The click of my camera is fast. It captures and stores the
image for me. But slowing down and spending time studying the color, shapes,
texture, values and line work of the scene before me, so I can render it in my
sketchbook, is a very different experience.
When I’m outside “en plein air”, sitting at an outdoor café,
on a hillside sketching, or focusing on a beautiful still life, all my senses
wake up.
In Southern France, near St. Remy, the gentle Alpilles
Mountains rise above the Provencal countryside. I love to sit and draw their
playful shapes. As I’m focusing on their angles and colors, I’m also aware of
the French words spoken around me, the sunlight casting shadows, the scent of lavender
when the breeze
blows, and the taste of the local wine.
My eyes follow the form and connect to my right hand as my
pen and brush move across the paper. And with all my senses fully awake I sink
into the place in a completely different way.
It is more than a quick click of my camera. The place
becomes indelibly etched upon my soul.
When I return home to my art studio with my sketchbook, the
time I took to “be” in that place allows all my senses to take me there again.
My experience returns as I look at my sketch or watercolor and re-experience
being there, without the hassle of airports or jet lag - just by opening my
sketchbook.
********************
Just outside the Silverton city limits last spring I drove
by this rolling farm land. I pulled over, sketched a few different design
ideas and took photographs for later use. I'm working on a series from this image using watercolor out of the tube with limited water...similar
to acrylic, but with the lightness and transparency of watercolor.
Five
generations ago my ancestors homesteaded in this area so I have a strong pull
to this landscape.
