Since I have been doing urban sketching it strikes me that something all the sketches have in common is that they take an everyday scene and transform it into something beautiful. The subjects are urban streets, shop-lined districts, buildings, villages, people, and occasional landmarks. Often the reference photos are completely unremarkable with bad lighting, dull colors and uninspiring composition.
This is why I like it.
I discover something beautiful in the ordinary all the time.
- After seeing each other every day for months, the shy dog walker woman who hides her face under her floppy brimmed hat now stops to chat with me many afternoons.
- Every night after dinner, Wiggles jumps up on the sofa beside me to snuggle in my arms for neck scratches and belly rubs while she groans with delight.
- The way the crepe myrtles lining my street bloom repeatedly throughout the spring and summer.
- The neon blue flash of a lizard racing across the dock in the park.
- The smell of iron when I walk past a neighbor’s sprinklers that reminds me of so long ago when I would play in the hose in my Aunt Essie‘s back yard.
I could continue this list ad infinitum.
Instead, I’ll go do some more sketches and make something beautiful.
