Thursday, September 13, 2007

Reflecting


Charcoal sketch- 15 mins

I was disturbed and had to put this self portrait down but I am thrilled with how far I got in the time I had.
I could never have done this much, with decent accuracy, in 15 mins last year...Sketching regularly has proved so beneficial and I am so pleased I set it as my goal this summer and ignored everything else. I feel more confident too, able to change or add elements and experiment. The fact that 99% of my sketching has been 'from life' rather than image references has enriched my knowledge and understanding enormously and I can now draw with my eyes, putting onto paper what they really see and having the courage to persist even when it looks a little odd at first, which it often does which is why we usually 'correct it' to meet with the image in our memory bank and get it so wrong! I find the correct lines much quicker now and the fear of failure has long gone.

I look forward to my time in the studio this winter, taking with me all I have learned and achieved through my sketchbooks will no doubt be an exciting time for me.

I am full to the brim and ready to explode...Just saying that makes me giggle and gives me butterflies!
God I love what I do!!!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful post to look at and read. Your love of what you do certainly shines through in your work!

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a wonderful self-portrait - and in 15 minutes even. But I love your post here just as much. It's beautiful... and that it ends with giggles and butterflies. Wow! Inspiring.

MD said...

Fantastic portrait Anita. I understand why you love what you do, cos you do it so well too!! Also understand how thrilled you must be feeling to see that daily sketching has improved your work....it was already good in the first place mind... but what a feeling of achievement you must have at the moment.
Great feet too and I follow your blog regularly! Always interested to see what you're up to.
MD
x

Gabriel Campanario said...

congrats Anita, your sketch is fantastic, full of expression and energy. you're absolutely right that persistance is key and is important not to give up on a drawing after the first few strokes... i always feel like i'm not going in the right direction but later I adjust and correct and I'm happy I didn't put the pen down

no way said...

I can relate with what you wrote. Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am to be able to spend time drawing and painting-it makes me so happy! Congrats to you on your beautiful artwork and keep it up-drawing from observation is the best teacher!

Anita Davies said...

Thankyou Dave, so pleased you enjoyed your visit.

Anita Davies said...

Thankyou so much Amy.

Anita Davies said...

Thankyou Marie, thankyou also for following my blog on a regular basis, it makes blogging so much more enjoyable knowing there are people like you out there visiting.

Anita Davies said...

Gabi thankyou! I'm happy you don't put the pen down too...Love visiting your blog.

Anita Davies said...

Thankyou NoWay.

Anonymous said...

Oh yes! I can see it's you. Great work for 15 minutes. I can see your progress this summer. Sketching from life is definitely way better than using photos and magazines as reference. Learning to see how the fabric drapes over an arm, or how the hair falls over an eye. You only get that from observation. Soon you'll be able to draw your likeness from memory. Keep going! Your love of what you do can be seen in your work. I think that's a wonderful thing.