Monday Sketches {Back to Basics}

After spending a long weekend with four of my heART sisters at a private retreat, I came home on creative fire!  Renewed with energy, vigor, self-worth and confidence in my artistic capabilities; I decided to get back to basics . . . where it all started for me . . . my trusty sketchbook and the foundation of the principles of art.  I reviewed old lessons and realized how much my art has evolved over the years but in the back of my mind, I could hear the same word over and over . . . “practice.”

With my self-diagnosed “Art ADD,” I realized that I was guilty of jumping from project to project and medium to medium.  I never took the time to perfect anything and I am always struggling to determine who I am as an artist.  While I do believe that no artist should limit themselves . . . we always need to be stretching and flexing those right brain muscles . . . but at the same time, each artist is {or should be} recognized by their own style.  And since I haven’t really ‘settled’ on a style, I decided I would go back to the “drawing” table, so to speak, and “practice.”  So while I will still be splattering paint and ink and gesso and plaster, I have decided that I will spend quiet time every week “practicing” what I probably love best . . . sketching, drawing, smudging, blending and getting lost in my sketchbook.  And here is my sketch for today . . .