This is my first blog post in several months, and I can’t believe how easily it slipped away from me. I am still sketching all the time, but I have a difficult time finding the patience to scan and post them.
When I was taking photography in college and we learned about this one famous photographer who was constantly taking pictures, like he would go to a party and take seven rolls of film. He basically lived life through the viewfinder of his camera. But he wasn’t nearly so productive when it came time to develop the film and make prints. Whenever his friends asked how his photography was going he would joke “I’m a little behind in my processing.” When he died they found hundreds of rolls of film that had yet to be made into prints, and hundreds more that hadn’t even been developed.
So that’s me. I’m still out there making sketches. Just not doing anything with them. I have drawings that I’ve been meaning to post for months.
Here are a couple of old master copies that I did one Sunday morning in January when I probably should have been doing something else.
Portrait of an old man, late 15th century by Francesco Bonsignori. My guy came out a little more friendly-looking than Mr. Bonsignori’s.
And here is a Woman’s head, by Rubens…
Both are conte on toned paper.
I enjoy the meditative state I go into while doing old master copies. It’s not the most creative activity, since you are just copying another drawing, but it’s a nice way to get some marks on the paper when you are not in the mood to do any thinking.
sketchbookfactory 