 Last week, I encouraged you to take on a significant project that scares you. This week, I’m almost doing the opposite. I’m telling you that not everything you paint has to be a big to do. Sometimes, it’s good to paint something you might even consider boring. This is where sketching comes in. Most people think sketching is done with a pencil or pen, but a sketch can be done in any medium. I have a mixed-media sketchbook, and I’ve enjoyed doing watercolor sketches. You could also do acrylic sketching on special acrylic paper or boards. I’ve never done it, but the artist Lena Danya has gessoed her sketchbook and even sketched in oil paint. Here's her video on how she does it. One reason you should sketch in mediums other than pencil is for thumbnails. A thumbnail sketch is a sketch you do to plan out a more involved piece. The name comes from the fact that these are often made very small, but you can thumbnail sketches of standard size. My friend on YouTube, Shana Rowe Jackson, whose channel is Caution Artist At Play, made a video about thumbnail sketches, which I’ve embedded below. In it, she points out that a thumbnail should be done in the same medium that you intend to use for your finished product. I once read that sketching is “a drawing or painting done quickly.” The idea is not to spend too much time fussing over details, which I’m guilty of. I worked on resisting this tendency while in the studio my art club uses. The sketches at the top of this post were made by almost slapping paint down on the paper. How do you like to sketch? Tell me in the comments.
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Do you know what these four pieces have in common? I was terrified to do all of them and I'm immensely proud of all of them. If you're anything like me, you'll find that the projects that intimidate you the most are the ones you'll find most rewarding when they're done. Big projects are only scary when you're staring at the reference photo, thinking, "How can I ever paint this. It's so hard". In my experience, once you start working on one of these monsters, the apprehension melts away, replaced by a feeling of self-confidence. How do you get started on one of these pieces? You might be expecting me to say to just get started and while that is the most important step, I do have one caution to make. Don’t go to your final project just yet. Do a practice piece on a scratch piece of paper first. Don’t put a lot of detail in this. Think of this as a skeleton piece. Just work on getting the perspective and the placement of major landmarks right. You don’t have to be scared here since you can throw this away and start over if it doesn’t work out. Once you’ve nailed the perspective, the most critical aspect in significant landscapes, in your skeleton piece, you’ll be much more confident when you move on to your actual project. Taking on an intimidating projects teaches you not only about art itself, but what you’re capable of. Are you planning on taking on any big major paintings since reading this post? Tell me in the comments.
 Hey there! I recently did my first real project in pen and ink. I'd done cartoons before, not a real fine art piece. I started by sketching lightly with a pencil to make sure everything was in the right place. I took the reference photo for this piece, looking out the window of a library that’s attached to a gallery where an acquaintance was having an art opening. For shading, I'm using a technique called hatching. It involves making tiny lines in one direction and then making more lines in the opposite direction to create depth. The closer together I make the lines, the darker the shading appears. The way I place these lines also brings out the shape of what I'm drawing. It's enjoyable to see how it comes together!  Despite this, I don’t think I’ll be working in this medium again for a while. Although I like the results, making all those looking at all those tiny lines hurts my eyes after a while. To save my eyes, and know if I was getting the results I wanted, I had to periodically move back from the piece. It's always fun to experiment with new mediums and grow. Have you tried any new mediums lately in your work? Tell me in the comments.
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