On a plane ride back from visiting my daughter’s family, I was sketching from a photo on my phone of our six-month-old granddaughter. During that quiet, awkward period while waiting to “deplane” (what a strange word), a woman across the aisle commented on my sketch. I hadn’t realized she could see what I was doing, I was working flat on the tray table.
She said something like, "You must be an artist or something."
I laughed and said, "I guess I like to pretend I am sometimes."
She told me she had just been visiting her new four-month-old grandchild and was thinking maybe she could draw pictures of her. I encouraged her. Definitely, she could and should.
Later, as we rode the escalator down to baggage claim at MSP, I realized I was standing next to her again. I told her she needed to go out and buy a sketchbook and just start. She asked a little about the "tools" I was using, the gray thing (a kneaded eraser), but it was an awkward, stunted conversation, dragging luggage, paying attention to where we were going, the usual airport scene.
Afterward, of course, I thought of all the things I might have said if I had the time.
Be kind to yourself as you draw.
Be OK with it not looking great the first or third or tenth time.
Try it again.
Just enjoy the process of making marks on the page
Those are the things I have to tell myself constantly all day every day.
And so the process continues.
Of course then there was a head study done later at home in gouache:
I did manage to finish a piece this past month, (I think). It’s a 12" x 12" watercolor on Claybord by Ampersand, That I got from Blick. I’m not sure it’s the right surface for me. It’s a little too smooth, too easy to lift paint which makes it tough to glaze or blend without accidentally wiping everything back to white. I might try using it with pencil instead. It has a nice, even surface that could work well for pencil. But really I think a sanded smooth gessoed hardboard would give the same effect. Anyway, I might think about spraying this with a final varnish today. Or I might just let it sit around and look at it for a while.
