Keys to Drawing with Imagination – Adding On

View from the Office on Christmas Morning
January 2019
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

Chapter 2 of Keys to Drawing with Imagination by Bert Dodson is called Drawing A New Reality. It establishes a link between observation and imagination. Bert suggests drawing from direct observation as a springboard to spin-off into imaginative drawing.

Adding On is the first exercise in the chapter. The instructions are to make line drawings of 3 unrelated objects at different times and in different places. Position the first object in the foreground and the other objects behind it - overlapped by it and without regard to scale.

I drew this sketch over 3 days. On the first day, I drew a roof from my office window. On the second and third day I added the snowman decoration and Christmas tree bauble.

Painting is probably not strictly within the rules of the exercise, but this was my plan from when I included the snowman.

View from the Office on Christmas Morning
Adding On
Keys to Drawing with Imagination
Ink on Paper
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

Time for drawing and painting is going to be precious while Doris (our new puppy) is young. I've set a challenge to draw (or do some other hands-on creative activity) for at least 15 minutes each day in 2019. So far, I've been focused and made good use of the time. I've probably got more done than I would have without Doris and the 15-minute challenge, but I have been finding more than the 15 minutes during the holidays. Back to work tomorrow.