The Key to Success!

The key to success …… this unfortunately isn’t it! This key and a military man's love of security caused me an hour's distress this morning! I had to break into my own cellar. You probably know the drill, new house, new locks (which unfortunately don’t open both ways), the wind and an internally locked door led to disaster (a broken door) but I digress!

The key to success in drawing in my opinion, is trying to challenge yourself with new subject matter. If you continue to draw what you love or know, you can get a bit blasé, stop looking properly. I love architectural sketching so I have a rough idea of what to expect when sketching Rococo, Baroque or half-timbered houses. Elements of style, windows, features are all a bit familiar however I think familiarity in sketching (as in relationships) can breed contempt. Stay sketching fresh! How…….? Challenge yourself. In my (sketch) book challenges are figures, vehicles or technical equipment or animals. 

In nearly 35 years of marriage to the military I've seen (and sat in ) loads of heavy duty military vehicles but never tried to draw one, so during the summer in between bouts of house hunting, I settled down to sketch (in situ) some older vehicles. 

Squinting at cogs, wheels, gun turrets and tracks was really an eye-opener and mind boggling too; amazingly complex plus the vast array of different surface textures, fascinating.  Several hours passed without me noticing but my concentration eventually waned. 

Although I did mark in a few straight guide lines with a wee ruler, I really didn’t want to get ''tight'', sketching these details isn’t about technical drawing, it’s about training your eye to capture the detail and ''mood'' of the tank; texture, huge size, strength, indomitability and not about whether the tracks are 40cm wide or 41.5cm wide. 

An impression of a tank and no compromise in style, I'm not a technical draughtsman. 

The results pleased me no end, which is more than can be said about the rest of this morning. I could have done with a tank to barge down my stupid door this morning and flatten everything that got in my path, good job that I don’t have the keys to one!