This page is an example of the types of notes I jot down for students on our sketching excursions on location. We met at the Rep Theater and the first sketch opportunity was a large modern red statue outside OMA. My student works pretty fast, so I just offered a quick thumbnail sketch to give him ideas on how to think about the composition.
Next we sketched the Rocket Thrower sculpture which can be intimidating for a beginner. The last time I sketched the Rocket Thrower, he was wearing a Fringe Tee shirt. I used the sculpture for several different lessons. The small thumbnail sketch shows sweeping gesture lines with no detail. I then showed how to block in the three body masses, the head, rib cage and hips as three simple shapes. Then we did a separate exercise where we just looked at the negative shapes around the sculpture which I colored blue. The negative shape exercise allows the student to get away from the distractions of anatomy and just think about puzzle piece shapes.
I always fell the urge to want to cover the page with watercolor washes as well, but there isn’t always time. Honestly blocking things in extra quick like this for a student is good for me because it reminds me to avoid distracting detail at first and think about the big picture. I also find that being able to verbalize my thoughts help cement them in my own mind.