A Sketching lesson

My father was a goldsmith in the traditional Sri Lankan way where the mould for casting the jewelries like rings and settings was made from cuttle fish bones. Fortunately enough while we were living in the East Coast State of Terengganu these bones can be found washed up along the beach of the South China Sea.

The advantage of being able to sketch is that one can sketch or draw just about anything and everything under the sun. Any form of stimuli can trigger in your mind a scene, a character, a design or and idea to sketch and draw... the subjects are limitless to draw from unless one is absolutely aesthetically blind.

The ordinary man doing what he ordinaryly does everyday in and out is a professional and he is a great artist in a sense that he does not think or philosophise his creations. He creates to perfection whatever that he creates over time and repititions but he adds to whatever he does intuitively as he progresses till the obeject of his creation becomes 'His'. His Style, His Form. Failing this, he is simply a craftsman no different from a good cabinet maker.

When I sketch a character especially one that depicts an ethnic character I feel the character I am the Nigerian that I am drawing and my being him is derived from the Nigerians i have met in my life, the movies i have watched of these people, the smell when I am close to them and their mentality.

Sketching a group of people whether from life or from a picture is challenging as it is vital that you capture the mood of the group, like what is going on? Are they relaxed just plain hanging out or are they bored and tired of waiting, are they angry and about to burst into violence or are they in fear of something about to happen. These feelings must be evoked when the sketch is viewed by an audience. The viewer must feel the same if not more so of what the sketch meant to portray.

I took this picture from an old black and whit photograph and why not? This kind of scenes can never be found anymore and they are as precious as they come. These old black and white photos are one of the best sources of informations for anyone studying to sketch or draw, light and darkness the contrast and the transitions. But the character itself is awesome, this elderly gentleman simple as he looks, in my culture or the one one I grew up with commands respect.

Then there the imaginary, the cartoon character the carricature, the alter-ego of the artist, the guy who gets away with saying shit and often gets shit upon. Sketching these guys will have to come from an inner search and evolution for they represent your feelings and perceptions your impulses and conciousness, things that you cannot express otherwise without a character or a puppet. I try not to be confrontational, insulting or provocative in what I do that it hurts others in any way, there is more than enough of that in life today.



This is a sketch on the way to becoming a drawing as the work is taking form and the lines are getting lesser. Sketching when overworked becomes a drawing no more a sketch and a drawing when overworked becomes a painting no more a drawing. Just a simple Bahari approach to the Art of Sketching. In today's electronic technological age a simple sketch on a piece of paper still is worth persuing even if it is just to fill up empty spaces and time... it comes from the heart not from the manipulation of techno-gadgets.