Or why I spend 20 minutes a day drawing strangers

Every day - give or take - I sit down and spend twenty minutes or so sketching three random strangers. I could do this at a bus stop or in a crowded cafe but instead I reach for my phone and head on over to the @earthsworld Instagram account, pen and sketching pad in hand. Once there I’ll do a quick sketch of three or four portraits from the feed. It doesn’t matter if I’m sat there forcing my eyes open with my first cup of Joe of the day, or unwinding in front of the telly before bed. It has become a really great (and enjoyable) habit to get into.

Here’s some reasons why I’ve come to love this daily exercise.

It’s about quantity not quality

It’s not that I am trying to draw badly, I’m just trying to sweat less about it being good. And this is the reason for sketches. It is about the act of getting stuff down - the process - rather than necessarily the end result - the product. The whole point of this is low fidelity, low friction and speed. To ensure this I make sure I can work anywhere (I have a small, dedicated notebook for these sketches) and use only a pen.

I’m an over thinker. Pencil is great for laying stuff out and roughing a sketch but I find with pencil I can go over and over the same outline to get it right. Eraser be damned! Working straight in pen helps me get away from this overthinking and just commit already to getting marks down on paper.

This is probably why I also focus on a composite of portraits rather than individual portraits. By working on three of four heads I am less focused on getting any one drawing accurate and instead am more focused on getting the sketches out. And it really works - when you are doing three heads you get less worried about whether the hair of one is quite right or the nose on the other is perfect. And the imperfections just get lost in the whole. Which leads me on to my next reason.

The importance of strangers

It is tempting when sketching to reach for pictures of people you know - whether that is friends, families or celebrities (“know” as in familiar with rather than mates). The problem with this is you will never quite get it right. That subtle crease by their eye; the wry smile; the way they hold their head. With familiarity you will always focus on what is not right with the sketch rather than what is.

With totally new faces you are trying instead to capture an essence of the person. Sure there has to be some familiarity but you focus on the main bits - hair style, beards, glasses and eyes, nose, cheeks and jowls - and hope that the rest follows. And if it doesn’t then no bother. I have two or three other faces that will hopefully be closer. I am not sweating the small stuff and that is easier when you are looking at something/someone completely new and fresh eyes.

That is why I love the @earthsworld account. Candid portraits from country fairs in the US. People I would never normally see or encounter in my daily life. I will often image something about the person from that brief period of trying to capture them. What are their stories? What are their likes and dislikes? Why are they smiling/frowning? Do they know they are being photographed?

But in the end it doesn’t really matter - these are sketches. And furthermore the variety of subjects helps me stretch my drawing vocabulary. Black, queer, disabled, cowboys, old people, young people, bikers. I could go on but ultimately trying to capture the diversity and complexity of others is a simple way of keeping your drawings fresh, relevant and different and not falling back on your comfort zone.

As the great cartoonist and illustrator Alex Toth said (I paraphrase)

Faces, faces, faces. Faces that tell stories are stories unto themselves. Help tell ‘em.

Mark-making

Another reason why I enjoy this exercise is it really helps me understand the pens I work with. I prefer drawing with a brush pen (a hard point Tomboy Fudenosuke brush pen if you're asking) but sketching quickly with it really helps me understand what I can and can’t do with this pen, from shading to detailed work to fluid movements to creating shape and texture just by applying different amounts of pressure on the paper.

I’m not saying rush out and get yourself one of these pens but regular practice with your pen of choice really helps you get to master it in a way that you simply won’t by focusing only on finished pieces.

Don’t force it

Finally, whilst I try and do this exercise every day it is a bit of fun. I don’t want to force it and feel guilty that I’ve missed a day (I’m looking at you, Inktober). If I can squeeze out 20 minutes great. My experience and sketchbook are better off from it. But if I can’t it doesn’t matter.

Remember. If you’re not getting paid for it then it’s supposed to be fun!