Thursday Seeds | Sketches with no pencil

A sketch with no pencil is what, a finger painting? And what would be so bad about that?

This one, a set of dolphins was done with iPad; procreate looking very much like pastels.

There are sketches of my kid’s over painted fingers placed on a page to be decorated later. I may dig that out for you to see. No one would really know that was what was going on but me, unless I tell you. Does it change how you look at the sketch? Maybe.

I call small autobiographic notes and posts here a sketch too. A “what if” story that may or may not be taken seriously might also show up as a sketch with any pencils, just typing on the keyboard with a mind that won’t quiet with ideas. Get a few down, and then the monkeys go about their business and the work can really get done.

These kinds of sketches are invaluable when I’m scared to write it on the real page. I’ll scribble it somewhere that I could throw away if I need to. And I wonder if that’s what Picasso has done or other writers. We do this to trick ourselves into thinking it’s not for keeps. That it’s just play or fake so that the idea gets out and thrown out or gets out and taken seriously in the sixth instance.

Could a sketch be a couple of words only? Maybe. 

Could a sketch be a full painting? Doubtful. That would really really really be a lie told to yourself! Just admit it! You did a piece of art! It’s a full composition! Do it!

And

It was you.  You did it. You weren’t copying, or maybe you were and it started down a different road. Maybe you were looking someone up and this character just shows up out of no where and says, I need to be in your book. Why? Because I know the hero. How? She was in my class back in CA. It was a brief class but we had a moment.

Sketch from the past:

Sluething the marigolds

This is where sketches happen. And suddenly we know what didn’t go right with that recipe. The amount of flour was less than the egg! You could taste it. Too late to fix it, it’s done. Throw it out, start again.

Some sketches are right over another picture. No pencils.