Setting Aside Time Just to Draw

The Boathouse 16x20 Charcoal on Canson Board available $165.00

 I've heard it said that to be a good artist, you must be good at drawing.  I have to admit, when I was young, I loved to draw, and it was my favorite past time, but now I don't spend nearly the amount of time on the drawing for each painting as I probably should.  It had been quite some time since I completed just a charcoal drawing, but it felt good - it took me back to a time before color, before paints and before pastels.  I have always wanted to fill a sketchbook, but have never spent the time, so today I am setting another goal and that is to do at least 1 sketch a week until a sketch book is completely full. I enjoy looking through other's sketchbooks, and hopefully I will find as much satisfaction looking through my own.   I'm including some step by step photos of this piece - it's fun to see a picture slowly come to life. I used black and white charcoal on gray toned Canson Board.  The texture on this board took some getting used to, but I'm happy with the end results.