Day Three, Part One: Words

Today we jumped right into two big projects. The first one caught me unawares; Brenda asked us to draw three objects from among our tools or from personal items in our purses or pockets, using whichever pen or pencil we liked, and I assumed this was just warm-up. So I did two in Tombow and one in black permanent pen, on my thin-paper sketchpad, and labeled each of them "three minutes," as I have been doing throughout the workshop. When we were done with all of these, however, she then asked us to bring the three items together into a single sketch journal page composition, using words and formatting.

I considered redrawing them onto good paper (without the "three minute" labels), but I kind of liked what I had drawn.  So I sat and thought for awhile, and figured out a way to incorporate each incidence of "three minutes" into my text (can you see them all?), and further follow the symbolism of each item as regards this weekend's learning curve. I was pretty pleased with my result! Since it was cheap sketch paper, I only watercolored a few accents, lightly, with a fairly dry brush, but the play of the sepia-toned Tombow marker and the black sketch marker and black ballpoint gave it some color personality.

This lesson was part of Brenda's "sketch journaling" unit, in which you make use of both images and language to preserve the moment. It can be as mundane as "we had cereal for dinner again, because I forgot to go to the market" (with a drawing of the corn chex box), or as exciting as documenting a trek through Europe with pictures and memories. The object is to successfully integrate the visual and verbal elements. This was my first try.

Day Three Part Two (Sketch Collage) will have to wait until tomorrow, because I have to finish my sketch collage first! I'll tell all about it then, when there is a visual reference.

This blog will be seeing more action until at least August 1, because I have accepted Brenda's "75-Day Sketch Challenge." I have to draw something every day for the next 75, using PEN. (Her contention is that pencil allows you to waffle--and erase--while pen makes you commit, which in turn makes you LOOK more carefully.) She swears that anyone who does this improves their drawing and their painting beyond belief, and I decided I'm game. At the end, I get my own "Artistic License" (a license to practice art). If you would like to join me (or read more about it), go here:
http://brendaswenson.blogspot.com/2011/07/75-day-sketch-challenge.html