Sensational Sketches In Six Simple Steps

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K I S S ~ Keep It Sensationally Simple!

With this system, patience and desire,
anyone can learn to draw!

Six Simple Steps to Sensational Sketches

2009 Sketching Everyday Challenge 

Summer Sketchingeveryday Blog Underway!

A Sketch A Day Keeps Boredom Away!This year, I'm posting a photograph at the beginning of the week. If anyone chooses to sketch it and send in your results to me at: sandy@sandysandy.com, I'll post them on my summer blog, www.sketchingeveryday.com, the following Sunday with my interpretation. I'll also post them on www.drawingeveryday.com.

2009 Sketching Demo Now On Line! 

Learn Sandy's 6 Step Technique Here!

A Little About The Author Of This Lens 

Sandy Sandy Spiritartist



Since 1996, Sandy Sandy has been a professional fine artist and has devoted her
career to painting full time. After a divorce, she left behind a thriving advertising and sign company which she owned and operated for seventeen years. Sandy currently works in her spacious art studio from her NJ Pine Barrens home. Here she is inspired by the wildlife that visits her yard daily. A strong connection with animals and nature is evident in her choice of subjects. Her philosophy of spirit is woven into her work, where thousands of watercolors have given way to her flowing expressionist style.

Collectors of Sandy's original paintings can be found throughout Canada and the US. Commissions are always welcomed to create specific works for individuals and organizations. Having studied watercolor with many nationally known watercolor masters including those from the E.A.Whitney, Brandywine and New Hope Schools has given her roots that are strong in the American Art Tradition. Sandy currently provides uplifting, motivational and instructional content in her various free online communities. She also is available for speaking engagements, demonstrations, workshops and classes.

Copyright Notice 



*All images on this lens are by

Please see copyright information here.

Table of Contents 

The Six Steps and More!

Anatomy of a Portrait 

Art For Shelter Animals




Here is the sketch I did for this portrait. The first drawing shows the first two steps of my technique and the middle image shows the sketch with the watercolor wash added. This is my forth painting for the "Art For Shelter Animals" project. I decided to do an additional three watercolors, as the oils I did are still not dry. This beautiful girl, ID#D-26033, is named Sasha. The Burlington County Animal Shelter's website says; "What a pretty white German Shepherd Sasha is! She is good with kids, but a bit shy with strangers at the shelter. Her former owner said she is very loyal and is used to being around women and would probably need time to adjust to a home with men. Sasha is very intelligent and likes to play with squeak toys. Can you give this young girl a loving forever home?" See more about this project here on my web log.



Elephants Are Fun To Draw! 

Doing Something Enjoyable Improves Attitude


Thursday, February 26, 2009 - Frustration Remedy Sketches Ahh, Elephants!

From my Spirit Art Blog: "Seems like every simple task this week has turned into a major ordeal. Staying positive is hard when you keep banging your head against the wall. Putting all fragmented projects aside, I decided to do some therapeutic sketching to adjust my attitude. While I was drawing from photos posted online by my friend, Sally Vennel, simultaneously another FB friend, Abbey Brooke, IM'd me from Kenya. We chatted about elephants and cheetahs. I think my remedy is starting to work! Switching to something you love in situations like this can calm your nerves and heal your heart." Here's steps 1 and 2 of my sketching technique.


Thursday, March 5, 2009 - Finished Elephant Sketches

I'm gearing up for a drawing and watercolor workshop here on Saturday and Sunday. Part of what I will be covering is drawing techniques, including this pencil and watercolor approach. I drew and painted these elephants with permission from my photographer friend, Sally Vennel. Taken on one of her many trips to Africa, these particular elephants live in Botswana. Find links to all my sites on www.sandysandy.com.

* STEP 1 ~ Block In Shapes 

"Six Simple Steps to Sensational Sketches"

I recommend using a good quality spiral sketchbook, at least 6" x 8" or bigger with a medium weight drawing paper. I like the Strathmore 300 series, 9" x 12". You'll also need a soft drawing pencil (2B - 4B) and a kneaded eraser.

