The art of sketching what you see

I went to the fun sketching group last Wednesday evening at the Mispillion Art League Gallery - we were lucky to have a great model, Christopher Clawson ... he is a dancer and so good at posing and holding the pose. He's relaxed which adds to the fun. Everyone does their own thing - some do bits of him but all pretty much paint in a realistic style. I just can't... I look at the pose and a lightbulb goes off in my head and out comes something more abstract...sometimes charcoal with watercolour, sometimes just chalk... whatever, that's the fun of sketching I am discovering. Sometimes 3+ figures turn up on the page. But that is what I see, I have no interest in attempting to paint realistically... because I can't. I admire the talent and discipline it takes to paint this way but I can't do it myself. Christopher understand this luckily...as a dancer and writer he is an artist himself and his partner, David Rule is a fabulous artist, especially in figurative work, so Christopher is used to artists and how we see things. He liked one of mine so much I gave it to him. Next day I took them dinner to make up for the fact I forgot money to put in the tip jar for the model. Brain like a sieve. Here's my sketch now happily residing in the Towers Bed  Breakfast!

© 2013Anne Jenkins www.AnneJenkinsArt.com