Saturday, November 19, 2016

Backyard Pieces


As you can see from the date, I drew this a long while ago. I've heard the best way to learn how to draw nature is (not surprisingly) to practice drawing nature. So I went out into my backyard and practiced drawing different parts of it. There's part of the porch, the bricks at the bottom of the steps, the shed, the trees, and a leaf. I'm experimenting with how to draw bark on the trees- how much realism to include on a brick, and the shadow of one fence part on another. I think I nailed the leaves in this particular picture, that's a good sign. The trouble of getting in enough practice isn't going outside- I do that all the time. It's remembering to bring my sketch book with me. I'm lucky I've got so much time before I'm expected to have these habits down. It will also help when I have a schedule and other people are counting on my work getting done. 

It's amazing how much detail is in the world around us. Of course it's easy to notice, but not to duplicate. C.S. Lewis pointed out though his deceptively named book "The Great Divorce" that artists draw what they see in landscapes or even people because they see a glimpse of heaven reflected in it and want to share it. Not only will I spend the rest of my life trying to imitate God in moral uprightness, I'll also spend my whole life trying to imitate the beauty of his work- his original, all-encompassing masterpiece. Worth it.

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