This drawing shows you how to hold the pencil when you first start your drawing. It's so much easier to first block in shapes this way and keeps you loose without getting caught up in details too early.

* STEP 2 ~ Refine and Add Detail 

Ok, now you can tighten up a little and hold the pencil like you would to write. Add some of the main details. Correct and refine your sketch, but don't get too nit picky!

Keep in mind that this is an exercise. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece!

When out of the studio sketching, I stop with this step and add the wash later. So all you need to take out with you is a pencil, eraser and sketchbook!

"A pencil is quiet, clean, odorless, inexpensive, and lightweight. I can slip it in my pocket and take it with me everywhere - my secret friend." ~ Sherry Camby

My motto is: "KISS ~ Keep it sensationally simple!"

* STEP 3 ~ Dampen The Paper 

I start this next step by generously wetting the surface of my bird with clean water. I go right up to the edge of the figure so the paint will flow to that point and the strokes will blend together.

* STEP 4 ~ Flood The Wash 

Here I use a thirsty, *dry brush that's loaded with watercolor paint. I usually use a combination of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna to make a gray, but any dark color will do. I'm more concerned with value than hue. (See the section on value below.) I start squinting a lot from this point on. This makes it easier to see big shapes and values. I float the pigment into the wet area, giving the figure shape by rendering values and a few details.

*dry brush ~ The brush is damp, yet dryer than the paper. This is done by loading the brush with thick paint and then using a tissue at the ferrule of the brush to squeeze out excess water. The brush then becomes "dry", but there's still lots of pigment on the bristles. See "PARTS OF AN ARTIST'S BRUSH" here.

Hue ~ another word for color

Value ~ the lightness or darkness of any color, the three main values being:
Light, medium, dark

* STEP 5 ~ Add Calligraphy 

When the area is damp or dry, I add a few more calligraphic strokes. You can soften some hard lines by quickly moistening some strokes with a little clean water and a *dry brush.

* STEP 6 ~ Add Background Value 

All I've done here is add a background wash after the bird is dry. I do the same thing as in step three. I quickly wet the entire surface where I want my wash to be with clean water, again being careful to stay in the lines. Then squinting, I float in my pigment with a *dry brush.

Some wrinkling of the drawing paper will occur.
Remember, it's only a sketch!



Light and Dark Values 

Light and Dark Values

No matter what medium or technique you use to depict your subject, always try to use a full range of values. Value is the lightness or darkness of a color. You can simplify value by thinking light, medium and dark. A good drawing should have all three. A tool I use frequently in drawing and painting is a value scale. You could easily make up your own any number of ways. The first one I made out of a page from a Pantone color formula guide mounted on a piece of foam core. The second one, The Don Rankin Value and View Finder, is available through Cheap Joes' Art Stuff. I like this one because there are holes in the card where the values are and you can hold it right over the area you're evaluating to get a really good match.

"Value drawings are one of the artist's best friends." ~ Harley Brown

Homemade Value Chart

Don Rankin's Value and View Finder

Sketching Is An Important Tool In The Creative Process 

See the photos, sketches and resulting finished watercolor here.


My photographer friend, Sally Vennel, posted an album of her foxes on Facebook this week! Truly wonderful images of amazingly gorgeous creatures, the new pictures inspired me to do some sketching today. Here is Sally's photo and my working sketch from her reference. This drawing is not meant to be a finished piece of artwork. Her photos are copyrighted, so it's always proper to get permission before posting other peoples' work or if you are copying photos to be used in artwork that will be for sale. I usually draw from photos for concept, structure and design exploration, often using reference from 6-8 photos for a single painting. The practice helps to develop and refine my seeing and improves my hand-eye cooridination. During the summer months of June - August, I draw and post a new image everyday on my sketchingeveryday and drawingeveryday blogs.




