I haven’t drawn on location with a serious mindset in two years. I’ve been spending most of my time drawing from either reference photos or my own imagination. I’m not usually one for New Year’s Resolutions but this year, I’m making a concerted effort to draw on location at least three times a week.
I’m using nothing but a fountain pen and a simple Moleskine sketchbook. I’m trying to improve my understanding of perspective, perception, and construction by taking my time in establishing (at the very least) a horizon line, a measuring vertical line, and perspective guiding lines. From there, I build the sketch from the outside-in.
It’s quite satisfying knowing you’ve correctly measured a certain element, or understood the basic geometry/proportion of a structure by reducing it to a simple volume. I wonder if this practice of mental abstraction then slowly building complexity has any philosophical applications.
On a completely unrelated, but not so unrelated note, I’ve been reading more philosophy books. In particular books on aesthetics and art philosophy. If you haven’t read or seen John Berger’s Ways of Seeing I would highly recommend it. It just might be the best and most interesting book on art I’ve ever read.
