Go ahead; pick up a pencil and have fun!
“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.” Kurt Vonnegut
The ritual of sharpening pencils preps me with anticipation for drawing. Those of you who feel as if the talent fairy passed over you – stop long enough to sharpen a pencil and practice for half an hour per week, and most likely you will spend much more time in communication with your pencil and paper! An extra benefit is blocking out distractions and getting in touch with your true self!
Shading the background made the bamboo come forward (Lapiz – Pencil Punta- Point
Choose a forgiving subject and sketch the main areas, make very light notations for dark and medium shading, and be very careful around those light areas! Let the bare paper represent the lightest lights. For those of you who are celebrating holidays, try sketching an ear of corn or a wad of firecrackers, then shade the negative space that surrounds them! (Are firecrackers still allowed in the USA?)
The absence of erasers (while drawing) disciplines me to be careful and to think ahead, and the drawing stays fresh. I also use a second sheet of paper to cover my work. If there’s no available sheet around, I’ll use a paper napkin or a thin board – anything to avoid smudges! Students often spend as much time erasing as they do drawing; learning to sketch without the crutch of an eraser will reward you with drawings that are not overworked.
Someone requested a pencil drawing of a ceibo tree, so i’m having fun with a series of small drawings!
Pencil drawing allows you to stop at any time and resume later. Little by little, the sketch evolves into a stronger work of art. Trees are my favorite subject to sketch, and after working from life, I can complete the drawing days or weeks or months or even years later! Many times my preliminary sketch is filled with notations so that I remember where the lights, darks and middle values are located.
Um, this one is still waiting for my attention!
Travel sometimes exhausts me, and my energy levels are still on the low side this week as I recover from the return flights and bus rides between Costa Rica and home on the river here in Ecuador. (The internet connection is tired as well, and we’ve been arguing. It prefers to sleep in the daytime and is just now beginning to awaken as I am preparing to go to sleep! I’ve been unable to open several of the Timeout for Art posts – perdon!)
Between watering thirsty plants in the garden and unpacking, I’ve enjoyed watching the river and the birds while avoiding the paintbrush. I do not paint well when I am tired.
Today after the line drawings of the ceibos were finished, I spent another half hour blocking in the darkest areas on my favorite of the three sketches. Tomorrow I will travel the short distance to the beach and fine tune the drawing while I wait to greet a new tour group!
The pencil travels well and makes a great companion while I am waiting in lines, traveling through the countryside or sitting at a rustic table in an idyllic setting. Join me in sketching random images this holiday weekend, and let’s compare stories in a week!
Happy Fourth of July, everyone! This male frigate puffed out his red gular sac just for you!
Z
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
Thank you for the inspiration, and the very hands-on way you give it here! There is something magic about drawings, only paper and pencil and the play with light and dark. A great skill.
thank you so much, and yes, many times the comfort of a pencil will ease one into a very peaceful state of mind. painting is hard work for me, but drawing is usually a joy.. today it was tiring!
Happy 4th to you too. We’re in Raleigh visiting the grand kids and celebrating the 4th. Yes the USA sells fireworks and still has public displays. Your ceiba drawing is really coming along.
enjoy your fourth of july with your family! and the fireworks! z
I already feel relaxed just looking at your draft! 🙂
thank you so much! did you want to pick up one of those sharpened pencils and step into the picture?!!
I love a blank sheet of paper. I think it’s to do with the anticipation of a new start. But as with much of my life my new starts often don’t get finished!!
yes. we start getting bogged down with details, and we get a bit bored or frustrated and want to move to something fresh!
I also meant to say I love your post and the picture of your pencils! 🙂
thank you twice!!! i suspect that anyone who loves to draw would agree that sharpening pencils preps them for the drawing process.. a very sharp point really makes a difference when working on detail!
love the inspiration of your words, John will pick up his pencils again this week. As you know I’m the opposite. Sketching is hard work for me, completely exhausting and usually joy-less. Just hand me a paint brush and I “zen” out 🙂 My hand and fingers may rebel after doing hours of fine line painting, but mentally and even emotionally I’m back at 100%.
Glad you made it back home safely, rest up dear friend. Will you be headed north soon? hugs
isn’t if interesting that we have to recharge our batteries before we can move forward w/our art? the travel has taken a toll on my energies.. i’ve moved back the trip to september… am with a tour right now and will go home on sunday and will hopefully be fully recharged by the end of next week….
next spring tide/aguaji is on the 12th, and i plan to go to el matal and have sort of a vigil… i hope that the big sand bags will do their job and hold back the destructive waves…
Happy Fourth! Thanks for the tips (and I love the frigate bird).
happy fourth weekend to you as well! yes, that photo captured the bird well! the frigates are truly magnificent birs!
