the hill above Funchal; she with her Kindle, I with my sketchbook. The result: three carefully observed pages of drawings of alien trees.






6 comments:

Boud said...

Some of us who draw rapidly are also careful observers of fact and detail. So that's not the reason you are slow. I think it's more about the general way a person moves, thinks, acts. Nothing wrong with it. Room for every style and approach in art, no need to diss other ways of working. Your Madeira drawings are lovely.

Unknown said...

Interesting to see the plants you sketched are similar to those in our botanical garden in palermo. I always use the excuse of a coffee at a bar to sit and sketch on holiday, have to find one with a good view though!

Renie said...

Love your drawings. I have the same problem -- I think it's pretty much universal to traveling artists, especially if you are traveling with a non-sketching partner. Congratulations on your solution.

harry bell said...

Cathy - Sitting in a pavement cafe is my ideal for sketching, but sometimes you just have to take what you're given. In this case, standing up in front of the plants, getting in everyone's way!

harry bell said...

Irene - thanks for the comment. It did seem to work out for me this time.

harry bell said...

Boud - thanks for your comment and I'm pleased you like my drawings. I'd never even consider dissing anyone's approach to sketching and am always interested in seeing how others work. You may be right about speed in sketching being related to the "way a person moves, thinks, acts" but I've begun to realise that part of my current slowness is connected to my materials - specifically the kind of marker I'm using. The ink does not flow freely from the tip and it's forcing me to be rather heavy handed. Something for me to think about.