Sketch-y

untitled sketch, 6 x 4 in.

I didn't begin painting until I was 37, five years ago. Prior to that, my only real "art" experience involved a ton of sketching and drawing as a girl. I love pencil and paper--the sound the graphite makes on the surface of the paper, the mess it can make on your hands, the ability to erase!

I don't do much drawing anymore--simple thumbnails before I paint are as far as I tend to get. But just sketching this brief piece brought back tactile memories, and a renewed fondness for the line....(something that doesn't truly exist in nature, but sure works when you're drawing). Working a little more drawing into my life might not be such a bad thing. :)

-julie davis

Copying the Masters

Tree sketch

In the midst of my own tree studies, I'm taking an online course with Deborah Paris called "Drawing and Painting Trees." Perfect for me, right? She has us doing all sorts of studies/sketches of trees, and this week one thing we've studied is the taper of a tree.

Deborah recommends reading The Elements of Drawing, by John Ruskin, an influential late 19th-century artist. She suggests copying his and other's sketches as a way to learn. It's a time-honored technique, but I can't say I'd ever done it! And it's very different copying another's work--following rather than leading, if you will, but I learned some very valuable lessons. First, slow down. Be more thoughtful about each line. Study what you're drawing. Look twice, mark once. All of these apply to painting, and all are things we tend to gloss over in the bliss of spreading paint.

A big thank you to Karla Uphoff, for making my blog her "Blog Find of the Week" on her blog. My tree studies are what drew her. Thank you!

-julie davis

Tuscany

Sketches in Tuscany

Blogging while traveling isn't something I've mastered. Today, though, I've posted a thumbnail sketch I made in Tuscany, where we've been fortunate enough to be for a bit. I know I say nothing new when I describe the area as beautiful in every direction, but truly, there is a painting in every direction. While we're busy touring, I'm finding some time in the late afternoons to sketch, and am taking loads of photographs. Sorry for the lack of paintings lately, but the sketches will have to do for a while.

-julie

Sketch 4, Board

Sketch 4, 6 x 8

Sketchboard

And the last of my painted "sketches." I've also posted the board on which I did them all for you to see. I like this last one, but it's the least developed of the four, so I'm still tossing it over in my head whether to do a larger one.

-julie davis

Sketch 3

Sketch 3, 8 x 6

A bit out of order, but here nonetheless, the third "sketch" I made last week on the large panel. Unlike the first two, I haven't painted this one larger yet, and am still debating.

For all my Northeast and Canadian friends out there--brrrrrr!!! Our gorgeous weather is gone and it will be 16 degrees F tonight with a wind chill of 3 or something Wednesday morning. For here, that's really cold. Actually having to wear a real coat!

-julie davis

Sketch 2

Sketch 2, 6 x 8

This is the second of four painted "sketches" on a board. I've used them to help me plan some paintings that I'm doing in larger formats. I find that when I'm working in the studio to make a larger painting from a study I've done outdoors I often want to tweak the composition, and doing this really helped me -- almost more than working in a sketchbook with pencil, which surprised me.

-julie davis