Sketch 365 – by Scott Hulme

This was me after getting home from work today.  I woke up a while later, and did this quick sketch while I still had a sliver of energy.  I need to start going to bed earlier.

[Comments and critique always welcome]

It’s been a long time since I last played Pictionary.  So this evening, I decided to grab a card and see if I could draw all five things on it in one sketch.  So, for your viewing pleasure, here’s a 1) Ragged 2) Lawyer 3) Choking on a 4) Pop Tart while on a 5) Maiden Voyage.

[Comments and critique always welcome]

We’re babysitting my niece and nephew this weekend, so today I took them to the park down the street.  A nice, relaxing morning.  I sat and sketched this while they were looking in the bushes for treasure.  As I finished, I discovered that my 4-year-old nephew had been working on a cocktail of sorts.  His found ingredients, combined in a discarded pudding cup: water, leaves, dirt, a small rock, some dried up olives, and a metal screw.  I resolved to be more attentive.

[Comments and critique always welcome]

I didn’t know what to draw tonight, but with iTunes running in the background, I struck on an idea.  I arranged all my songs by duration, and started playing all the one-minute tracks back to back.  Then I drew something associated with each track while it played.  An interesting exercise for several reasons:

• I was required to not only draw in 60 seconds, but also to listen to the song, pick an aspect of it, conceptualize an image for it, execute the drawing, and finally caption it.  Lots to think about.  Some drawings didn’t get finished (“the merry peasant,” for example).
• There was no time to go back and start again once the drawing had begun.  Even if it was going really badly (e.g. “serpent”) I just had to keep pressing forward.
• It forced me to pull stuff from my brain, rather than look up a reference image (which I probably would have done for several things like the lute and violin).

Trying to keep that pace was actually a lot of fun.  Before I knew it, I had spent the better part of an hour at it.  Click through to see all 45 mini-sketches representing songs ranging from 1:00 to 1:07.  Images are based on things like artist, song title, featured instrument, associated lyric, etc.

[Comments and critique always welcome]

As I was heading in to work today, I rounded a corner and suddenly met a yappy little dog making a bee-line for my front wheel.  It’s lucky it wasn’t a cat, or I might not have been motivated to be quite so responsive with the brakes.  (Kidding!  Sort of!)

[Comments and critique always welcome]

At work, I’ve returned to the animation project I was working on, and have been sketching a few more storyboard frames.  Here, the orbiter comes back to Earth, to drop off a sample of material collected on Mars.  Of course, the drawing is nothing special, but the accomplishment it represents sure would be something.

[Comments and critique always welcome]

Just renewed my membership at the Caltech gym, in the hopes of exercising (and especially swimming) more in the year to come.  And of course, thinking about getting back in the pool was reminding me of my high school swim team days.  But not to worry, fellow pool-goers:  I won’t be going back to the miniscule Speedo.

[Comments and critique always welcome]

After two great weeks abroad (and one long travel day today), we’re back in California.  A quick scribble before bed.

[Comments and critique always welcome]

A beautiful day with wife and family, largely spent overlooking the Rhine and eating amazing food.  And, of course, sketching.

I could do this every day.  In fact, it’s my wife’s new business model.  We move somewhere scenic like this, and I sell little sketches for €10 a piece.  Of course, this would require two key things:

a) the ability to draw fast enough to turn a profit; and
b) a continual supply of easily impressed tourists.

[Comments and critique always welcome]

My wife and I have a friend who loves castles — particularly Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.  Today, we had reason to give her a card, but we didn’t have many on hand.  Then I struck upon the idea of sketching this on a piece of paper and folding it into a card.  Thankfully it was a hit!

[Comments and critique always welcome]