STANDARDS

Core Art Standards: VA2, VA3, VA10

CCSS: R1, R2, R7

Quick Sketches

How do these artists work on their visual voices in their sketchbooks?

Has a teacher ever asked you to find your voice as a writer? Perhaps you’re direct and to the point. Or descriptive and dreamy. When people read one of your stories, they immediately know you wrote it.

Artists can have a voice too. It’s called a visual voice. When you have a strong visual voice, your art has a style that is recognizably yours. You develop your visual voice the same way you would with writing—by exploring different techniques, dropping what you don’t like, keeping what you do, and making it yours.

The artists featured here knew that just as with a journal for writing, a sketchbook is a great place to find your visual voice.

Image of an intricate, detailed device drawn by da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci, A Geared Mechanism of a Clock. Ink on paper. Album/Art Resource, NY.

How are Leonardo’s sketches similar to his paintings?

Art Explains Science

When you hear the name Leonardo da Vinci, you probably think of the artist’s 1503-05 Mona Lisa. But do you think of flying machines, devices to measure wind speed, and clocks? Probably not.

Leonardo was one of the greatest thinkers of the Italian Renaissance, a period of achievement in science, art, and ideas in the 15th and 16th centuries. He was interested in science as well as art, and he recorded his observations and ideas in more than 6,000 pages of sketchbooks.

In his notes, Leonardo often made technical drawings—precise diagrams like the one shown above. The fine lines and details in sketches like this one echo the style Leonardo used in preparatory drawings for his paintings, creating a clear visual link between his sketchbooks and his masterpieces.

Image of sketches of people and writing by Delacroix

Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863), Album du Maroc, 1832. Watercolor, black and brown ink on paper. RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY.

What details does Delacroix include in his sketches that help him develop his paintings?

Contours Captured

Painter Eugène Delacroix (oo-ZHEHN de-lah-KRWAH) visited North Africa for six months in 1832. He filled seven notebooks with sketches and notes about what he saw.

In the example above, the French artist uses gesture drawings, or loose, simplified sketches, to represent his subjects. He emphasizes their contours—curved edges—with dark lines and then adds light washes of color. “The first and most important thing in painting is the contour,” Delacroix wrote in his journal. “Even if all the rest were to be neglected, provided the contours were there, the painting would be strong and finished.”

After returning to France, Delacroix referred to his notebooks when creating what would become his famous series of paintings of North Africa.

Image of a sketch of a bedroom by Van Gogh surrounded by his writing

Vincent van Gogh, Letter to Paul Gaugin from Arles, 1888. Ink on paper. HIP/Art Resource, NY.

How do Van Gogh’s sketches and his paintings look similar?

Just the Lines

Though Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh did not keep a journal, he wrote hundreds of letters—which often included drawings. As a collection, they read like a diary. One of those letters, above, dated October 17, 1888, was to fellow artist Paul Gauguin. Van Gogh wrote, “I’m sure that once here, like me, you’ll be seized with a fury to paint.” He added a sketch to show Gauguin how nice his bedroom would be when he visited.

The sketch consists only of black outlines. Van Gogh also made five paintings of the bedroom, which all include these black outlines. This style became a hallmark of the artist’s work.

Image of face sketches drawn by Friday Kahlo

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), Dos. No sirve es malo, page 52 from the Frida Kahlo diaries, 1944-1954. Watercolor on paper. Schalkwijk/Art Resource, NY.

Kahlo’s sketches look different than her paintings. How do the ideas she explores in her sketchbook inform her paintings?

Ideas First

Frida Kahlo’s paintings explore the most personal aspects of her life. The Mexican artist contracted polio as a child and was in a serious bus accident when she was 18 years old. Her paintings often reflected her physical and emotional pain. She explored her experiences in her diary—which she filled with quickly made illustrations and few words.

Overlapping heads appear on page 52 of Kahlo’s diary, above. Unlike the other artists featured here, the rough sketches in Kahlo’s diary look different than her finished paintings, which are highly detailed and refined. The diary was a place for her to jot down ideas quickly, putting her feelings onto paper before they vanished.

Think about your own sketchbook or journal. How might the techniques and ideas you experiment with find their way into finished artworks?

videos (3)
Video 3:22 The Secret History of the Mona Lisa Read-Aloud

Listen to a read-aloud of The Secret History of the Mona Lisa graphic novel.

Video 2:28 Drawing the Face

Watch an art skills demo video with tips and techniques for drawing the face.

Video 3:03 Drawing the Figure

Watch an art skills demo video with tips and techniques for drawing the figure.

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Lesson Plan (1)
Lesson Plan
Lesson: Quick Sketches

View a lesson plan for grades 7-12 about how artists develop their visual voices from the September 2023 issue.

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Quick Sketches (4-6 Reading Level)

Download a printable version of this article at a lower reading level.

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