This is the eighth in a new series of bi-monthly articles about sketching on location. The articles are based on my Sketching on Location Manual. The manual was developed as a series of lessons that I use on my guided sketching tours of Europe and as material in my regular drawing classes. As such the lessons can be part of a regular course or used by individual students as a practical learning guide. In the last chapter we worked on "Drawing Groups of Figures." If you have not seen the previous lessons starting in the June 2000 issue of Animation World Magazine, it is recommended that you do. The lessons are progressive and expand on basic ideas. It is suggested that you start from the beginning for a better understanding of my approach. If you really want to start at the beginning open with the lessons based on the Vilppu Drawing Manual.

Everything we have done so far can probably be called "quick sketches." In this chapter I am using the term to describe the capturing of an individual or group of figures as quick notations. In the classroom we might call it gesture drawing. When drawing in the field, the quick sketch is more than just capturing the gesture of an individual. There is usually something about what we are drawing that grabs our attention. This "hook" can be any number of things: the tender way a mother is holding a child, a funny clown in the park, or the romantic couple at the table next to you. The late Isabel Bishop almost made a career out of drawing people walking. It is what catches your eye and interests you that counts.

All drawings in this article are by and © Glenn Vilppu.