Sketch: Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

pencil, colored pencil

© 2011 by A. Dameron 

 

A quick sketch, including color swatches. Extremely rough.

Two of my earliest sketches (2003 and 2004)

Michael's Toys

pencil, colored pencil

© 2003 by A. Dameron

 

Backyard Neighbors

colored pencil, marker

© 2004 by A. Dameron

 

Recently I dug up my first art notebook. After my son was born in 2003, I began sketching and drawing. At first, it was to help keep my sanity (Michael was colic for his first 16 weeks of life), but it expanded to lot more over the years. Above are two examples from that notebook. Two of Michael's toys (a musical cube and a walker) and the view out of the back door of our neighbor.

From my sketchbook...a snapshot of my creative process

Countryside (Draft)

rough draft of future painting

 

I don't normally post sketches or rough drafts because they rarely look anything like the finished product. This time, I'd like to share some aspects of my creative process when I draw or paint. It shares some similarities with my writing process, with a few differences.

"Countryside" will be a painting, either oil or acrylic (haven't decided yet). A river runs through a small settlement in the mountains. The landscape highlights the daily life of the inhabitants and their simple, yet mystical architecture. This is connected with a new fantasy novel series that's in the planning stages right now. The first book takes place mostly in a land similar to Ancient China, with some touches of ancient Persia.

Here's another page from my sketchbook, this time dealing with some architecture:

 

Architecture1 (Draft)

I've always been fascinated by the structure of buildings, gardens and fountains. In fact, I had serious considered becoming an architect/graphic designer type while in college (I was at the right place for it: Virginia Tech). For this project, I've consulted books and internet sites about East Asian temples (like the Vietnamese and Thai pagodas, the sketch on the left), Chinese and Japanese Buddhist temples, and Roman temples. The small pyramid on the bottom right was borrowed from the Egyptian. History has given us plenty of skilled and innovative architects, from Imhotep to Frank Lloyd Wright. 

When I imagine a fantasy culture, I make a list of important Things To Keep in Mind (capital letters). Setting is an important component, as well as character (what does he/she/it do for a living? What kind of personality do they have? How do they interact with other characters?). Language plays a role and social structure, like a class system, influences the characters and the plot. Painting and writing have to convey this through visual means, either on the canvas or on the page.

I'll post updates on this process as they happen. :-D

 

"Satiroplastic" by Gary Panter

I carry all sorts of sketchbooks with me wherever I go. I have a palm-sized one in my back pocket, a 5x7 sized one in my purse, a 6x6 square one, an 8x8 square one, an 8x12 one in my room, and a 16x20 on the kitchen table. My art bag has three different pencil cases: one for my sketch pencils, one for my oil and watercolor pencils, the third for my pastel pencils. This includes pencil sharpeners, three kinds of erasers, a mini-wooden figure, a pack of pastels, my paintbrushes with palette, and a basic set of watercolors.

"Isn't that a bit much to carry around?" someone asked me.

"You never know when you're going to see something to draw or paint," I answered.

Today I picked up Satiroplastic: sketchbook facsimile by Gary Panter. It's about the size of a thick address book or a Palm Pilot. In the introduction, he admits that this was his travel companion, a quick snapshot of images and places he visited from 1999-2001. The pen, ink and marker sketches and scribbles are nowhere close to the clean, polished drawings of his other books, like Jimbo. But this is simply the raw draft, the sketch-on-the-fly, the diamond in the rough.

In fact, most of my sketchbook stuff looks remarkably similar: jagged lines and squishy images, pencil erasures and arrows indicating positions, and jotted notes in the margins for colors. "Building red, with white windows and blue curtains. Mahogany porch with swing, flower pot with orange chrysanthemums, and fire red tulips."

Creativity is all around us; we just have to capture it a moment at a time.
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2011