Day 3 - Hourglass

Today I wanted to sketch an hourglass to symbolize the end of our holiday break. Vacation time is up. Tomorrow it's back to real life's schedule of work and school, complete with homework and kids' activities.

But I admit I was intimidated by my subject matter as soon as I sat down. All those ellipses did a number on my confidence and it shows.

This sketch I did directly in ink. You can see that I restated some of my lines and that some of my ellipses are off.

Hourglass sketch 1

Pitt sepia brush pen in cahier pocket sketch book

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

I wasn't completely happy with my sketch so I decided to try again. This time I used a pencil and inked the lines at the end.  The second sketch is a bit better from a technical stand point, but still not completely right. Also I prefer the energy of my marks in the first sketch.

Hourglass sketch 2

pencil and Pitt brush pen

copyright 2010 Stacy L. Rowan

So one lesson for me today is that I need to work on my ellipses when sketching. With ample time and the ability to restate my lines I do just fine, but those aren't the conditions for sketching. Also, I learned that a lack of confidence shows up in the sketch. My solution for that - feel confident or at least pretend I do until the sketch is done!

As a side note, I am sure during this year long process I will have other sketches that I am less than thrilled with. Sometimes, like today, I may chose to share them, other times I may not. If you feel you learn anything from viewing these imperfect sketches and reading my thoughts on them, please let me know in the comments. I'll be more inclined to post them if they are helping other people.