Here's another sketch I did from a photo by my friend, Sally Vennel.


And here's today's resulting watercolor painting using the sketches from her photographs with some imagination and artistic license.


Sketching On Location 

When I was in Colorado this summer, I quickly drew this fir tree in my friend's yard. I used just a soft lead pencil and a spiral bound sketchbook.

Wash Added later in the Studio 

I've had "Altitude Sickness" before, but didn't get it this time when I traveled to Colorado's high elevation. When I got back home however, I had a major case of "Sea Level Sickness". Missing the mountains, I found much comfort in finishing this pencil sketch with a watercolor wash.

2008 Spirit Art Workshops 

Seminars a Big Success

"Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins." ~ Jim Rohn

"If you get into the habit of sketching, you'll never be bored."
~ Sandy Sandy


Sept. 12 - 14th, 2008 WORKSHOP - Day One

WARM UP EXERCISE
I started today's lessons with a warm up exercise I came up with at the spur of the moment. Holding the pencil like a wand, I encouraged students to use their whole arm and wrist while making various scribbles on their paper. Everyone seemed to agree that this helped them to loosen up for the sketching to follow.



TWO MINUTE GESTURES
I have some wood bird carvings and decided to use them as models for our two minute gesture sketches. After the allotted time was up, each person turned their bird clockwise a quarter of a turn. Each participant did a dozen sketches, three birds, four views each.

BLIND CONTOUR DRAWING
This is a wonderful exercise that I haven't done in a long time. None of the students had ever done a blind contour. This teaches hand eye coordination. You can't look down at your paper while you are drawing. You must only look at the subject while the pencil is moving. This trains you to caress the object with your eyes. After this exercise, students followed along with handouts as we went on to drawing a hummingbird from my Six Steps to Sensational Sketches Demo.



MONOTONE VALUE PAINTING
After lunch break, we did a value painting of a lighthouse. I explained WET-IN-WET techniques on painting skies, grass, water and buildings. Here is my demo painting.


SEE INFORMATION FROM DAYS TWO AND THREE ON MY 9/13/08 AND 9/14/08 WEB LOG POSTS.

"WILLIAM" the Egyptian Hippopotamus 

NY Metropolitan Museum of Art's Unofficial Mascot

Here's another Step by Step Demonstration with
a little variation from the demo above.

THE SIX STEPS ARE NOT SET IN STONE!

William the hippo is a sculpture reproduction of an Egyptian faience hippopotamus that dates from Dynasty 12, ca. 1981-1885 B.C. This sculpture was sent to me by my high school art teacher many years after graduation. It came as quite a surprise and really made me feel like "the chosen one". She was an Art History fanatic and "William" became her mascot as well. I recently had a very vivid dream about Dorothy Ponciello and that morning dug "William" out of a box in the basement. He now has a prominent place in my studio, just as I'm sure Dorothy had intended.

This demonstrates my technique with a few twists. My philosophy with drawing is to stay loose, not get too caught up in the results and to experiment and grow.

Find out more about "William" here.

* Step 1 ~ Rough in the shapes.

* Step 2 ~ Add some detail.

* Step 3 ~ Wet background and add wash.

* Step 4 ~ Wet hippo and add wash.

* Step 5 ~ Add detail with black Aquarel pencil.

"William" watches over my computer desk.

Sketching Vs. Drawing 

Different Methods And Techiniques

Whether you are drawing or sketching, the skill is the same. The technique and time factor vary greatly however! It all depends on what your end goal is. Something to hang on the wall? A study for a painting? An information gathering exercise? Self expression and exploration? Once you can do a quick study with proficiency, you can master almost any drawing technique with a little practice. Here I just wanted to show you some more finished drawings I did. This realistic, more photographic approach is nice, but very time and labor intensive and in my opinion, a lot less fun than the pencil and wash approach featured here.

My Newest Video Demonstrates How to Sketch with Watercolor 

Follow along with me as I paint!

