First 3 are from Sketchcrawl 30 which was done yesterday. And the rest are a few select ones from other Sketchcrawls and Dr Sketchys in 2010.
There is nothing like drawing from life. And as many artists have said, there really is no better teacher than nature.
Not only are there obvious aspects like, design and drawing skills and all that, but you learn intangible things. Like understanding your sensitivities towards your subject. Improvisation. The experience of actually being there. They all contribute to how you understand yourself, the world and your work - and therefore you improve.
I remember a Craig Mullins presentation where he talked about the value of doing sketches. Although he makes it look easy, he said he would do tonnes of sketches over and over and over to understand how he works. He would take his experience from one sketch and apply it to the next one and sooner or later, different experiences begin to bolt together and eventually he found a way that works for him. There's no one way of doing it.
So in conclusion, sketching is good.
