White trucks
Posted: July 9, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized 12 CommentsI don’t spend a whole lot of time choosing subjects to sketch. The skills that I try to practice every day in my sketchbook are simple ones — look at values, compare shapes, try to work in a bit of perspective — so for me it doesn’t really matter what the actual subject is. Take for example the white truck in my neighbour’s driveway. It’s not a very exciting subject. But what caught my eye the morning I sketched it was the pattern of early morning light and shadow on the lawn, the trash bin and the wheelbarrow. There was so much contrast in the scene that I wanted to record the shapes of light and dark. I happened to be reading the news on my iPad at the time, so I opened Procreate and quickly drew what I saw with my 6B Procreate pencil tool before the light changed.
It was the same thing at the Jean Talon Market today. We were sitting at a cafe terrace and what I could see from my table was the view of a back alley behind some vendors. It’s not a very interesting view but it was an opportunity to quickly record lights and darks, as well as brights and neutrals. That’s what I love best about having my sketchbook with me. Every sketch is an opportunity to practice looking.
Shari Blaukopf's Sketchbook 
So true. I practiced looking while waiting for my car at the garage this morning. No exciting shadows, unfortunately, but lots of cars. And I understand them better (drawing them, not fixing them) having done your light and shadows course!
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Alison, maybe now you will become one of those car sketchers. Someone who seeks out old sports cars to draw or old farm trucks. Could that happen??
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I carry a sketchbook in my car. Sometimes after a trip to the grocery store, I pull the sketchbook out and draw. My sketches are usually just in pen, contour drawings. I’ve been doing a lot of cars lately. Any drawings, no matter the subject is so helpful to my accuracy. Daily art studies is essential for improvement of hand to eye
Thanks for your daily posts which I find so encouraging. Your work inspires me to keep on keeping on. You post today tells me that I need to do more value studies, not just contour drawings.
Thanks again.
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Bernadette, anything you do is valuable. Sometimes I do only contour drawings. Sometimes just value. It is the looking that is the key to it all for me.
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I just think your thought process and commitment to practice is fabulous.
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Thanks so much Starr!
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Wow, I really cannot tell that the first sketch is digital… looks so much like “real” pencil! (I guess I’m revealing my preference for old-school materials. 😉 )
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Haha, Tina, that is because I only like the Procreate brushes like act like analog tools. If they are too blurry at the edges, I never choose them. They always have to look a bit rough like a pencil or a dry brush.
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Thanks for the inspiration and encouragement to keep on looking! I’m curious with the 2nd sketch whether you did the pen work first or after the watercolour?
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Thanks Susan! I always do the pen lines first. If I do it the other way around, I fell like I am outlining and it never works for me. So pen is always first and sometimes I add a bit at the end too.
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Thank you for sharing.
I love your work
To bad for me…..I was at the J- Talon market yesterday,
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Oh no! We missed each other. Maybe next time our outings will coincide. I do go there often!
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