John H, 100 day challenge, Sketchbook time

[John Huisman]

This is scary. But I will give it a try. Everyday I get up and think, today I will spend some time in a sketch book. Most days I fail.
I have a lot of sketchbooks. It seems like I accumulate them as if I will burn through them quickly but I probably have enough sketchbooks and drawing supplies to last a couple years at the rate I use them.
I don’t want to try to set a challenge where I would do a certain thing every day, like a face or a figure or something that might take more time than I have.
I think all I can do is to say I will spend 15 minutes in a sketchbook every day. Since most sketches or page fillings take longer than that, it might be the same page for several days in a row but I will try to post the progress shots here.
I have not finished Steve’s sketchbook course yet but what I have watched I have found to be extremely inspiring and my goal here is to just fill the pages in the hopes that I will be a better drawer at some point in the future.
I shudder to think of all the pages I will be leaving my kids to struggle over what to do with after I am gone but that will be their problem I guess. Better than antique furniture or something. At least paper you can burn or recycle.

Anyway, that is my challenge: 15 minutes in the sketchbook every day.
If I miss a day I need to make it up, (30 minutes the next day).
The goal is to become better with the sketch mediums: pencil, ink, gouache and my observations skills.
A lot of them will be figures and faces from pictures here in NMA or photos from around the house, (pictures of kids etc).
Some will be sketching from real life like sitting in my living room or in my vehicle parked somewhere.

Day 1, (this is from yesterday), this is a page that I started penciling in a few days ago. Yesterday I spent my sketch time inking in the right side of the page.

#100DayArtChallenge #PathToMastery

• This topic was modified 4 years ago by John Huisman.

[Birgith Schei]

These sketches look great.

[John Huisman]

Day 2, 4/13/20. This is another sketch page that was started a while ago but I wanted to play with the wine glass some more with just the gouache. So the larger wine glass part was added today, probably took a half hour. I have just started working with the gouache so I am still trying to get the hang of it. I have a tendency to want to reach for the ink pen to finish it off but this time I just let it go here.

#100DayArtChallenge #PathToMastery

[Lucero]

Beautiful, John! I’m so glad you decided to start the challenge.

[Josseline Jeria]

Hi John and welcome. I too have set my for this challenge daily sketching practice. I found that I was only doing my drawing practice as part of coursework and assignments for courses I’ve been doing on NMA but not sketching for myself daily. I aim to instill daily practice. I’m sure close to 3 months of us doing so will help us to achieve that!

Steve’s sketchbook course is wonderful. I have been doing master studies, basic shapes and observational drawings, not yet any value or colour studies. I’d like to incorporate those as well in my sketchbook practice.

Filling pages is the aim of the game – to get mileage in.

Wonderful drawings so far. I really like the incorporation of watercolour in the last one. Real nice use of colour in the barrel of the large wine glass.

Looking forward to your posts.

[John Huisman]

Day 3, (97 more to go). I am not a fast worker and 15 minutes is not a long time for my daily sketch book work, but I have always been surprised what one can accomplish if one can give it 15 minutes consistently every day. Probably I have more like a half hour into this one, mostly just some light pencil work with a 5h on gray toned 90lb. Then a little later I spent some time laying in a few light colors just to try and get a feel for it.It’s all I have for today. I will pick it up again another day. #100DayArtChallenge #PathToMastery

[Joshua Jacobo]

Awesome start! I had my doubts before starting as well but I’m already happy I did. Just keep going!

[PaulDidier]

Really nice start. I too am doing a sketchbook challenge. It’s nice that several of us are doing this so we can see how we all go about it. I especially like your second day page. Really nice shapes, patterns and texture.

[John Huisman]

Thanks for all the encouraging comments!
Day 3, (97 more to go).
I am not a fast worker and 15 minutes is not a long time for my daily sketch book work, but I have always been surprised what one can accomplish if one can give it 15 minutes consistently every day.
Probably I have more like a half hour into this one, mostly just some light pencil work with a 5h on gray toned 90lb. Then a little later I spent some time laying in a few light colors just to try and get a feel for it.
It’s all I have for today. I will pick it up again another day. #100DayArtChallenge #PathToMastery
I am also posting these on my FB page which nobody probably looks at except my mother.
https://www.facebook.com/John-Huisman-Woodworking-and-Art-906958619445104/

 

[Lucero]

John, it’s like Steve Huston says, if you commit to 5 minutes per day, and some days you do 8 minutes, you feel great and you keep going. If you aim for an hour a day and you only hit 58 minutes, you feel lousy. Set small,  realistic goals, and stay positive. These are lovely, thank you for sharing.

[Josseline Jeria]

Yes! Steve’s advice on being kind to yourself when setting time spent sketching has helped build my confidence so much. I’m a very slow worker, so I can empathise, but every single thing we draw or paint adds up. Have you worked much with watercolour? I actually quite like the simplicity of what you have so far.

[John Huisman]

Thanks for the comments, yes small realistic goals has always been key for me.
I liked the simplicity of that day 3 page and thought about just leaving it as that but I put in some more time today.
…and after today, I can see I will have to spend more time on it… maybe tomorrow or some other day. I didn’t have as much time today as I would have liked but I got the 15 in for sure, maybe 30.
Spending too much time on Cory the Corgis face…
I have spent a good deal of my sketch time in the past few years on human forms, the dog thing kind of makes me overthink I think.
I keep a few sketch books going, different page size, paper weight for some watercolor, (gouache), and a tinted paper just for… well whatever. This sketch book is 7″x9″ so this sketch is smaller than it looks here.

#100DayArtChallenge #PathToMastery
Here is the day 4 page:

 

 

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by John Huisman.

[PaulDidier]

Wow, really like the face! You’ve really captured the subtle expression without overworking it!

[John Huisman]

Thanks! Of course if I keep working on it I am bound to go to far at some point… But I will try not to get after the face to much anymore.

[Josseline Jeria]

Oooo I love how you’ve captured the baggy sense of her clothing. It doesn’t look that you’ve spent too much time on the Corgi. As an animal lover, I think you should devote equal effort to both the figures 🙂 looking forward to seeing you push this further.

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