Happy fourth of July! I loved your post, your drawing is amazing. Thanks for sharing 🙂
thank you!
while in costa rica last week, a friend was growing ‘a new kind of frijole..’ and i looked at the tall plant and said, ‘hmmm.. i’ve forgotten what they call that in ecuador, but my friend from panama called them pigeon peas…’
and she said, ‘yes! that’s what they call them here as well!
hope your weekend is a good one!
z
Z, you can even make your pencils look artistic with the curved diminishing size aligned on a drawing. Happy 4th to you. BTG
if only all art projects were so easy! thanks, and have a happy fourth as well.. and fifth!
Hm-m-m. Maybe I will give it a try. Thanks!
that would be great! have a great weekend! z
You are born to teach. I’m almost tempted to grab some pencils and follow your wonderful suggestions. Love the emphasis on negative spaces. (Alas, I already have too many temptations, puling me in too many directions. Think I’ll just keep enjoying art vicariously.)
Much to my cat’s dismay, firecrackers are still allowed in the states. There are restricted areas of course, restricted by city, county and federal land management entities, but there’s always some knucklehead who thinks restrictions apply to everyone else. The result is at least 1 expensive and heartbreaking fire each year.
thanks for your thoughtful comment! you’re right – we only have so much time in each day, and if one tries to juggle too many balls === well we drop a few!
the poor animals surely detest the custom of fireworks… hopefully it wasn’t too bad this year?
This year, we have fireworks again! They’ve been banned for three years because of drought. This year – it depends. None in Houston proper, none in certain subdivisions, but open country ok. And of course there are the professional shows – beautiful and safe, because the fireworks are shot out over the water.
The frigate bird is fantastic, and also the tree filled with birds. Later today, or perhaps tomorrow morning, I’m going fig picking again! I found a farm that’s a you-pick-it place. My freezer’s filled with blackberries, and I’ve a half-bushel of tomatoes I have to do something with. I may just give them away!
But last week I brought home a pound of figs I’d picked. I’ve never had any so good. I didn’t think I liked fresh figs until I tasted these – they’re as sweet as candy, and full of flavor. A real holiday treat, like your post!
oh yes, it is fig time, isn’t it? that makes me roll back to 1994, and my father’s lifelong friend, my oldest sister and i are peeling figs in the kitchen on the day before daddy’s funeral.. doc winn kept saying, ‘your father would be upset that we’re letting these figs go to waste…’
too bad you weren’t there to help with the figs!
btw, daddy would have loved you!
z
So is there a trick to sharpening pencils? I can never sharpen pencils well and I’ve used a variety of pencil sharpeners. I think my Swiss Army knife works best, but it take a lot of time to get my pencil just right. I’m going to try to ban my eraser for a while. I rely on it entirely too much! Thanks for the great tips, especially for shading. Have a great 4th of July mi amiga.
hi from canoa! i’m here w/the tour group, and we’re having a great time! tomorrow morning we’re heading to isla corazon! wish you were here, but glad you’re home and ‘well’ – mas or menos – on sweet ometepe!
Great reminders on sketching. Recently, I went right back to basics for the hell of it after not sketching for some years. I found that revisiting the basic stuff really enhanced thought and skill processes that had become lazy without realising it. And the re-learning has been so much fun and so very rewarding.
… and I always love your photos. They give me a wonderful sense of place.
nice… “do it”
and have a great summer z-
Artistic shots indeed! Look forward to the results of your doodling 🙂 Belated, but warm fourth of July wishes Lisa!
Hope you had a great 4th Lisa! I keep telling myself I am going to attempt a pencil sketch and have yet to do it. I have pad and pencils so I really have no excuse, other than feeling I have no creative juices flowing through me. I am pulling out my pad and pencil as I write this. We will see what happens next. 😉
When drawing with pencils, I often find myself sharpening them when I get stuck and don’t know what to do next!
Beautiful work Z! I love learning of your disciplined experience and quiet drawing process – it the skilled labor of love that shows so clearly. The ease of bringing life to a white piece of paper, the connection between you and drawing is something that we get to experience through your photographs and descriptions. Wonderful Ceibos drawing –
this past week i gave a drawing class to some ladies that live at a nearby beach. they did so well – day one was a bit of an adjustment, but on day two they were soaring! i’m so proud of them!