This was a demo I did for my Crealde Urban Sketch class. The primary point of the demo was to use high contrast to draw the eye to what you want the viewer to look at. In this case I want the viewer to look at the wings and then the sculpture on top of the column. When there is a pure dark black color against white it becomes an eye magnet. It is hard not to look at that area.
The rest of the page was covered with quick washes and line work. Some students stayed to see the whole sketch until it was completed while I encouraged others to branch off and start their on sketch once they wanted to. Personally when I have the chance to watch an artist whose work I admire, I watch their every move. How often do they look up? How big is the pallet with how many colors. Where do they linger and where do they rush in the sketch process.
I learned quite a bit by watching a Russian artist whose work I liked. I didn’t understand a word he said, but I learned from every movement of his hands over the page. A sketch consists of millions of quick decisions and refinements of mistakes made. Words fall short in describing every flash of inspiration ad desperation that happens while a sketch is in progress. Sketching on location raises the stakes, making it necessary to make all those decisions in a compressed amount of time. In a studio an artist has a tenancy to linger and get lazy.
The next series of Urban Sketching classes starts after October 17, 2022.