Sketch a Hummingbird In Watercolor

Sandy Sandy demonstrates her Six Steps to Sensational Sketches in this unedited seven minute video. The background music is "Temple of Remembrance" from Apurimac II by Cusco, http://www.cuscomusic.com. Make sure to click "watch in high quality" right underneath the video. See photos and written step by step instruction on this lesson on Sandy's sketching lens at: http://squidoo.com/sketchingeveryday links to all Spiritartist's blogs and sites can be found on the home page of her main website at: http://sandysandy.com

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curated content from YouTube

First Two Steps

Add Wash and It's Done!

Friesian Portrait ~ Selina

Friesian Portrait 

From my 2008 Archives

Although entries for blogs are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order, here on DrawingEveryday.com, my posts are presented in chronological order.



Mare and Foal ~ Mother's Pride & Joy

The Right Materials Make a Big Difference 

Special Pencils and Special Paper

The two drawings pictured above were done with
Bruynzeel design - Aquarel - 8635 - Holland - 410 black drawing pencil on
Bienfang Satin Design Vellum.

July 2008 

Rocky Mountain High

I'll be heading back to Colorado soon! I can't wait to see the wildflowers and connect with friends and the folks at The Rijk's Gallery where I'll be doing a drawing demo and a hummingbird seminar on July 24th. Be sure to check out my 2008 sketching everyday summer series below! I'll be adding sketches of my trip everyday.



See My Drawing Everyday Archives here!


Drawing Demonstration ~ July 24, 2008

My Sketch Done at the Rijks Gallery 

I had fun connecting with folks in Crested Butte, CO.

See more of my Colorado sketches on my SKETCHING EVERYDAY BLOG and some beautiful photos from my trip to the Rockies on my WEB LOG
LOOK UNDER COLORADO IN MY LABELS SECTION!

My 2009 Daily Sketching Blog 

Drawing Everyday with Sandy Sandy

My Summer Drawing Blog, featuring my drawings, doodles and thoughts
June 1st - August 31st

"A drawing a day keeps the cobwebs away." ~ Robert Genn

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2007 Drawing Everyday Workshop 

Simple Steps = Successful Sketches

8/13/07 ~ Workshop Participants
I was impressed by the skill level of the artists that participated in my
Drawing Everyday Workshop. We all had a real good time. I think everyone
loosened up a bit and learned a few new things to add to their repertoire.

Students Workshop Drawings

More Elephants 

Sketches With and Without Wash

Here are three unfinished sketches; steps one and two
of my drawing system.


And the same sketches completed.
Compare with the top drawings and I think you'll agree,
that the watercolor wash really brings them to life.



DRAWING IS A RIGHT BRAINED ACTIVITY 

IS YOUR LEFT BRAIN INTERFERING?

WHICH WAY DOES SHE SPIN? ~

Watch this video and see if the dancer moves clockwise or counter clockwise. If she moves clockwise, you're probably more right brain dominated. You use more of your NON VERBAL, intuative, creative side. If you see her move counter clockwise, you are in the majority and are more of a left brain dominated, VERBAL, analytical individual.

ACCORDING TO BETTY EDWARDS, AUTHOR OF DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN, "The right brain perceives and processes visual information, in the way one needs to see in order to draw, and the left brain perceives in ways that seem to interfere with drawing."
"An individual's ability to draw is... the ability to shift to a different-from-ordinary way of processing visual information - to shift from verbal, analytic processing to spatial, global processing." ~ Betty Edwards

Great Art Books on Amazon 

Top Favorites From My Library

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

by: Betty Edwards

Amazon Price: (as of 11/09/2009) Buy Now

The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity [10th Anniversary Edition]

The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity [10th Anniversary Edition]

by: Julia Cameron

Amazon Price: $11.02 (as of 11/09/2009) Buy Now

The Art Spirit

The Art Spirit

by: Robert Henri

Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 11/09/2009) Buy Now

Favorite Drawing Quotes by Robert Henri 

The Spirit of Sketching ~

"Drawing is not following a line on the model, it is drawing your sense of the thing." ~ Robert Henri

