Sketching

What is sketching?

Light quick drawings to capture a moment, a scene or even a felling. Sketches are not necessarily meant to be finished drawings, but often form the basis of larger artworks. Sketches and sketchbooks have been eh source of many great works of art, and give us inside into the thinking process of many great artists. They also have been a way for artist to take notes.

A sketchbook is personal. You can share it if you want, but you do not have to. It is ok to write in a sketchbook. You can note down the colors you see, notes on what you want to use in another work, anything that works for you.

Sketchbooks can be used to capture the overall look of something or record details that you see

Back to sketching

Start by simply drawing and lightly filling in the large blocks. Noticing the difference in value between things far away and close up, and in between. Even if all you do is place big blocky shapes, getting these correctly from your point of view is a tremendous accomplishment.

Mixed Media

Just what are art media? Well, anything that you use to create a work of art. Rather broad definition, isn’t it? But that is the point. Anything you use to create a work of art is a medium. And you can mix it up! While many of us in our day-to-day art are purest, using a single medium to create a work of art, you do not have to be. Either with your day-to-day artwork nor in special works.

Mixing media however, does take understanding of them. Some media mix readily, others do not. In order to know, you have to experiment with them. it is not enough to simply read about them and follow the rules. Acrylics under oils, don’t mix colored pencil and graphite. You need to understand why and what are the results. Sometimes these bad results are exactly what you want! So playing with art and art materials are an essential part of art education.

I have to admit, that I did not have a lot of respect for mixed media. I did not understand it. Mostly I thought of it as bad collage. It is not. What it boils down to is using what you need to get your vision across.