A Sweet Sketch of a Lovely Little Girl

 Portrait of a Lovely Little Girl, 2022 

Willow charcoal on newsprint

Hi, art blog friends. The piece I have chosen to share this week is a charcoal gesture of a little girl. The sweet subject of this particular drawing is my friend’s energetic four year-old. I was blessed with the opportunity, this past Wednesday, to meet up with my friend for some art fellowship. While us grown-ups painted and doodled away, little Natalie* orbited between us. Natalie was determined to multitask, splitting her boundless energy between observing the progress of her mother’s 5 foot canvas, enjoying a tasty Eggo Waffle®, and forming a collaborative masterpiece with me (a portrait of her stuffed dragon, Sapphire). 

Drawing young children is definitely a challenge as they are almost always in motion. However, it is this very challenge that makes kids the ideal subject for “gesture drawing.” For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term, gesture drawing (also sometimes abbreviated as just “gesture”) is a form of rapid sketching. These drawings are an ideal warm-up exercise and are often timed. The duration of time an artist might spend on a gesture may range anywhere from 5 minutes to 15 seconds (per drawing). Just in case you would like to bust out the egg timer and try your hand ;). Timed gestures are essentially a race against the clock wherein the artist attempts to record the entire subject on the page in the allotted time. An artist may progressively decrease their allotted time as they feel their “art muscles” warming up; working their way down from a time limit of minutes, down to a matter of seconds. Basically, the faster you are able to record the entire subject the better. 

This rapid process results in drawings that have very “loose” lines and only the most necessary of details. Because gesture drawing focuses on movement and speed, over detail and precision, it is great for “getting out of your head.” Sometimes you need to just dive in and do! In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a big fan of gesture drawing and I highly recommend this exercise as a preliminary step for any piece regardless of the medium you have selected for your finished work. The quick nature of this form of rendering also makes it perfect for drawing subjects in motion (like children). Drawing kids is the ultimate gauge for your gesture drawing skill level. Put simply, you know you’ve made it in the world of gesture when you can successfully render a four year-old… so I’m feeling pretty dang good. :)

I do not have any burning existential questions for you this week, no life changing revelations, or even eyeopening epiphanies (if you have a craving for such things please see last week’s post: Brave Like A Quail - A Fool For Christ). This week, I thought we could all use a little mental vacation; a moment to sit back and just enjoy a sweet sketch of a lovely little girl. 

God bless you and I hope you have a great week!

* Names have been changed and omitted in this post to protect the privacy of my friend and her daughter.