Landscapes: Sketchbook walk

For this exercise I was to go for a walk and make four sketches of a view that I like or am familiar with. Unfortunately, once again however, due to the weather, I could not do it all in one day and had to do it on three different days.

My first sketch is a very familiar view - the path I use every day when I leave the house – down the back garden. I did the sketch from inside the house looking through the patio doors, and my main focus was the corridor between the fence and the garage. I enjoyed doing the sketch very much and think it portrays the character of the place giving a sense of depth.

My second sketch is of my front door, and my focal point was the bush on the right that leads the eye to the door behind. It was very uncomfortable for me to do it because it was such a cold day. I sat in a canvas chair facing, but slightly to the right of the door, on a downward slope leading to the swale, so my view was slightly upwards. The main thing that strikes me about this sketch now, is that my marks show my mood; uncomfortable, cold, not relaxed at all.

My third sketch is a view of a little area a neighbour has built to enclose his bins and my focal point was the bins. It had been raining so the ground had patches of water, and I like the sketch because I think I managed to capture the impression of the wet ground, the dark marks on the path, and a sense of depth.

For my fourth sketch I chose a post with a parking restriction sign on it, parking being quite a sensitive subject in our estate. I did it standing up about three or four metres from the post, and my focal point was the sign. I’m pleased with my depiction of the tree behind and the bush at the side, and although the sketch is done quite close up I can say that the sign is the foreground, the tree, bushes and wall are the middle ground and the roof of the house is the background.

The main thing I learned from the exercise is that you can find interesting things to draw anywhere in your daily life - the world is full of beautiful scenes, you just need to keep observing wherever you go.