Holidays in Ink Week 5 Sketches

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I’ve had a very full week with family, including four delightful grandchildren, so my sketching has mostly been squeezed into afternoon nap/rest times and late evenings after the children are abed. I’ve also enjoyed sketching with six-year-old Paul and four-year-old Elizabeth, both budding artists; a couple of the sketches from this week were done while they also drew. In addition, I challenged myself to do quick gesture sketches of the children; that truly is a challenge, since they rarely hold one position for more than a few seconds. The evening I did gesture sketching from quickposes.com, set for three minutes per subject, felt like a luxury of time after sketching the children!

My first couple of sketches for week 5 were travel sketches, done in motels in the evenings after a day of travel.

I had very little knowledge of Texas geography, so I drew a map of the state with major cities.

Christmas Eve and  Christmas Day were great times for sketching the children as I spent time with them.

My son’s home is surrounded by beautiful trees, all crying out to be sketched.

And then there were quiet evenings sketching from images on my computer, while Stephen read Jane Eyre to me before bed.

I was inspired by my friend Jamie Grossman’s addition of line work practice to her quick gesture sketches, so I did likewise. Thank you, Jamie, for sharing your inspiring ideas!

I think I have sketched every day of Holidays in Ink, except for Thanksgiving Day. I didn’t always feel like getting started, but I was always glad to spend time slowing down, observing, and sketching once I got started. I’m looking forward to more sketching during this final week of Holidays in Ink!

4 Replies to “Holidays in Ink Week 5 Sketches”

  1. Melissa, I’m absolutely amazed by how much sketching you’re able to get in while traveling and with family. You should get an award! Great job with the gesture sketches. They’re so much fun, and doing them on Quickposes avoids the need to search for references; I love how they just keep coming! You have a great way of taking whatever comes at you and turning it into art. I really admire your perseverance and dedication!

    • Thank you so much, Jamie! I agree about Quickposes; it has wonderful variety and is so easy to use. I don’t always feel satisfied with the artistic feel of my sketchbook pages, but I do like how they become a record of my days– a visual journal. I usually don’t keep up with my sketchbook journals while with family, but this whole project has helped me do that this time around, and I’m happy with having done it. Thank you again for organizing such a fun winter project!