Quick Drawing Exercise - in Front of the Tube *

* NOTE:

Groan...I just got an email saying that the sender did not like my "new work" (meaning these drawings).

Sigh.

This is NOT any presentation of my "new works." These are merely exercises to loosen up, observe quickly and capture the essence in 15 seconds or less...the opposite of what I do all day at the easel.

It really helps me to do something completely different and I wanted to share this cheapie little drawing device that has helped me so much.

=

I confess that after a long day at the easel, I sometimes like to relax in front of the TV. The odd thing is that some days I just cannot put down that dratted brush.

So when I discovered the “Budda Board” in a local store, it was the perfect "Busman's Holiday" for me.

I suppose you could call it a children's toy or merely a fun thing that nobody really needs.

I love drawing the animals from the National Geographic channel (yeah, it's a polar bear).

The Buddha Board is a medium value grey board made of some kind of “plastic.” You draw on it with a clean brush and plain water.

This is what a Buddha Board looks like - a pretty low tech thingy. You can see my scribble with water on the surface. It evaporates quickly - and disappears even sooner after a swipe with a paper towel.

It's a good exercise in drawing quickly and capturing the "essence." I like to experiment with different brushes.

And cheap - no paper/pencil costs.

I draw what is in front of me - from the TV screen - as “moving models” keeps me loose and painting at the speed of light. It surprises me how often I can get a "likeness" this quickly.

I digitally photographed some of these paintings before they dried up so I could post them.

I actually have found that these little quickie paintings have loosened me up a lot and made my regular daily painting more efficient.

Try it and let me know what you think.