In The Studio: On Vacation, no paints, just pencils

I knew that traveling down to Florida would mean not carrying my paints, I was committed to just carrying one bag on the plane.  I bought a little pencil case, several 3b, 6b, and hb pencils and a new sketch book.  I have all of this stuff but buying new supplies is an artist prerogative and part of the personal contract, I made with myself.  I decided to draw everyday and get back into that habit, which is an important one, especially in this era of ipads, and easily transported digital images.  Drawing is a fundamental skill that can never be practiced enough so lets make it part of our daily routine.  Sitting on my sister’s porch I sketched these two pages.  They are not great but they are quick drawings.This is a continuous line contour drawing which if I could do this as well as Charles Reid I would really think I was somewhere with a pencil.  Put your pencil on the paper and try to follow the contour edge of the shapes directly in front of you.  The subject matter is not important developing an en eye for the relationships of the shapes is the real goal.  This is fun give it a go, and check out all of Charles Reid’s books to really see a master of contour line.This a shaded line drawing with a little more emphasis on modeling the form.  First get the major shapes in place and then work on the details of form.  This type of drawing will require a little more observation of vanishing points and perspective.  Make a decision to add drawing to your daily routine, you will not regret the time spent.