Sketchclub Posting

This is my latest sketch that I've posted at http://Sketchclub.blogspot.com. Stephen Silver and I created Sketchclub out of an exercise I developed years ago.

When I first started figure drawing on a regular basis, I tried to find new ways to challenge myself in order to better retain the information I was drawing. During figure drawing classes I would draw the pose, but then during the model's break in-between poses I would try to draw some of the poses strictly from my memory. This was a great exercise because it showed me all the weakness in my drawing. I would later compare my memory sketch with the sketch drawn only minutes earlier, and there was a drastic difference in quality and understanding. The exercise illustrated to me where I was knowledgeable in anatomy, and where it fell apart for me.

It was amazing how quickly my mind would begin to pay attention to the shapes, and how similar my memory sketches began to look like my visual sketches. So, I began to extend the exercise until the next day. I would try to visually memorize a particular pose, and then the next day I would try and draw the pose from memory. This exercise really helped me to work on all those areas where my knowledge of anatomy was deficient.

Years later, while walking back from sketching with Stephen, we thought we would employ that exercise by memorizing someone, right down to the details, and then sketch them from memory. For people who like to sketch, this was a source of great amusement ... hence we thought other art nerds would like to see the sketches as well. The best part is the comparisons. The goal isn't to make a silly sketch, but to make a silly accurate sketch. Not only draw the likeness of someone, but capture their personality, posture and feeling.

Anyway, if you'd like to see some of those sketches from the early days, go check out our Sketchclub blog.

--Marcelo