"Lippizaner Stallion" sketch
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Howdy, dear reader.

Whoops, there goes the country side of me slipping out again.

So a couple of weeks ago I got my edition of Artists Magazine and in it was an article about not just the importance, but also the joy, of sketching. I must admit that while this article wasn't ground-breaking or that it shook my foundations of art to the core it was refreshing to read and, quite frankly, something that at this particular point in my art career an article that I needed to read.

Lately I've found myself particularly enamoured with the idea of sketching and I suspect it has something to do with my desire to get outdoors (as the onset on warm weather is wont to do) and also that I've been working a lot on people portraits lately which is something that always gets me excited artistically. Sketching people when they don't even know you're doing it is, I suspect, a secret joy of artists that venture out armed with sketchbook, pencil and (possibly) eraser in hand.

The above sketch, I must admit, was done from a photo a friend took when at a local show of Lippizaner stallions (I'm extremely jealous I couldn't attend) who were performing feats that most horse people only dream of their horse attempting. Although I would normally say that sketching should primarily be done from life, in this particular instance I was just so drawn to the picture that I couldn't help but try my hand at sketching it.


It took me about 15 minutes (that's right, I wasn't watching UFC) and was done in my sketch-book with graphite. If you get the chance to read the article on sketching in this month's Artists Magazine then that's fantastic. If not then I highly recommend visiting the blog of Katherine Tyrell who is an accomplished coloured pencil artist and avid sketching enthusiast. I absolutely love visiting her blog to see what she's been up to... and to catch a glimpse of her latest sketches, of course! She is a wealth of information and always seems to be current on the latest comings and goings of the pencil-wielding art world (and artists in general).


Sure, this was a shorter post, but a necessary one nonetheless. I guess what I'm trying to say is something that's been uttered many times before: draw, draw... and then draw some more. What's the worst that can happen? You become a better artist?

Heaven forbid! Happy art-ing! ;)

Sleepy-eyed Sketcher

Hi there dear reader!

Today's post isn't going to be terribly long as I'm quite tired today and as a result my brain isn't in full operation. Since I'm working on some commissions, most of which are gifts so I don't dare post them, I figured I'd share with you a page out of my sketchbook:

Western sketches
Copyright Rita Woodburne

These are a couple of sketches for two seperate works I plan on doing. Both were done in pencil and each took about 45 minutes to do. They probably would've taken much less time but I was watching UFC at the time and was working on them in between making sarcastic comments at the television.

So really, that's it for today. I think I need to go back to bed so I'll have enough energy to enjoy the warmer weather we're going to be getting later today.

I'll be back later in the week with more art and gardening!

Van Gogh- "There's Nothing So Delightful As Drawing"

"A Bright Performance" ACEO can be bid on here.

Copyright Rita Woodburne

Onto the next installment of my Van Gogh project, and today I’m going to touch on VG’s drawings of which, as I mentioned before, there are many.

Van Gogh drew on seemingly anything and everything: sketchbooks, large sheets of paper, letters to his family and friends, envelopes and who knows what else? Heck, I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised if one found him sketching ideas on napkins at cafe’s and bars. He just seems like he would've been that kind of person.

Van Gogh’s earlier drawing style, to me, doesn’t indicate what his painting style would be like and this is especially evident in his earlier drawings which look more like drafting plans rather than free-hand sketches. It’s been suggested that when he was starting out he went over some of his drawings/ sketches with a ruler, particularly when rendering buildings such as that of the Loyers’ House which can be seen below:

"The Loyers' House, Hackford, London" 1875
Vincent Van Gogh, pen and ink

He also did many study drawings of hands and faces, as well as peasants working, as this latter subject was very near and dear to him. More importantly, these sketches served as important studies for his well-known work “The Potato Eaters”, the first work he did that was declared as a Masterpiece, as well as for the many figures he incorporated into his landscapes and for the numerous portraits he did. I find that with his renderings of people it gives a much better indicator to his painting style as, like his paintings, they tend to be less rigid/ exacting and the strokes he uses are much heavier and thicker. Also, while they look deliberate in their placement there's still a loose quality to them that can also be indentified in his painting style.

Van Gogh never underestimated the importance of having good drawing skills and even made the proclamation that it was the underpinning to being a good, nay, excellent painter. His excellent paintings and scores of drawings suggest that the man who was, I daresay, a few sandwiches short of a picnic may have been onto something.


So what does this all mean? Well, it goes back to my bringing up the drawing challenge that some folks have taken... in case you missed that post, you can find it here. I mentioned in that post that I’m not one for sketching. I’ve never thought it was a waste of time, that would be pompous of me, it's just that I just never got “into” it and now I’m thinking I need to change my thinking.

In last year’s project I did a few sketches one being after Van Gogh’s work and the other being an original:

"Figure on a Road"- After Van Gogh

"Path & Broken Windows"

Copyright Rita Woodburne

They were fun to do and provided a nice relief/ outlet for me since I normally work in a tighter realistic style. In relation to what I mentioned before about linking Van Gogh's drawing and painting style together it also got me to wondering if my own sketching and finalized drawing style could be visibly linked. It's not critically important to me to make sure that the two are but I'm curious now... and that's always a good start to an artistic experiment. :)

I haven’t had the chance to do any sketching since last week’s post but this week-end I plan on doing some sketching of random objects, horses (of course) and possibly some QDOS. That’s right QDOS. Now all you computer people out there don’t get too excited, it’s not a trip down pre-Microsoft operating systems memory lane, when I say QDOS I mean Quick and Dirty Outdoor Sketches. I'll be doing these weather permitting (we are, after all, still in Winter) but in the event that I can't get outdoors I'll pull out some of the many outdoor pics I have of local places and take a stab at them until the weather will co-operate.

