Childhood drawing exercises bring local characters to life
When I was growing up, I would practice my drawing skills by sketching the faces of the many visitors who stopped by our house before entering into the woods.
There were hunters and fishermen with their half-shaven chins and creased skin.
And then there were the charming and smiling summer cottage owners with sunburned cheeks sharing the news of their day around the lake.
Drawing faces was one of the largest challenges for me as a budding artist.
I wrestled to get eyes and noses set just right to capture these people and bring them to life.
Every face was so unique— there was never a line that was the same to recreate. As a twelve year old, I honed my skills using crayon, pencil and pen.
I secretly worked on sketching portraits in the privacy of my bedroom, scratching out and erasing line after line until the faces seemed to come to life. The exercise took up a good portion of April’s mud season.
During that time I grew accustomed of where to start when drawing each individual face.
Each subject had their own distinctive look and I would begin by drawing the feature that was the most dominant and seemed to define their character.
As time went on I began using inks and chalks to sketch.
Ultimately I settled on a simple thin line black marker because of its portability and ability to work on most drawing surfaces.
To this day I keep one stashed in my truck and the pocket of just about every one of my coats for those opportune moments of jotting down a few notes on a face.
I have even found myself doodling faces of folks I meet during business meetings. But still, my favorite faces to draw were those of old hunters.
The deep-etched lines on their foreheads and their bushy eyebrows and sideburns tangled and flecked with grey told a story all their own.
Mitch Lee is an Adirondack illustrator & storyteller, living in his boyhood town of Inlet. ltmitch3rdny@aol.com
