Ep 14 - Making it Look Easy with Liz Steel
I speak with Sydney-based urban-sketcher Liz Steel about the different ways she makes her art look so effortless and spontaneous, for the benefit of both herself and her students. We discuss how Liz took a big leap of faith, quitting a career in architecture to become a full-time artist and educator. In what way does teaching help the artist keen on self-improvement? What insights does she gain from her regular blogging habit? I pick her brain to see how an architect sees the urban landscape and how that vision differs from a non-architect such as myself. We discuss the value of having a knowledge base in terms of better appreciating the history and evolution of the art that is before us.
Liz Steel’s website & links to her workshops | instagram
Sneaky Art instagram
Support this podcast and my work - Buy me a coffee
Subscribe to the SneakyArt newsletter
Listen to the episode on your choice of streaming service!
Spotify | Apple | PocketCasts | Google | Web | Gaana | JioSaavn
Transcript
Hello and welcome to the SneakyArt Podcast. I'm your host, Nishant Jain. This is a podcast where I have conversations with urban sketchers around the world, about the practice of drawing on location. If you are an artist, trying to become an artist, or neither - if you're just looking for a hobby to engage your time in a positive and mindful exercise, I think you will like this podcast.
In this episode I am speaking with urban-sketcher and educator Liz Steel, who is joining me all the way from Australia. We discuss the different ways she makes the practice of art look so easy, for the benefit of both her students and herself. We talk about how Liz took the big leap from a career in architecture, and the ideas and techniques from her education and experience that continue to play a role in her life. We talk about the interplay between learning and teaching, and how the global urban-sketching community has helped her with both. An aspect of Liz's work that I admire and enjoy is her blogging schedule. We go into why she writes regular blogs, what she writes about, and how that helps her work. If you follow her on Instagram, you might notice she does a lot of paintings of tea cups. This is something that fascinated me, so I asked her about it, and the answer, surprisingly, is both playful and enormously significant.
Today's episode is brought to you by members - Fisto, Becky, Myshell, Mark, Santosh and Clare. In addition, I want to give a shoutout to Andrew, Sanket, Ruud, Molly, Tina, Inez, and others, for buying me coffee to support my work. Thank you all, you have helped make this episode possible!
If you enjoy an episode, or if this podcast helps you in any way, it is now just that easy to show your support. Follow the link in the shownotes to buy me a cup of coffee. And while you're there, also check out the exciting new giveaways I have to offer.
But for now, grab your coffee, or tea as Liz might prefer, or chai as I would, and let's get into this conversation...
03:00 Liz talks about her early interest in architecture and drawing.
08:20 What value does free-hand drawing add to architectural renderings?
"There's a lovely relationship between the mind, eye and hand, who are all working in sync to come up with this discovery, this idea.”
Nishant adds that drawing is a great process of discovery. Asks what jumping into drawings freehand is like for architects, who are more used to having plans.
Liz says she trains herself to incorporate the planning process in the sketching process itself.
"For me, I'm trying to work out ways that the planning becomes integrated in the way that I work. Some of the ways that I work, like putting paint down first, is an in-built value study. I'm trying to work in a way that enables the planning to happen, and keep that spirit of excitement and risk-taking."
Talks about using a red pencil to document the first impressions on the page, as a history of the drawing on the page. The pencil work is like a safety net, and a point of reference to the first impressions.
Doesn't like planning because she likes to change plans and follow rabbitholes that show up during the process of sketching.
"Sketching is that initial response to what you're looking at."
16:20 Liz talks about leaving architecture behind, without a plan, to become an artist.
"The simple one sentence is I did this crazy thing. All conventional wisdom says that if you want to change careers and do your passion project, do a side hustle. Work really hard, work on how you'll make money, transition to part time, then atleast you know. But no, not me!"
Architectural work naturally helped with the verbal communication of her drawings, so she became an obsessive blogger, associated with the USk blog, and was pushed to teach as an instructor.
"Architects do drawings to design buildings, then send them to the clients and write about them. So the idea of doing commentary to explain the design is second-nature to me."
"Teaching is a form of aggressive learning."
How several different circumstances - passion, professional, and personal - lined up to the moment when she felt ready to quit her job.
Nishant talks about how things just line up like that sometimes, and appear fortuitous. But really it's only possible when we are prepared for these opportunities. Relates personal experience of becoming a writer and artist.
26:25 Liz talks about the blogging and how that works in tandem with sketching.
"Architects have to be able to articulate why we have designed something... I'm always thinking about the process and the reason why I'm doing certain things."
