When I went out for my first real sketchcrawl in July 2011, I was feeling pretty nervous about sketching with people watching.
A lot of my prior work was either done at my drawing board (with my full size watercolours) or carefully hidden/scrunched up so people could not really see me sketching
. The latter made me feel safe and comfortable.
So as they say my sketchcrawl was also to "get out of my comfort zone" and try something new.
Armed with my sketching/painting kit off I went to my first Sketchcrawl. To break through this awkward exposure, I thought I would go out really early ahead of the crowds and get something, even if just the framework down on paper before I was seen.
You would think 7:00am would have been early enough to get away with this... WRONG!
As soon as I had set up I was surrounded by homeless folks and mobile dwellers munching away on breakfast from whatever they could scrounge. Apparently the golden arches "MacDonalds" was open already down the block and the first feeding frenzy had started. I soon found that there were plenty of art critics and art enthusiasts amongst the homeless, so by 7:15am I had a half dozen of them standing behind me in my cheering section. Surprising that some of these folk had a good eye for art and knew all the local professional artists and galleries (from their local travels)
. While I was sketching, I was carrying on conversations about how I sketch from the outside in to frame the work, fill in the main structures and then add the detail. I was getting a lot of intelligent questions. By now I was not feeling too uncomfortable. The hairs were still standing up on the back of my neck when people stood behind me but I was not feeling any anxiety.
By about 8:30am, the street folk started to disappear with their carts and buggies as the tourists arrived. A couple of early tourists came over for a look. This couple were from China (It was China Town, so that was a good chance anyway) and they were quite knowledgeable about art.
Again the over-the-shoulder treatment, but I was feeling comfortable because we were having a great discussion while I sketched. Lots of compliments helped
Just before 9:00am my sketching partner (sketchalina/Carol) for sketchcrawl arrived and set up. We had not met before and we soon got comfortable talking about sketching and journal making. We had completely different sketching styles and checked out each others recent sketches. As the morning went on we had quite a number of tourists, locals and street folk drop by, have a look and engage us in discussion. It also helped to have Carol there as she was more of a sketchcrawl veteran. By 11:00am any anxiety had gone. At 11:30 we both packed up and moved off to our noon rendezvous spot to meet any late sketch crawlers. We were in place at the cafe when our third scheduled sketchcrawler (Crazythalia/Thalia) arrived and joined us for a few hours.
Since then I have done a lot of solo mini-sketchcrawls and have not had any anxiety or comfort issues related to on-lookers. My only major point is to ensure if I am sketching kids, I immediately show the parents what I am doing and ask if they mind. They get nervous with strangers photographing their kids but seem to be quite happy and flattered when someone sketches them.
In this last Sketchcrawl (#33) at Granville Island Public Market, I had absolutely no issues with watchers or interested parties and encouraged anyone interested to try sketching. I have had many great conversations with people watching.
I have found two types of people approach me; a) those knowledgeable sketchers/painters/artists - these folk are very supportive b) those folk who know nothing about art and have the impression someone needs to tell them what is good or bad art. With these folks I feel in control
With the latter I indicate there is no good or bad art, it all depends on whether you like it, feel moved by it, like the colours in it or whatever. Then encourage them to try themselves. Most of these folk feel scared to try or start.
Anyway.. just my 2 cents and experience with drawing in public.
A real big PS: Sketchcrawl has been a tremendous help to me in building confidence .. even before I exposed myself to drawing in public. This community of artists has been so encouraging and supportive that it has really helped me get over self doubt and shyness. It has also taught me much about styles, composition and colour.
After doing Sketchcrawl#33, I came back and posted my work fairly quickly (mainly because I did the entire sketches and watercolour application on site rather than after I returned home). I was so pleased with myself and reasonably happy with my sketches. As other sketchcrawlers posted, I was just blown away by the quantity, the style differences and the impressive sketches I was seeing. Again as a community, sketchcrawlers kept up the encouragement so instead of thinking.. my stuff isn't so great... I was learning new things and planning how to improve for next time. So Enrico and all you other folks that made this possible .... You Done Good!
Thanks.
Cheers
David Fletcher
[CyberDave]
Vancouver, Canada