Seven Minute Sketches

A great way to challenge yourself and grow in your drawing abilities is through the practice of timed sketches. Seven minutes is a good average to work with. It gives you enough time to complete a sketch while forcing you to make quick and direct decisions.

All the sketches above were completed in seven minutes, or in multiple blocks of seven minutes. The individual pens and brushes, in the top left, took seven minutes each to sketch. The birds, landscape and bottles were finished in seven-minute blocks. The building, my son's old school, was done in two passes. The first seven for the drawing of the building. The second block of seven was for the washes. The tree beside the school was a separately timed sketch.

Benefits
• You will produce drawings or paintings that are “pure you”.
• It Improves your observational skills at an accelerated rate.
• You can sketch numerous subjects in a single sitting.
• If one sketch doesn’t work out - just move on to the next page - it's only been seven minutes.
• Less stress, as you are not worried about creating a “masterpiece” in seven minutes.
• Helps you to simplify shapes and group shapes together because of time limitations.
• A great forum to try working directly with ink or paint - no pencil block-in.
• Your “style” will begin to naturally show itself much more quickly.

You Can’t Draw Every Detail
We are so focused on believing that recognition is found in the details that even in a limited time situation, we try to cram in everything we can see before us into our sketch. Most subjects, including people, can be simplified to just a few lines. This method helps you learn to indicate things just enough and then leave them alone. For more about how we see click HERE.

Multiple Drawings: Same Subject
Whether a beginner or a seasoned pro, drawing something in multiples (three is a good number) will help you to build critical visual information about the subject. This will result in increased accuracy with each successive drawing. Remember it is more about seeing and understanding than it is about “drawing”. For more about multiple drawings click HERE.

7 Minute Modules
Sometimes seven minutes may not be enough time for certain subjects, or you may wish to develop a sketch further. Simply expand the working model into seven-minute modules as required. For instance, you could work the major shapes and window placement of a building in the first seven minutes. Then in the following seven-minute block, finish up the details and add colour.

Should All Sketches Be 7 Minutes?
No. What this exercise does is help develop an understanding of how long it takes you to work through a sketch at different levels of finish. It gives you a good awareness of what you can accomplish in a given time frame(s). In the case of a more sustained study, you will now have a practical approach in place for planning time and execution.  

You will be surprised at what you can actually accomplish in seven minutes.