Jeni Caruana
  • Portfolio
    • Live Music Paintings
    • SKIN
    • Art in a strange time - 2020/1
    • Landscapes
  • Tuition
  • Blog
  • Contact Me!
  • About

Drawing and Sketching

2/2/2014

3 Comments

 
The differences between ‘drawing’ and ‘painting’ are not always clear cut. Drawings are generally personal, intimate things, often made quickly to capture a fleeting moment in time. Paintings often take more time to create, and are more social in that they are usually hung on walls to be seen. There are as many permutations of this as there are artists though. Many great artists, such as Degas, drew with colour, using pastels, which are sticks of pure pigment.

Generally though, drawings are monochrome lines, made with graphite, ink or charcoal. It is very easy to find artist’s sketches and drawings on the internet, and you can actually see where a pen was pushed harder, a pencil used sensitively or boldly, a stick of chalk dragged sideways. Looking at an artist’s sketches can give an insight into their personality and private thoughts which are not so obvious in their finished paintings.

Picture
Dance workshop - soft pastel
Picture
Nude, conte crayon and watercolour
Picture
Dance performance, ink and wash
Without the colour of a painting, a jumble of lines is all we have to make sense of a drawn image. We have to work a little harder to do this, and therefore a drawing can often be more engaging than a painting. We can see a direct connection to the artist and how he moved his hand to produce each line, how he represented texture, light, perspective, time, mass and even his feelings. If you are lucky enough to flick through the pages of an artist’s sketchbook, it’s like a direct insight into their soul. What caught their eye? What was worth the drawing time? Where were they? What mood were they in? 

PictureA lifetime in sketchbooks....
Sketchbooks are like visual diaries and I have one with me at all times, a habit instilled in me at college years ago. I can look back over almost 40 years of sketches and I know instantly where I was and what was going on in my life at the time. The drawings vary in quality and in method – some were done as visual notes, some are intense studies and in others I have used whatever came to hand to draw with. I rarely use my sketches as the basis for other works, although many people do. I draw to keep myself connected - to the world around me, to my hand/eye coordination and to the ideas and inspirations which might otherwise be forgotten. I see them as a separate activity to painting really, although of course the two feed into each other. Best of all is that these diaries are completely private; nobody else can really know or feel as much as I do about each drawing. 


I would encourage everyone to keep a sketchbook. All you need is a book of plain paper which will fit into your bag or pocket, even if you think you can’t draw ‘well enough’...... and simply doodle, scribble, sketch, copy; USE it as often as possible. Keep notes of your ideas and thoughts in it too. You don’t need to show it to anyone and so it need never be judged. Keep it to get your lines flowing and your eyes seeing.

3 Comments
Bruce Bingham link
3/2/2014 02:40:41 am

I too share you enthusiasm for carrying a sketchbook where ever I go. Sometimes they develop into other works of art but often they are just a way to explore and connect with the moment. I enjoy seeing the sketches you have shared.

Reply
patricia bernar link
16/2/2014 11:58:58 pm

Great Jenni very interesting and helpful article, lov your drawings too, thanksx

Reply
Jeni
17/2/2014 08:00:50 am

I am glad that you enjoyed it Patricia! My sketchbooks are very precious to me!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Jeni Caruana

    ​

    Picture



    ​


    ​I love to paint - and draw - and help others to discover their creative side too.....

        Be the first to see my latest work and hear of new classes by adding your email address below. Thank you!

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Art And Business
    Artist
    Classes
    Courses
    Creativity
    Dancers
    Drawing
    Drawing People
    Emotion. Ideas
    Exhibition
    Fifty Shades Of Grey Nudes
    Figures
    Fun
    Gallery
    Images
    Inspiration
    Jazz
    Jeni Caruana
    Landscapes
    Malta
    Maltese
    Motion
    Nude Models
    Nudes
    Originality
    Painter
    Painting
    Painting Holidays
    Pictures
    Sketchbook
    Sketching
    Students
    Teacher
    Tips On Drawing
    Tutor
    Watercolours
    Workshops

    Archives

    February 2019
    July 2018
    May 2018
    February 2018
    August 2017
    June 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    October 2012

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Portfolio
    • Live Music Paintings
    • SKIN
    • Art in a strange time - 2020/1
    • Landscapes
  • Tuition
  • Blog
  • Contact Me!
  • About