Noticing in a Panoramic Sketch
Imagine you are at a rooftop or a mountain tip, very often we like to use our camera or smart phone to capture the panoramic view in front of us. Sometimes we do a quick sketch to capture the essence of the view in a very short time. Nothing beats doing a panoramic sketch on the spot and putting your spontaneous reactions down on the paper at that moment.
Over the years, in the process of doing panoramic sketches, I have learnt that it is not the technique nor the media that make a panoramic sketch effective, but rather the sharpened observational skills and the refined art of seeing. I prefer to put it this way, it is the art of noticing the big picture and the minute details, and composing them coherently, effortlessly and artistically within a short time span.
Seeing is a direct behaviour while noticing is to do with the cognitive mind.
By noticing the important segments, noticing the details and select the relevant objects, we capture the mood at that moment of noticing.
Noticing the light and shadow over the cityscape, noticing the sun direction, noticing the high and low of the cityscapes, noticing the changing colours by the passing clouds, noticing the green lungs in the city, noticing the hard surfaces turn jelly in the sun.
If you are lucky, you will notice the eagles circulating in the air and yacht speeding beneath them in the waters. That’s what I
notice when I sketch in the comfort of a hotel room at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore before our national “Circuit Breaker” was
imposed to flush out individuals in the community with Covid 19 but asymptomatic. Let’s sketch and continue to practise noticing.
ESTE TRABALHO É FINANCIADO POR FUNDOS NACIONAIS ATRAVÉS DA FCT – FUNDAÇÃO PARA A CIÊNCIA E A TECNOLOGIA, I.P., NO ÂMBITO DO PROJETO “UIDB/04042/2020”