penpressionism

With the pandemic, I haven’t been able to do much “true urban sketching”. During this trip, I learned that sketching from photos is not close to the experience of true “urban sketching”.

Urban sketching involves immersing yourself into a location and truly feeling the vibe of your environment. The people, the sounds, the architecture, the smells, the buzz of the city, the banter in the bar, the quiet wind blowing the trees.

The energy of the crowd, the fear of the blank page, my heart racing as I’m scanning the crowds of people considering who looks like they may be still for a few seconds so I can capture their impression, the frustration when someone walks away as soon as I start sketching them and I’m left with only the top half of their hat, the exhilaration and victorious feeling after I’ve taken the next subject’s face neck and collar and plugged it into to the gap that was left, the revelation—after I’m finished sketching—that I’ve been meditating on my surroundings for 25-30 minutes.

Sketching is not replication. Sketching is not perfection. Sketching is inviting uncertainty into a process. It is welcoming and encouraging uncertainty. It is taking risks and embracing the lessons that occur as a result of the risk.