Sketching on Location

Sketching on location is used by artists as a guide for future use. It is their means of recording information of a certain event. Being quick in observing certain details is a must. In sketching on location making mistakes must be avoided, the lesser the mistake the better.

In sketching on location making mistakes must be avoided, the lesser the mistake the better. One of the things I have learned from the video on the basics of sketching on location is to use ball point pens instead of pencil. Why, because it makes me avoid making mistakes. I have to make sure every stroke is correct since I cannot erase it if I made mistakes. By this I become confident with my strokes and it improved my skills a lot.

In this drawing I followed the steps on the video. I had started on sketching a girl who walks pass through three men on the street. As I observed from the drawing the girl is walking briskly, I made sure that in my own drawing this feature was preserved. As you can see in the drawing it seems that the girl is walking real fast. Since I already have some idea on how to sketch, following this step is quite easy.

After drawing the girl, I had worked on the three men walking together from the opposite direction of the girl. As you can see I have portrayed in the drawing that the three men seems like talking to each other.

I have used simple strokes and lines for this drawing. I have put into mind that this drawing is for reference only for future works so no need to put extra effort as long as the main subject and the situation I want my drawing to convey is shown. Sketching real fast must be mastered.

In the third box, it’s a man and a girl walking behind him. I had sketched the head first and then the jacket, and put in some small details to make him look rough.

I have learned that in sketching one must have balance act of speed versus accuracy. Since I am sketching an event that is moving I must do it real quick and observe details not only in one angle but at least on every angle. However, aside from being quick, I must be also accurate with the situation of my drawing. Although it doesn’t really mean to be 100% accurate but at least the viewer must understand the event on the first look.

After drawing the man as my subject, I continue on sketching the girl on the background. I also put additional details like what was the girl is doing just to give a full idea of what was happening in the drawing.

On the fourth box, what I have done is to test how fast I am in sketching. I had tried playing with the strokes, lines and other details. I have reduced few lines and see if it looks better or not. I do this to see if my drawing is still fathomable after reducing few strokes or adding few details.

For me this is the best exercise to master sketching, I was able to see for myself how to improve my drawing, how to make adjustments if I made mistakes, how to really make my drawing understandable.

In everything I do I always encounter problems, just like in sketching, since I am still a beginner it is kind of hard at first, plus I am using ball point pen, mistakes must be avoided. I am still not that good in making good strokes and I am still not that fast really.

Following the video instruction on how to sketch on location really helps a lot. The best thing I love in doing this exercise is that I was able to practice more and with ease, without thinking of the possible outcome. Although I have my worries about sketching on location, I believe that through time I will be able to do it right.