Wednesday, April 4, 2012

"35th International Sketchcrawl - April 21st"

We came across a quote from Robert Kaupelis from his book, "Learning to Draw" which seems appropriate:

“I suggest that you wed yourself so thoroughly to your sketchbook that it almost becomes a physical extension of yourself. And now what you must do is draw and draw and look at the drawings and draw and draw and draw and look at the drawings and draw …”

Sketching in your own backyard isn't always easy. We pass the same things day after day on our way to work, or the grocery store, or the coffee drive-through, and we end up zoning out on those things as well as the people, cars, trees, and buildings along the way. For an artist to take his/her art further into the journey, these everyday things must inspire therefore we must look more deeply, search more carefully, and see more clearly because it is only when we do that our art grows, evolves and develops into something more closely approximating what we want it to look like.

My former college room mate and friend, Rod Cary, was an art major. Before passing away a few years ago, Rod became the window designer for the national chain of mall stores known as Casual Corner. Once just after college, almost 50 years ago, he came to visit us. We went for a picnic up on the side of the hills just south of Prosser, WA., and while watching him sketch the landscape jutting before us he shared two things I have never forgotten: one, there are far more colors there than any casual observer will ever see; and two, there is more beauty in simple things that the casual observer will ever see. "My job as an artist is to capture them," he said.

Let's go drawing together on April 21st, on the occasion of the "35th International Sketchcrawl" where people from around the globe go out together in groups to draw the world.

We will gather in the parking lot of the "509 Artspace" just behind the KNDU studios on Kennewick Avenue at 10am. From there we will head out into the community for a marathon sketch session that will last until about 3pm.

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