I’m not well versed in rendering trees, buildings, laneways, fences or anything that would be typically landscape work related and I figure what better time to get some practice in than by doing some sketches of them? After all, they’re sketches and the whole point of doing them is for practice and refinement. And who knows where that will lead? An equine work with a landscape in the background? Maybe...maybe...


Back on Friday!

Another Sketchy Monday

"Eye Spy" ACEO can be bid on here.

Copyright Rita Woodburne
Colourful, aint' it?

Welcome back dear reader to the last week of January! Wow, where did the month go??

So today I wanted to do kind of a warm-up to Van Gogh before "officially" starting on Wednesday. While he's best known for his paintings it's also worth mentioning that Van Gogh was quite an avid sketcher and there are reams of his drafts, sketches and doodles to attest to that fact.
To be honest I've never been much of a sketcher and I can count on one hand (and still have fingers left over) how many times I've sketched out a larger piece before actually starting it. I guess I'm a spontaneous artist that way and, up until this point in my artistic development, I can't say that it's hurt me in any way... but I'll cover that issue more on Wednesday.

Below I've posted a couple of sketches I did over the week-end. They didn't take me terribly long, 20 minutes tops per subject, but it's a start:

Copyright Rita Woodburne

This page features an old Black & Tan beer bottle/ jug that my parents acquired when they bought their cottage and I thought it was neat looking and figured I'd take a stab at it.
The other sketch is a Sumba pony, a pony that is native to India with an elongated face much like an Arabian. These horses are rarely seen outside India and, as far as I know, there aren't any in North America...yet.

Copyright Rita Woodburne

On the back of the Sumba pony and beer page I did this one, a profile of a Freisan horse. I love these horses, they're huge (usually topping out at 17 hands, if not more) and their manes are gorgeous!

Two other artists blogs that are part of my regular blog reading are those of Jennifer Rose Philip (Fuzzy Dragons) and Ann Nemcosky (Nemcosky Art), both of whom have been participating in the Everyday Matters Challenge. With this challenge they are required to whip out their sketchbook and draw on a daily basis in an effort to improve their drawing skills. To find out more about the challenge and to have a look at what they've been up to in relation to it pop over to their respective blogs and have a gander.


Although I don't dedicate much time to it myself, I really feel that sketching, even if it's only for a brief moment, is an important part of developing one's artistic skills. So with that in mind, and with my Van Gogh project approaching, I suspect I'll be adding another resolution to my list. Can you guess what it'll be?

Sketchy Monday

Copyright Rita Woodburne

Copyright Rita Woodburne

Howdy there, dear reader! So the show yesterday was a success and thanks to all those that stopped by to say 'Hi' and talk art and also a big thanks to the organizers for putting on another great show.

"No ACEO's today?" you ask. Nope, nada. Instead I have some sketches I did from last week in my wee skecth book. I keep this sketch book on my side-table in our family room so in case I get the urge to draw while the Other Half and I are watching t.v. I can. I keep an extra sharpener (with Ziploc baggie for shavings), a white Mars eraser my trusty cheapy HB as well as a 9B and 5B handy so when that urge to doodle comes over me I can quell it.

My sketch book isn't a place for me to create mock-ups of larger pieces, it's a place for my imagination to throw up (I know, I make it sound so...dainty) and it's also a place for me to 'goof off' as it were. Last week I decided that I wanted to spend about 15-30 minutes each night just doodling whatever caught my fancy. I guess it was sort of like Duane Keiser's Painting a Day idea of taking 'regular' objects and putting them into art, although I must admit that 1- I'm no Duane Keiser and 2- I have no intention of doing a sketch a day because my schedule simply doesn't allow for it. Maybe when I'm rich I can pay someone to unload the dishwasher and feed the animals but as it stands now those chores fall on my shoulders. Heck, maybe I can even pay someone to set up and take down my booths at art fairs, now that would be a treat!
I also try to read the blog of Katherine Tyrell entitled 'Making a Mark' at least 3 times a week. She's an avid sketcher and encourages other artists to sketch as much as possible and she always seems to attend the most interesting art and botanical events. Her posts are always very informative and I highly recommend visiting her blog for lots of artsy related info. I had read her blog enough times that I was convinced that I needed to sketch more, because what's the worse that could happen? I get better at art?

So the above sketches are what resulted. My only nits are that I wind up doing them when it's dark outside and all we have is two table lamps with less than stellar lighting. Also, because of the positioning of my chair I wind up getting some weird angles on things, like my dog Rosie's head. Guess that'll be another one to try out sketching, but maybe I'll have her sit up next time. :)

For images that I didn't spend a lot of time on I'm okay with how they turned out and, like I mentioned, I wasn't interested in doing a nice shiny finished piece. This was just for fun and I must say, I rather enjoyed it. Maybe I'll break the sketch book out again tonight...