Minnie Warburton

The drawings here are from my sketchbooks. For awhile I was drawing on my iPad in several apps, mostly ASketch which is my favorite. These days I carry a sketchbook wherever I go. I sit in a lot of meetings, often listening to speakers. I spend a lot of time on folding chairs. Drawing the people around me helps me to listen and focus. I rarely draw their faces. I like drawing people from the back and it fascinates me how people usually know it’s them just by their posture.

The drawings are all on 5.5”x 8.5” Strathmore paper Toned Gray or Toned Tan, 400 Series. This is really nice paper. I work with Steadtler Mars Lumograph pencils, Derwent Rexel Cumberland for the browns, reds and whites. I found a single Crayola blue crayon which I keep in my drawing case and it adds just a touch of color when I need it. I blend with stumps and tortillons. Everything I need I can carry in a small backpack.

Sometimes I like to go loose and sketchy. Those drawings are done in a matter of minutes. Other times, I’ll work for fifteen to twenty minutes on a drawing, especially when I’m drawing a jacket draped over the back of a chair.

We all have different ways of listening, different listening postures…

We sit up, we hunch over, we slump, we drink coffee, we don’t listen at all, just try to make it look like we are…