“Wobbly Lines.” “Wonky Lines”. I have been hearing these phrases for awhile and especially in my sketching class with Oliver Hoeller, “Bending Reality”. I have been testing out some sketching using a less-tight grip on my pen. I hold it loosely and let it meander back and forth, and can get some fun lines. I am learning to loosen up and not worry about straight lines, and I can tell you, it is so much fun! A building that isn’t straight… that’s OK! A building that bends sideways… whimsical. People that don’t look as realistic… no problem. I have also found that the sketch looks more spontaneous and delivers a punch, when I allow more chaos to reign.
Oliver gave us a photo reference of a building, and I promptly bent it. I tried to narrow the area where the person was walking between the two buildings. It’s wonky and weird, but I like it!
One fun thing we tried in class was to sketch a video clip still of Oliver at an ATM. We could stop it anywhere and sketch one scene. I think it’s funny how we all cup our hands around entering our PIN numbers, so I sketched him doing that. I added cooler colors and bright yellow to focus on the action of cupping hands. You’ll notice a floating hand at the top of the sketch, where I practiced this gesture and then left it as part of the sketch!
I am finding my sketches are more expressive when I have tools and a plan and let chaos play a bit. I am also learning the importance of the sketch itself, before adding color. I think I have been too dependent on color and now I am letting the line weights tell the story and color takes the back seat. It’s a very different way of working, but I’m excited about it!