From Sketch To Art

It all begins somewhere though it may not always start out as a sketch. A few years back I visited a little island called Carriacou which is off the coast of Grenada. I went on a vacation not expecting to find much as the island is smaller than Tobago but when we arrived in the dock I was surprised at the crystal blue water below the boat and the buzzing city in front of us. To add to my surprise we stay in a house located on the edge of the sea wall, it was quite a sight to see from the balcony but I didn’t bring a camera or my sketching equipment so I had to settle with the next best thing which was a purple pen and a yellow notepad.

I made a few sketches of the scenery during different times of the day even in the rain as I felt that I must get it done. When I got back home I did not start working on the pieces right away as I felt that I left my zeal for this project back in Carriacou but about a month later I was sorting through some papers and found that old yellow notepad and so I started to work from my sketches and memory using my chalk pastels, which was my favorite medium at the time.

The piece was not completely finished, not all the details were put in, but I don’t think I would revisit it because acrylic paints are now my favorite medium and I’m looking to switch to oils before the end of this year. Yes, artists have phases just as a growing teenager. One minute we like one thing and the next we like something else. I would say I certainly grew as an artist learning to do a piece from a quick sketch and what was left in my memory. What is your approach to creating a scenery?

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