The Importance of Drawing

This weekend, I attended the Art Now fair in Saskatoon. It was a blustery, snowy weekend so walking into a space full of artists was like receiving a warm hug.

I milled around enjoying the work of various prairie artists, some of which I knew, others completely new to me. Lately, I have been hesitant to concentrate too much on the work of others for I am reaching a point where I feel I need to calm the outside influences on what I do and pull more from within. Working more intuitively, as they call it. With that in mind, I let the colours and the shapes of the displayed work flow easily through my mind, and then I walked to the area where artists and gallery owners and public gallery curators were all giving talks throughout the day.

I spent most of the day there and I am glad I did. I learned so much. Some of it was reinforcement of things I already knew, like focusing on the intuitive side of your art practice. Some of it was completely new to me; for instance I got a better feel for the connection between artists and galleries and how that dance works, or doesn’t in some cases.

What affected me most was a talk by Cam Forrester, a Saskatoon painter and member of the group ‘Men Who Paint’, about how he focuses on drawing first, painting second. I know that drawing is the most essential skill an artist possesses. But from now on, the way I will use it, and the amount I focus on it will significantly change after hearing him speak.

Cam had the benefit of spending years in the architectural world where drawing was a daily essential. His high degree of drawing skill has enabled his painting practice to climb to great heights. The way he renders his sketches, and then recreates the sketches on canvas without any reference to photos, was really enlightening. I have always been a slave to the reference photo. But Cam’s method, with an extra drawing step, enables his voice to come through and frees him to be more creative with colour choices and design elements.

If you aren’t a painter, you may have found this post rather dull. But if you are, and you have been taking a shortcut in the drawing department, maybe’s Cam’s way of working can help you, too, achieve something more authentic and satisfying.

The big question: Now, where the heck did I put all my drawing supplies?

Steel Bowl, 2017, pencil crayon on toned tan paper, 8.5” x 5.5”