We had to travel from Florida to Alabama a couple of days ago, and to while away the hours as a passenger (9 of them!), I did some sketching and painting in the car.
Now, picture the scenery flashing by and the challenges of capturing a semblance of it! My first tries were not very effective, but as I fell into a flow of observation and a combination of gesture and contour drawing, I made some progress. I found myself remembering the large shapes and referring to similar landscape details to fill in.
What resulted were composite sketches and memory drawings. I feel that these exercises really strengthened the way I looked at things. That was my focus, rather than the resulting drawing. I used a kind of "wandering pen" line, searching out shapes, textures, and values.
As we traveled from south to north, I found myself noticing subtle changes in the land and the foliage - things I had seen before, but now I connected to them more deeply. I also found myself being more aware of the interaction of time, weather and distance as I wrote down details.
When we stopped for gas, I had a little more time to sketch an oak tree (the sketch at the top of the drawing). The sketch at the bottom turned into a composite of several majestic oak trees hung with Spanish moss that occasionally lined the highway. When stopped at a rest area, I was able to collect a twig and leaves for detailed study.
I know this type of sketching might not be enjoyable for everyone, but for me it was a wonderful chance to keep my hand in. These were sketched with a Pitt artist pen (XS size) in my Aquabee sketchbook (6x9 inches).
~ Elizabeth Smith, Naples, Florida, USA (on the way to Alabama!)