"The sketch hunter moves through life as he finds it, not passing negligently the things he loves, but stopping to know them, and to note them down in the shorthand of his sketchbook." ~ Robert Henri

"Keep a bad drawing until by study you have found out why it is bad." ~ Robert Henri

"A drawing should be a verdict on the model. Don't confuse a drawing with a map." ~ Robert Henri

How I Started Drawing and Blogging Everyday 

Sketching Everyday Has Become My Summer Tradition!

How It All Began ~

In my June 19th 2006 Spirit Art email ~ Discipline, I vowed to draw everyday that summer.

Talking with a young artist that visited my studio on Sunday, I found myself giving advice that I often fail to practice. "Drawing is so important to an artist", I told him. "Even if you paint abstractly, I feel it is important to develop good drawing skills. It's all about hand - eye coordination and getting notes and ideas down on paper", I continued. Whether you doodle, sketch or draw, it is an important skill and ideally should be exercised daily." Since I do believe in practicing what you preach, I have vowed that for the rest of the summer; at least until Labor Day; to draw, doodle or sketch each day. I guess we'll see just how disciplined I really am!

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Today, here are some thoughts on discipline:

"It is one thing to praise discipline, and another to submit to it." (Mogul de Servants)

"You don't get into the mood to create; it's discipline." (Twyla Tharp)

"Drawing and painting are self disciplined activities that you have to learn
by yourself." (Romare Bearden)

"It is essential... that discipline should not be practiced like a rule imposed on oneself from the outside, but that it becomes an expression of one's own will; that it is felt as pleasant, and that one
slowly accustoms oneself to a kind of behavior which one would eventually miss, if one stopped practicing it." (Erich Fromm)

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Subscibe, writing "Subscribe - DE", to my free Drawing Everyday Blog.
It will be starting up again on June first, 2008!


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An Idea Sketch 

From MY 2007 Drawing Everyday Blog

This is an unusual composition of a hawk and a wolf that I came up with as an idea for an Animal Spirits painting. Almost a year later, I still have not used it for a painting, but I'm sure it will come about when the time is right.

Hawk and Wolf Spirit

Where does a drawing end and a painting begin? 

From Spirit Art ~ January 7th, 2008

More Drawing / Snowshoe Hare
Here's another sketch done on watercolor paper. This one looks more like a monotone painting, however my attitude while doing it was freer, like when I'm sketching. Color does add complexity.

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Quotations by Robert Henri from his wonderful book,
"The Art Spirit", on Drawing:
"Realize that a drawing is not a copy. It is a construction in very different materials. A drawing is an invention."

"Drawing is not following a line on the model, it is drawing your sense of the thing."

"The sketch hunter moves through life as he finds it, not passing negligently the things he loves, but stopping to know them, and to note them down in the shorthand of his sketchbook."

"Keep a bad drawing until by study you have found out why it is bad."

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Snowshoe Hare
"Snowshoe Spirit" ~ 5.5" x 7.5" original watercolor, $149.00
Now available from the Rijks Gallery, Crested Butte, Colorado.



Advice From Leonardo da Vinci 

"You should often amuse yourself when you are out for recreation, in watching and taking note of the attitudes and actions of people as they talk and dispute, or laugh "or come to blows with one another... noting these down with rapid strokes, in a little pocket-book which you ought to always carry with you." ~ Leonardo da Vinci

It is often said that Leonardo drew so well because he knew about things; it is truer to say that he knew about things because he drew so well." ~ Kenneth Clark

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Everything is Sketchable!

"If You Get Into The Habit Of Sketching, You'll Never Be Bored!" 

Two Images Showing My Simple Sketching Technique

This photo shows the first two steps in my sketching technique using pencil only.



