The Why of 5-Minute Sketches - Valuing Them

Do you procrastinate about starting a new painting or drawing project because it feels overwhelming?  

Do you feel you don't have the time to do any art because life is busy, you may have children, your calendar may be full, and/or you feel you have no time for yourself?

Do you imagine that your work has to be just so in order to be valuable?

Do you gasp in horror about possibly making 'ugly' work or one that comes that out that way in your opinion?

I'm here to tell you that a 5-minute sketch each day means by the end of the year you will have done 365 pieces of small practice work for a time commitment of about 30 hours.  The 'chunking out' of 5-minutes a day, can be done by rising 5 minutes earlier or staying up 5 minutes later, taking a shorter shower or lunch, doing one sketch during your break-time, doing it while watching TV.  It doesn't take a monumental effort to make the time, but it can take a monumental effort to motivate yourself to do the work when you've made the time.  In the end, it is always a choice.

On a post by sophie.peanut, she provides four tips about approaching 5-minute sketching that include:

• Don't think--just draw
• Embrace wonky (even ugly, I'm adding)
• Not all drawings will be finished (and that's ok--my add)
• Make time for quick sketches

My post today focuses on how a 5-minute sketch can feel so undone that it is distressing to see in one's sketchbook.  What do you do when you feel you've ruined the sketchbook page because of what you consider an unworthy drawing effort?

Since last month, I've had a goal to do three 5-minute sketches a day.  Well, I suffer the same issues as everyone else --  so there are days when I've missed the boat -- but I'm not beating myself up about missed days and just pick up the practice where I left off.  I typically use a pen for the sketches which means any line I put down--there is no going back.  That said, the very real challenge I have in doing a 5-minute sketch is when I dislike it, think it looks ill-formed, or when it is undone.  

To address the last one first (while it may address the second one too), I take a photo of the 5-minute sketch after I date, title, and initial it.  That way, I have a record of the 5-minute version.  Then I give myself permission to use whatever time needed to 'finish it'.  When done, there is now the finished version in the sketch book.  Then you can print out a copy of the 5-minute sketch photo (and/or the source image) and keep it with the finished one.  These are examples of photos of the 5-minute sketches that I did and the finished version now in my sketchbook that I finished by taking more time with each.

For those sketches that look ill-formed, you can draw over it to make the corrected form.  This will likely get messy, but you may find the lines from the ill-formed version underneath your corrected lines add some interesting character or looseness to the sketch.  It may even serve to add or suggest a bit of motion to the piece.  That said, if you just can't live with the ill-formed sketch lines showing through the corrected image, you can always use gesso to cover them up before re-doing the sketch.

To address the point of detesting what you've done and as a last resort, you have permission to 'X' through your 5-minute sketch in your sketchbook BUT do keep a note of why you don't like it, and still date the effort.  It will serve as a sign-post along your journey.  Again, if you just can't live with the detested sketch, you can always use gesso to cover it up before creating a new sketch over it.  

The distance we travel along the road from beginner to skilled artist involves bumps and detours along the way.  They show us how harrowing the journey has been, how we've navigated it, and how we've learned and grown.  We appreciate it all the more by being able to see how far and over what terrain we've traveled including the sign-posts along the way.