Virtual Sketchcrawl

A sketch crawl is an event for people, not necessarily professional artists, to get together and to draw. It is something that groups of artists do all over the world. People do sketch crawls at museums and they do sketch crawls outside and they do sketch crawls anywhere that it is possible to make a drawing. The opportunities for sketch crawls are virtually limitless.

If the group of artists is an internet group who don't live in one city or town, that group can participate in a virtual sketch crawl. They pick one day and they each go out into their own communities to draw. Then they post their pictures onto the website so that they can see one another's work.

I have been participating in monthly sketch crawls with a Facebook group. In August, I took a chair outside and sketched the black-eyed Susans that filled a large portion of my garden (see above). It was originally just going to be a sketch but I decided to embellish upon it and make it a mixed media drawing, with doodled leaves, instead of realistic leaves.

I showed the sketch to my family and friends. They all agreed that I should use the sketch as a basis for a painting. I agreed that would be a good idea. I chose to do a mixed media painting on panel. I had purchased two pieces of panel as an experiment, to see if I liked painting on that sort of surface. I copied my original sketch freehand on the panel and then I painted it with acrylic paints.

After the paint dried, I filled in the background with India ink. I chose to make the background very dark so that the flowers would pop out. I wanted the painting to be decorative, rather than realistic. After the ink was dry, I used a correction fluid pen to add the white doodled vines and leaves.

Here are the sketch and the painting together. 

The painting is finished and is framed. For me, it is a happy painting. The black-eyed Susans are now well past their prime outside but I will always have a reminder of these lovely flowers, even when the wind blows piles of snow on top of the garden and the trees are completely naked.

If you are interested in doing a sketch crawl, either get a group together or look online for a virtual sketch crawl, and go for it. You never know where it will take you.