On January 1, 2021 – New Year’s Day – I sat at my dining room table looking at the roses David had bought me for my birthday in November, and marveled at how they were still beautiful. I picked up a pen and started sketching one. I enjoyed creating this visual memory so much that I decided to launch a New Year’s resolution – to make a sketch every day for the entire year. My “Sketch du Jour” journey had begun!
Every day I looked forward to this little bit of time for myself. It started out as a 15 minute sketch, but sometimes I got a little carried away! January 2021 was in the midst of the pandemic, and pre-vaccine. So it was a time for staying local, with lots of time to reflect, leading to my choice of sketch subjects. I sketched new finds in my neighborhood, places from my daily walks. I sketched the flowers as they came alive in the spring. And I sketched from photos of the many places we had visited – France, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Africa, Amsterdam, Vienna, Prague, and of course Block Island. It was the next best thing to being able to be there. Sketching from the photos allowed me to focus on details I had never given myself the time to absorb, seeing them and appreciating them in a new way. I focused on the color, the texture, the light, the detail.
What did I learn over the course of the year of sketching?
- A sketch does not need to be perfect to convey the essence of the space – perspective does not have to be correct, color does not need to be exact – the sketch can be an interpretation of the feeling
- Animals are hard – especially my cats!! Birds are fun to draw, as are zebras – the rest are pretty challenging!
- It’s fun to experiment with different media, but my favorite is a quick pen sketch with a quick wash of pastels – specifically with my Alphacolor square pastels my Dad bought me when I was a kid
- Sketching can be therapeutic – losing yourself in a little sketch world can free your mind and be very relaxing
Every month I collected my sketches and shared them, and I loved hearing comments about how certain images made people feel. My intention was that this would be a one year resolution, and that I would move on to something new in 2022. But by the end of the day on January 1, 2022, I missed sketching, and so it continues! My goal this year is to sketch more of what I see every day, lots of Boston, Block Island and Arlington – and hopefully places from new travels!
And, I even made a sketch of our cats that I like!
-Felice
