For me, this may be what sketching on the spot is all about—sketching my day-to-day life. It’s certainly what I care about the most. I seldom plan for future paintings these days. I don’t take assignments or commissions anymore. Most often, I work in my journal, just for me. It’s a celebration, an honoring of the moments of my life and paying more attention.
Interestingly, I find that these very personal sketches—the ones I did because something in the subject spoke to me—are what resonate most truly and deeply with the people I share them with, in person and in my classes or online. They speak with a universal voice. They stir a common memory. We all have a life, we all have our challenges and triumphs and things that touch our hearts. Reducing that to simply manipulating the basic elements to follow the rules of composition or color theory to make a “proper” picture—something to hang on the wall—renders it pretty one-dimensional.
So let’s not. There’s a time and a place for that, of course, but this isn’t it. Let’s dig in and see what really matters to us. What speaks to the heart? What’s worth the time it takes out of our busy lives? Let’s celebrate those small joys, the things that pique our curiosity or stir us to whimsy.
This is not the time for self-criticism, and it’s certainly not the time for anyone else to critique. Getting what we feel down on paper is what it’s all about.
I’ve found that even sketching the scary things is precious—later. At the time, the focus on getting them down on paper helps to calm me, center me. My husband was in the hospital for cancer surgery, and doing these sketches helped me immeasurably. (He’s fine, now.)