Woman in Repose by Sherrie McGraw, sanguine and white conte, 10 x 15 1/2.

Interacting with so many artists and writing about their work makes me think a lot about the kind of art I would personally like to make. With all the high-caliber paintings, collages, drawings I see around me, I wonder how I can find my artistic vision as a practitioner. It’s hard to pick a path when everything that I find along the way seems worth exploring. I fall in love with oil paintings of landscapes one minute, and then street scenes in watercolor the next. Sometimes it’s abstract collages or pen-and-ink portraits.

Right now, though, I really just want to concentrate on sketching well. Some of you may be thinking, You just want to sketch? But seriously, it takes skill to draw a street corner in a quick five-minute sketch, or get the proportions of a subway traveler’s limbs correct with just a few pencil strokes. I tried the latter just yesterday and only got one leg done!

		Hands by Sarah Simblet.

I want drawing and sketching to feel fluid and natural, and I think from there I’ll really be able to start working the way I want to. That’s why I’m excited about a couple of products that I, along with American Artist editorial director Michael Gormley, recently chose to include in our online store. The first is Sherrie McGraw’s book, The Language of Drawing. Since coming to Artist Daily, one of the best conversations I’ve had was months ago when I spoke with Sherrie about what drawing can mean to an artist—how rewarding it can be to work out one’s thoughts and ideas on paper, and how many artists’ drawings read like a diary of their preoccupations and challenges. Sherrie’s sensitivity to the drawing process is apparent in her book. She not only discusses foundational elements such as gesture, planes, symmetry, and foreshortening, she also discusses how to make drawings filled with movement and vitality—an extension of life. The Language of Drawing gives an artist’s point of view of drawing, and I’ve treated it as a guidebook of sorts, referring to it again and again as I try to figure out how to become a better draftsman.
 
The other book is Sarah Simblet’s Sketchbook for the Artist. Simblet’s approach has made me realize that drawing subjects are all around me. I’ve also learned that there are so many styles of drawing, and you can create a mood or feeling by using different techniques. Simblet zeros in on that as well, showing a diverse collection of illustrations, as well as pages from her own sketchbooks that are incredible.

With both The Language of Drawing and Sketchbook for the Artist, there’s an implicit understanding that learning to draw isn’t about what you produce but how you see. Taking strides to see differently is what all artists do. These resources can help put us on the right track, so that when we’re ready to make decisions about what we want to produce, we have a strong foundation that lets us know what we’re capable of—both technically and creatively.

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