Sketching from Memory

A frequent problem of mine is being caught sans sketchbook by an inspiring view. In my defense, this often happens whilst I'm piloting my trusty Toyota on a schedule that doesn't allow for stopping. While the driver's manual may not explicitly condemn sketching while driving, I suspect my fellow travelers on highways and interstates would prefer I focus my energies on safely maneuvering my vehicle in traffic. So, stuck as I sometimes am in the flow of America's automotive arteries, I do my best to commit what I've seen to memory and then dredge those memories up as soon as I can get out of the car and get my hands on any sort of tool for image making.

Knowing that memory is faulty somehow takes the pressure out of the exercise. The aim isn't to sketch what was seen so much as it is to synthesize the memory, the impression left on the mind by the sight. (Throw in cardboard as the painting surface and the stress of making a nice image all but vanishes.)

Sometimes it's nature's colors that really make an impact, as in the image above seen on a flight home. This massive thunderhead was floating somewhere over the Great Plains, glowing in the sunset. The whole sky vibrated with rich color. Other times it's the mood of a scene that tickles fancy. I saw something like the image below while driving down a country road on a misty night. The grain elevator looked like some mysterious bastion glowing on the horizon.

Or maybe, an effect of the atmosphere or of light will catch my eye, like trees looming out of the fog or the moon glowing behind thin clouds.

And sometimes it's the landscape itself that interests me.

Plein air painting (or simply sketching from life) doubtless serves as a better method of learning, but the act of painting from memory exercises the imagination and the ability to translate what's in the mind onto the paper. Painting from life and painting from the imagination are both important activities; the former expands your visual vocabulary and the latter helps solidify what you've learned. It's not always a bad thing being caught without a sketchbook in hand...