Nishant talks about blogging more in the early days of the internet, when blogger was the main channel of expressing oneself. Then gradually shifting to art as the medium of expression, with just a small caption added deliberately afterward.
Liz suggests that blogging is useful for the artists themselves.
They talk about how difficult it is to get proper attention from even ardent fans on Instagram.
32:40 What do you most enjoy sketching when outdoors, with the background of an architect?
"I always think in volumes, because that's my architectural training. So I'm always trying to think in terms of space, and how things connect."
"When I see a building, I want to tap into the mind of the architect ... the columns, the wall space, the surfaces of the walls and how that affects light."
Nishant reframes the question by explaining how he regards architecture as a non-architect - a 21st century/current mindset of aesthetics. But with an education in architecture, he would know more about the cultural, historical significance, and the deeper value in buildings from different eras.
Liz refers to her favorite architect, Palladio, and how she was able to add a layer of history to the instruction she offered at a workshop in Italy.
Nishant talks about doing a walking tour of Barcelona, where he learned about the city's architectural origins and Gaudi. Liz shares her experience gathering the history of a sketching site from education as well as from the stories of other locals.
43:00 Nishant asks about tea-cup paintings.
Liz ties interest in fancy tea cups with her fascination for baroque architecture. Tells the story of she got her first fancy tea-cup, a family heirloom, and how the collection started.
They discuss the value of repetition in painting, with respect to the tea cups. Liz refers to the tea cup as a muse. Doing the same things, but in a different mood, with a small change in style or color, and how it helps to safely experiment and build up skills.
"The tea cup is my muse, because I started doing my experimental things with my tea-cups. The first time I didn't draw any ink lines it was a tea-cup sketch... If I experiment with my watercolors, tea-cups is where I do it because it is quite a contained object."
Nishant talks about the usefulness of making a subject out of something you love, in order to build a regular, sustainable practice.
"If you're not doing things that interest, the motivation's not going to stay... If you've got a couple of go-to things you can sketch, at least you're getting your hand moving, and you're creating. The subject, in a way, doesn't matter."
54:10 Liz talks about her journey as an educator, the people she took early inspiration from, and how she analyzed and codified her own work in order to communicate as a teacher.
Nishant shares the selfish reasons to be a teacher, and what instruction is like in the USk community - the learning and teaching goes hand in hand.
61:00 How Liz started online workshops in 2013.
Nishant brings up the topic of Sketchbook Design, which is also an online workshop Liz offers. They discuss what this topic means and why it is significant.
Liz talks about how she sets assignments in her workshop and how she herself learns from the experience.
Nishant suggests that a sketchbook page design is a good way to get over the fear of the blank page.
73:00 They break down the act of drawing buildings, which Liz draws as warm-up and Nishant avoids drawing altogether.
The idea of building your knowledge base in order to draw people or buildings or anything else. Nishant describes it as a drawing vocabulary.
81:20 Liz talks about how she wants to improve in 2021. "I want to be able to say more with less, and abstract my work a little bit... Not draw everything, but break things down, find my source in the scene and with minimal lines be able to capture everything."
83:05 The importance of quick sketching, according to Liz and Nishant. It is not about speed, but about building the confidence in one's hand-eye coordination. It is about developing the ability to break down a complex scene into the elements that are interesting to you.
The idea of drawing things in 5 minutes is supremely important - because it is simultaneously fun, and very, very useful. We can all spare five minutes out of our day. And we will all be better for the effort. Also, an idea from this conversation that sticks with me is the value of repetition in art. So here's a little assignment from me, if you're still listening. For the next week, draw something everyday in just 5 minutes. Let's unpack that statement - draw something, but draw the same thing everyday. It can be something lying around your home, something that is part of your daily life. Maybe it's your coffee mug, or tea cup as Liz does it. Maybe it's the view in front of your desk. Draw it everyday for a week in just 5 minutes. Everyday is an important factor - don't skip even one day. Give it a whole week. And do it in just 5 minutes. This matters too. If the thing you want to draw seems like it would take more time, don't give it more time. Squeeze it into 5 minutes. Draw it in a way that you can finish inside 5 minutes. This will require you to take executive creative decisions, like not drawing the details, or skipping the shadows, or ditching the colors altogether. If you're afraid of making mistakes, don't be. Make mistakes for 5 minutes everyday. Make bad drawings. But keep it simple. Draw something everyday, for a week, in 5 minutes. After a week, I promise you will be pleased at your effort. You will have some new insight into your art that you didn't have before. And I would love for you to share that insight with me. So email me, or tag me on Instagram, and let's talk about it.
Thank you for your time and your attention. See you in the next episode!