How do you call a sketch of something that is already a drawing or a painting? A meta sketch? If so, I did some meta-sketching for my latest column.
As you can see in my “trophy shot,” above, the subject of my sketch was a pretty big painting: a “tromp l’oeil” mural that welcomes visitors to a classic cars dealership in the Seattle area. In my drawing, you can see owner Jeri Drager standing in front of the artwork. One of his cars, a 1948 Ford sedan, is parked at the other end of the 40-foot-long painting as if it was about to drive into the scene.
The experience of sketching the work of another artist, Edmonds-based muralist Andy Eccleshall in this case, gave me a little pause. It’s something that happens to me every time my subject matter is a piece of art.
What if he doesn’t like my sketch?
I know as artists we are supposed to do “our own thing” and not let the opinion of others affect our confidence. But it’s hard to turn off that inside “what-will-people-think” voice in a case like this.
I could care less of what a random person thought about my sketch, but I certainly wanted the muralist —a fellow artist!— to be pleased.
Fortunately, he was. “Excellent drawing Gabriel! I love it!” Eccleshall wrote in an email Saturday morning.
You can see more of his outstanding work at muralworks.org.