What is "field sketching"? Well, sketching out in the field is an obvious answer. Scientists do field sketches outdoors -- biologists, botanists, geologists, for example. Even a drawing of cellular structures, done while looking thru a microscope, could be considered a field sketch. For the fine artist, field sketching is different from plein air painting (which I discussed in a previous blog). When I am at a coffee shop and do a surreptitious drawing of a patron, who is hunched over a book or looking at email on a laptop, I call that field sketching. Here is one from yesterday. I was at Roasters in Cedar Park, my favorite coffee shop, with my iPad. Seeing a young man studying, I did this drawing of him.
I used the ArtRage app on my iPad. The iPad is particularly suited for surreptitious sketching. If I have a sketchbook and art supplies with me, it's pretty obvious what I'm doing. With the iPad, I just look like I'm checking email or working on something. Well, I am working on something. This young man was still much longer than the average bear. He seemed very intent. He moved around a bit, but seemed to settle back in the same position.
Here is an etiquette question. Should I ask permission before I sketch someone? With photography, the answer is more obvious, I think. If I ask permission, and the person agrees, he becomes, for that short time, a model. He may be uncomfortable, wooden. Professional models are used to the intense focus of the artist's eyes. Other people find it unnerving. Staring at someone is extremely confrontational. Even a loving gaze will become strange if it lingers too long in one spot.
Still, some artists do ask. I don't, usually.
Here is an etiquette question. Should I ask permission before I sketch someone? With photography, the answer is more obvious, I think. If I ask permission, and the person agrees, he becomes, for that short time, a model. He may be uncomfortable, wooden. Professional models are used to the intense focus of the artist's eyes. Other people find it unnerving. Staring at someone is extremely confrontational. Even a loving gaze will become strange if it lingers too long in one spot.
Still, some artists do ask. I don't, usually.
Great artists throughout history have done field sketches. One famous example, by Leonardo da Vinci:
Public executions being a festive affair, da Vinci attended the hanging of murderer Bernardo di Bandino Baroncelli, who had been part of the conspiracy to overthrow the Medici family's rule of Florence. I doubt Leonardo asked Bernardo's permission to do the sketch.
In his notes, da Vinci described the clothing: "A tan colored skull-cap, a doublet of black serge, a black jerkin, lined and the collar covered with a black and red stippled velvet. A blue coat lined with fur of fox's breasts. Black hose. Bernardo di Bandino Baroncelli." If your kid plays the video game Assassin's Creek II, ask him about Bernardo.
Another famous field sketcher was sculptor Henry Moore, whose "Shelter" series of drawings documents the experience of hiding in the "Tube" (the subway) during bombing of the London in World War II. Moore is best known for his huge sculptures. See a fine example of one of his sketches below:
I could give lots of examples, but will stop here.
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