The Sketching Project

 An excellent way to learn to sketch is by following the sketching project prompts available here. It is actually a list of ideas which when sketched upon in a systematic way claims to make a person learn sketching for 6 months. (By sketching they mean rough drawings here). 

It might be a good idea to formulate one's own prompts in the same way if one wants to learn more precise drawing. But then again, it might interfere with the creative process; the urge that moves anyone to draw anything is really not something that can be determined months in advance. Since that urge is what lends honesty and integrity to the artwork, this pre-determined syllabus-based approach is probably not best suited for "proper" drawings. Its utility is limited to practice sketches.

Judging art

Art can be broadly defined as a visual expression of ideas, and its quality can be assessed on two parameters: (1) In what manner it stimulates the viewer (i.e. the message that it passes), (2) In what manner it stimulates the artist (i.e. the effect that its creative process had on the artist). 

To pass a  reasonably sound judgement on art it is therefore necessary to have standards of what manner qualifies to be good or bad. Traditional art was rooted in spirituality and the standard was therefore quite clear. The modern world has started making standards irrelevant and judgments on art are therefore ceasing to hold meaning. When taken to extremes, this will therefore render art itself as meaningless. This will be a state of affairs that is inherently in contradiction to the fact that human endeavours are never aimless and will spell the end of art. It is imperative that the direction of art espoused by post-modernism be therefore changed.

Things to sketch when nothing comes to mind

1. Mount Everest
2. Falcon's view of a landscape
3. A solitary cyclist/farmer/labourer (or any person doing any physical task all alone).
4. Sahara Desert
5. Shaheen (Peregrine Falcon)
6. Antarctica
7. Calligraphy
8. Car rally
9. Self-Portrait
10. A leaf/feather blowing in the wind.
11. A lion hunting
12. A tornado/hurricane/storm
13. Wild buffalo charging
14. A scene from a movie or a passage from a book.
15. Ant's view of a street

The Carpet Merchant

This beautiful oil on canvas painting was painted by Jean Leon Gerome approximately in 1887. It depicts an everyday scene in the life of a carpet merchant in a rug market in Cairo during this period. He may be the central figure with the white beard explaining the merits of his painting to interested parties. The people in the background are probably servants/assistants. Some of the carpets are strewn on the floor while two hang from the balcony. The intricate design of one carpet is clearly visible. Multiculturalism is on view here, as the clothing patterns of all the men seem to point towards different nationalities. Jerome visited such a market during his travels in the Middle East in 1885.

Paintings such as these (called genre art) appeal to the sentiment because they carry within them hints of beauty in everyday life, something which is often overlooked but is very much there.

The painting is currently on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota USA.