SketchTravel – Abstract Italy
A description of how my abstract images come about
Impressions, impressions
I remember visiting Barcelona some years back and being completely uninspired to sketch anything. Feeling like I didn’t want to just repeat what I had done so many times before, my sketchbook remained empty until we happened to visit the Miro modern art museum on the hilltop. From that experience I was energized to change my process to seeing and capturing interesting forms wherever I came upon them, and to throw my typical location sketching out the window. What a welcome realization!
It was for me a return to what I have thought of as my walkabout sketching approach in earlier travels, where I simply collect interesting things on the page as I came across them, with no plan to create a drawing. Then later I began to connect the dots into what might be something interesting. Drawing lightly with pencil gave me the freedom to add things to the page without committing to them. Sometimes I will see shapes that are interesting, and only later realize I should document them in pencil. Taking photos helps this process as I can look back to find things I decide to add to a preliminary drawing. The trees, leaves, stonework, wrought iron, medieval weaponry, signage, all can factor in where needed.
Can you see elements in the photos that I’ve used in the drawings?
