Why do you sketch everyday?

It’s Monday, time for some little sketches from the week. A fellow artist and friend asked me this week what I hoped to achieve with my everyday sketches.

So many things come to mind. Besides keeping the drawing practice going (every time I break, I find I am very reluctant to come back to making that first mark on paper), and teaching me to use my time more efficiently, little sketches are a great way to explore. New subjects, new mediums, new techniques, new ways to think, see & draw. With zero expectation, and often very little time, I play less safe, which is great. I explore more different mark-making media:  I tend to grab whatever is within reach to draw with. And anything becomes a good subject.

I’m finding that having kids and pets (the kids aren’t new but the pets are) helps. Both make good, if reluctant, drawing subjects.

At breakfast,on a school day morning.

My daughter just started learning the violin. I can now draw her and her teacher.

I’m trying to draw the new cats. One day I will get the hang of them.

When I can’t think of anything else, I draw fruit. There’s always good fruit in California and there’s tons at home ’cause the kids love it.

Can’t remember why I drew the same pear, from the same angle, in almost the same style three times over…

Two mechanics having a discussion under a car at Alum Rock AutoCare Center. I was walking past, and they looked kinda strange with their heads disappearing into the underside of a car, so I had to stop and draw them.

And finally, one last one from the week. A bottle of olives with pimento. They always remind me of my mom who loves them so much, she could eat a bottle in a sitting. Done entirely in watercolor, drawn with a glass dipping pen and a watercolor wash added on at the end.

Why do you sketch everyday? (Or almost everyday?)