Working drawings

Most of the drawings I have shown on this blog have been done for practice or for the joy of drawing, but I do a lot of drawing or sketching for the purpose of exploring an image that I want to use in one of my fabric art pieces. Mostly these are drawings done from a photograph. It is always great if I have a photograph that gives me an image exactly as I want it, but often the angle is wrong, or there are parts that don't work for me. That is when I use the photo for reference and fill in with my own ideas of what I want to see.

I am in the process of making fabric work about Latin American architecture and I have lots of photos from Mexico and South America. I like this cafe shot taken in Oaxaca, Mexico, but I'd like to isolate the cafe and present it in a more straight-on, iconic view.

While the perspective of the photo is not what I want, the photo is still tremendously important for suggesting the kinds of forms and details I want in my drawing, so I keep it in front of me for reference as I work. For the building I blocked in the proportions and divisions of space lightly with a pencil first. Then I went in with my pen and built the details. With my pencil I started with the largest object—the building, then added the windows above and arches below, then basic spacing of moldings and columns. Finally, I blocked in the tables and umbrellas in front. All very vague and simple. When I began the pen drawing, I started at the front, with the chairs, tables and umrellas closest to front of the scene and filled in the details of the building behind them.

Now I have a drawing I can work from when I start my fabric work. I think the thing to remember when you use a photo for your inspiration is that you don't need to include all the details in the drawing. Drawing is an exercise in reinterpretation of reality, not slavish reproduction.