Como Park Bandshell.

You know, as I proceed with this activity, I find myself thinking more about the nature of what I'm drawing. I suppose that's why I'm doing this, to perhaps recover some lost skills, but more importantly, to figure out what really appeals to me about drawing.

So, for example, in the past few days, I've discovered what most formally taught "artists" probably learn in the first day, that is, to think about the nature of what you are drawing.

Take trees, for example. I find that I can sketch a much better tree if I think about how a tree grows. It doesn't grow from the sky down to the ground. Rather, it starts out as a shoot in the ground, which gradually splits off into another shoot, depending on wind, sun, rain, etc. Which in turn sprouts another shoot, etc. Furthermore, this basic "treeness" pervades the entire tree. Another way to look at it, every branch of a tree is a sketch of a small tree itself, and every twig on that branch is another small sketch of a tree.

OK. Maybe too much philosophy going on here. They are just sketches, after all.