Really in the mood to use some bright color today. This little sketch is a glorified doodle, with a big "V" and a few random items I felt like painting in 20 minutes (pen and watercolor, approx. 3 1/2" x 4").
Several months into this sketching project now, I am coming to some definite opinions on my art supplies (a good thing). I really like a small and very springy synthetic brush for tiny detail work, like these dots and lines. With everything else I paint though, the natural hair brushes are preferred all around. I guess that's the same conclusion most watercolor artists come to, but I finally feel like I've had enough practice to agree. I can elaborate on my views of the differences between them, but unless you are in the market to buy a new brush, you probably don't have an interest in that.
Back to picking topics out of a jar tonight... I picked "words/lettering" and "architectural details". There's lots of ways I could have combined those two subjects, but I have never tried drawing a picture with words, though I've seen numerous examples of it (some cliched, and some amazing). This was a lot of fun to do in 20 minutes! I sketched in pencil first, just for a rough outline. Then using colored gel pens, wrote stream-of-consciousness words about the architecture and other trivia (approx. 5 1/2" x 6"). If I could do more calligraphy-style lettering in a future project, that would really be lovely.
I felt like illustrating my meal in 20 minutes tonight, though I ate it first and then drew it (from memory). It should be the other way around! Pen and watercolor, approx. 3 1/2" x 4". I like painting salads because they are green and leafy, and so much of what we [Americans] eat tends to be brown or yellow. I'm all for "eating the rainbow" as well as painting it!
Still enjoying the novelty of picking 20 minute sketch subjects out of a jar, tonight I pulled "wreath" and "embroidery". To combine the two ideas, I decided to make a cross-stitch chart of a summer wreath featuring sunflowers. Sketching ideas for grid-based charts can be challenging, especially when they involve curves or circles. So I think it's not too shabby for my first 20 minute attempt - I plan to stitch this one up as soon as I figure out the six colors of thread to use. (When I do figure those out, I'll post the DMC #s in the random chance there's anyone reading this who would also like to try stitching it up.)
Wanting to draw more spontaneously than I have been, tonight I remembered a trick one of my professors taught us back in college. Write down a bunch of unrelated subjects you like, put them in a hat (or basket, or whatever) and pull out two or three. Combine those items together in an illustration somehow, any style. Tonight the words I pulled (out of 25 different choices) were "cups" and "house", and this little scene popped into my head - with three different kinds of cups. Pen and colored pencil, approx. 5" x 7".
I'm excited now, because I'm hoping I shouldn't have any lack of inspiration for future 20 minute illustration-style sketches.
Ending a busy day without 20 minutes to spare for a sketch tonight, I made do. My dogs were so happy to see us when we came home, I sketched them in about 10 minutes, with a charcoal pencil. They (both bichon frises) are so fluffy it's hard to get their hair right in a sketch, but the quick scribble lines come pretty close to what it really looks like!
