I have been continuing to sketch my sunflowers.
One artist suggests to draw something100 times in order
to really get to know it.
I've been re-finding my ease with sketching
after not doing it for awhile.
I probably won't make 100 versions of my sunflowers,
but I did make 3 more renderings this morning.
And I did notice new things each time.
I didn't enjoy the above rendering
(2 posts ago) which was made
after a long period of not drawing.
Not because I thought of it as good or bad,
but because the process & end result
didn't reflect my spirit.
It was a labored study
rather than a more dancing,
free-flowing, good-feeling process.
It was important to do, to start somewhere,
but I am happiest when I am sketching lightly.
Why do I draw?
It's the feeling I get.
It's in my whole body,
rather than just in my eyes.
And it's the feeling of my calm mind.
I respond to gesture & movement
in a subject.
When drawing the sunflowers
on the back patio this morning
I loved the flickering, changing morning light,
the delicate fluttering
of the petals, the cool air.
The vivid yellows & greens
against our still gray landscape.
And the flow of water on my brush,
the luscious paint.
The freedom of not thinking about what my
picture would look like.
Sometimes I draw to bring pleasure to others,
with more focus on product,
as in a card or sketch for sale.
But even then, I need to find pleasure
in the act of drawing itself.
Why do I draw?, I ask
as I watch snippets of drawing lessons
on YouTube.
(I've been writing answers in my journal.)
I'm happy to be drawing again,
& to come back around to my true
Sketchbook Wandering self.
If you are a draw-er,
what is it that you enjoy about drawing?