Here I've added a watercolor wash to the above pencil sketch. This approach really helps prepare me for painting and using color. I feel that value is the most important element that makes up any painting.


"My paintings cannot be a negation of what has always been and always will be necessary - drawing and search for values." ~ Theodore Robinson

See the seven elements of design here!

Drawing Quotations 


Inspirational Quotes On Drawing



"Learn to draw so effectively that it becomes second nature; almost another
language. Carry a sketchbook at all times." ~ David Curtis

"Drawing is the discipline by which I constantly discover the world."
~ Frederick Franck

"To draw, you must close your eyes and sing." ~ Pablo Picasso

"I sometimes think there is nothing so delightful as drawing." ~ Vincent van Gogh

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Reader Feedback 

Hey Wait! Let me know you stopped by!

Thank you for visiting my lens. Please let me know what you think about what's here and what else you'd like to see. If you like it, Please take a moment and go back to the top of the page and give me some stars by clicking on the right hand 5 stars above. Also please LensRoll Me and Add Me To Your Favorites. Lensrolling makes it easier to get back here and see the new information I've added! I plan on adding fresh content as the summer and my Drawing Everyday Blog continues. I really appreciate your thoughts and love hearing from you. Wishing You Abundance Always, Sandy

Lensmaster

Heather426 wrote...

This Fantastic lens has been blessed by a squid angel today!

ReplyPosted October 29, 2009

Lensmaster

science_fiction_novels_cyberpunk wrote...

Beautiful, beautiful and beautiful lens. Cute pictures full of tenderness. 5 stars, definitely!

ReplyPosted October 25, 2009

Lensmaster

Medicinemanwriting1 wrote...

Great lens. Thanks for sharing this information. Just a note, I looked at the video and the dancer was very clearly spinning clockwise. However, my seven year old daughter, who spends a lot of her time drawing, said the dancer was spinning counter clockwise. Anyway, thank you very much for this great lens.

ReplyPosted July 16, 2009

Lensmaster

martine wrote

hello dere er det et sted som er mange folk som ikke

Reply Posted June 26, 2009

Lensmaster

Ann wrote

im a fa student., still a freshie.. and this.. helped me alot. your so gifted.. so glad to find this.

Reply Posted June 25, 2009

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Going Out In Style ~ 8/31/07

What's the Difference Between a Sketch and a Painting? 

Attitude is the biggest difference.

The picture below is of a colorful watercolor sketch in my sketchbook. It was done on regular drawing paper. There are far more opportunities for discovery and looseness when your expectations are not too great. It's just a sketch. It's a tool to take you further down the path of exploration and artistic development. The good ones often do turn into paintings later on.

Sketch in color ~ Wildflowers ~ 8/29/08

Drawings Can Turn Into Paintings

A Drawing is Transformed into a Painting 

Painting is easier when details are worked out first.


See this post and image on my Spirit Art Blog.

Drawing Affirmations: 

Insights On The Act


More Inspirational Quotes ~

"Drawing is not the same as form; it is a way of seeing form." ~ Edgar Degas

"Learning to draw, before you paint, is like learning to walk before you run."
~ Don Getz

"I have learned that what I have not drawn, I have ""never really seen."
~ Frederick Franck

"My contribution to the world is my ability to draw... Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times. It brings together man and the world. It lives through magic." ~ Keith Haring

"One must keep right on drawing; draw with your eyes when you cannot draw with a pencil" ~ Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

"Drawing used to be a civilized thing to do, like reading and writing. It was taught in elementary schools. It was democratic. It was a boon to happiness." ~ Michael Kimmelman

Drawing is one of the best ways to meditate, while staying connected to the world around us." ~ Elsha Leventis

Drawing not only develops hand-eye coordination, it teaches one to really observe, to see, as nothing else ever will." ~ Nancy Marculewicz

"Drawing demands that the artist pause, to be." ~ Pat Oblak

"No one can walk away from a fine drawing session and feel downcast." ~ Catherine Robertson