SkunkyArt | outsidelogic

Doodling: This is when my hand takes over from head, and I start scratching out a shape (a sphere, a nose, a squiggly line), and just let it progress. The key here is that I have no idea what I’m going to draw when I start. There is no erasing, and it usually lasts less than an hour. It’s much more a mental exercise of just freeing my brain than any sort of technical practice. These are two of my doodles, done at my daughter’s flute lessons. I usually doodle with a ballpoint pen, sitting on the couch, in bed, on the floor, etc.

Sketching: A little more rigorous than doodling; I always have a subject in mind. It may be a photograph, or from life, or sometimes literally just in my mind. I usually spend 1-3 hours on a sketch, working in ballpoint pen, white gel pen, and sometimes marker (working in pencil makes me too much of a perfectionist; I keep erasing and trying to make it right, instead of just rolling with what I have). So this is really just practice in how to capture a likeness on paper, whether that be a person, a rock, a set of keys, whatever. This is just fun…I try to do it a few times per week. Here are a couple of recent sketches:

Drawing: This is when I have a composition in mind, and I want to make a finished product, worthy to hang on a wall. I sketch out the composition, multiple times, trying to get the arrangement of elements just right. I usually draw each individual element multiple times, trying to figure out the best way to render it. Then I’ll put it all together…and sometimes scrap it. There are times I’ll spend 5 hours on a drawing, and then just say “ugh this sucks” and start over again (doing this 3 times is about my limit). So I’m guessing I spend at least 10 hours on each finished drawing, usually sitting at my drawing table. My next one is a portrait of Fyodor Karamazov. I’ve worked out the composition, done a study of his hand holding a drink, and last night I finally worked out what his face will look like (after several attempts). Next I’ll do a little research on the clothing, and then sit down to do the actual drawing. If I get it right the first time, that’ll be a victory.

Studying: This is very important! I’m self-taught, so I’m constantly looking at what other artists do (mainly pen & ink artists), studying their lines, their shading, how they capture depth, etc, etc. I’m also constantly buying new paper, different inks, various pens and nibs, brushes…and just trying out new techniques. I buy used books with illustrations by Dore’, Durer, De Gheyn (wow, all D’s) and study them. I’ve got a bunch of Franklin Booth’s stuff bookmarked on my computer, and I splurged and bought Bernie Wrightson’s Frankenstein, plus Guptill’s Rendering in Pen and Ink. Of all the time I spend on art, I would say about a third of it falls into this category.

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