Drawing the Everyday (and a month-long challenge from two awesome artists)

I have now been back from India for a few weeks, and one of the things I struggle with after a big sketching trip is getting back to daily sketching. So I jumped at the opportunity to sketch “nothing at all” with Uma Kelkar days after I came home. We stood in the middle of a traffic island and I did two takes on the scene ahead of me.

That motorcycle sign in the sketch has a story to it, I’m sure. I’ve sketched it years ago when I documented signs in San Jose. But I never did find out more about it.

There’s something lovely about sketching this sort of “nothing”: you can’t get lazy like you can with something more iconic or pretty. You have to decide what you want to say in your work and how you will go about saying it. And even if you don’t say it too successfully, like the pieces above, at least you tried for a point of view.

You can see a few of Uma’s interpretations of that same scene here.

And while we’re speaking of her, today is the first day of an awesome challenge she hosts along with Marc Holmes: It’s called the 30 x30 Direct Watercolor Challenge.

Here are a few links to inspiring work by both artists and a link to a blogpost that explains how the challenge works. It’s never too late to jump on: Do It!

Uma’s Instagram and Website
Marc’s Instagram and Website

How the Challenge Works

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Edit: After I published this, blog reader Leanne wrote in and shared this information about the motorcycle sign. Thank you, Leanne!