Introduction
Carrying a sketchbook with me has been a phenomenal improvement over my usual brand of doomscrolling on Reddit any time I get a free minute. I've been on a personal mission to try and build healthier habits to fill the space between deployments at work - like chess, or drawing.
To that end, having a wallet-sized sketchbook in my pocket to pull out and doodle in has been wonderfully refreshing. I've mentioned this a couple of times in past weeks, but I cannot emphasize enough how effective it is in building a drawing habit.
I haven't been quite as voluminous in my art production this week. That's the fault of Blizzard Entertainment and World of Warcraft: Forever. But that's a spiel for another article. I've still managed to sketch out a few doodles that I'm rather proud of.
Plumbing the Wiki Depths
I mentioned last week that I've turned to Wikipedia's Featured Image of the Day to find inspiration for these miniature drawings in my miniature sketchbook. This week offers more of the same.
My wife has tremendous difficulty reading my script. The little blurbs I write are mostly tongue-in-cheek or just facts I've learned about the subject, but they make the sketchbook feel more like an extension of my inner workings.
Some pages didn't have much space for commentary. That's one of the difficult things about a small sketchbook. But every page ends up being an exercise in composition and positional planning, which is good for developing some artistic muscle.
These haven't been my cleanest sketches by any stretch, but they're more technically sound, in my opinion. I feel like I'm getting a better grasp of the form and structure that underlies the things I'm drawing - but I'm still working on improving my construction skills. It's harder on ballpoint, especially knowing I can't erase.
Something I really want to get better at is creating the illusion of detail. I've watched a few videos by Stephen Travers Art that cover a bit on this topic, but I'm having trouble putting it into practice. Surely something that will come with time.
Mecha-mode
I briefly experimented with some mechanical pencil drawings this week - mostly towards the goal of improving at constructive drawing.
Mechanical pencil feels like a very forgiving medium to work in. It's also very handy on the go. I think I'll spend some more time dabbling in it, in the future.
I'm a little insecure about my sketching skills to this day, so I haven't had much practice sketching from the world physically around me. To practice, I'm trying to improve at drawings of buildings and other larger shapes in perspective.
Digital Doodling
And finally, to close out the week, I spent some time drawing on the iPad.
I still very much enjoy figure drawing. I haven't studied gestures in a little while, which I should remedy. Maybe that'll be my target for the upcoming week.
Until then, I'm just going to continue sketching away. Practicing drawing and building my self-confidence as an artist remain the two most important goals in my journey thus far.
Conclusion
All-in-all, it was a pretty slow week. I've been struggling a bit to maintain energy with the dreariness of winter settling in, but there's not much other option than to lock in. We're all doing our best.
I'm glad to have hit the double digits in this series. Ten weeks! I almost didn't think it was possible. I'm proud of my consistency in that regard.
Have a glorious week!
