Becoming a new father for the second time means new and more things on my hands nowadays (I am not complaining though since my wife and I wanted this second joy for a long time now since our first born has just turned seven). But unfortunately, some things just had to be heading to the back seat in terms of priority. And I guess going out sketching became one of the casualties of this incident. I still sketched from time to time (since like many who practice the method, it is like a healing process personally), but missed the official Saturday outings of USK-SG for the past four months or so.
…No more.
Last Saturday I finally joined the group again -- at the Little India outing-- and glad that I did since doing so only showed me how much I missed sketching with this cluster.
And there’s something about sketching that differs from architectural and landscape drawings that I do. It’s simpler, yet deep and real. In a sketch I don’t have to worry so much about scale and precision, or put much attention on tiny details either or paid an extra effort to staying within the contours of figures when I created shadows or put in a darker value.
I began to realize that these outdoor sketches have become an antidote to the methodical drawings I do for a living. Weeks, sometimes months would be spent on the same composition, same drawing, trying to get it to that ever-unreachable state of perfection. Sketching requires none of that. Furthermore, to me, the beauty of sketches lies in their imperfections. Sketches can be as easily abandoned as they are started. They don't need rules in terms of clearness and vagueness. What are important are the interpretations made of the meaning and the story behind them. And seeing how other sketchers’ works (and the masters like Tia, Don, Asnee) motivate you to unlock that individual style of work that defines you as an artist.
Below are two of the sketches i managed during the Sketchwalk.
