Who Influences You? sketchbook

There's a lot of stimulus that comes my way, as far as influencing my artwork, technique and subject matter. For many artists, it is the people around them in the day-to-day world that allow them to have the time to create, help motivate them by encouraging them and giving them instant feedback and accolades (BTW that goes for me, too). Artists are forever seeking out something to paint, thinking of something that hasn't been done that way before, or just waiting for their muse to visit them. Sometimes it's even good to copy other art, to discover "how that was done".

One of the factors that help promote an artist are "teachers" and "instructors". I will always remember my high school art teachers. Phyllis Olson was one of them, in Englewood, Colorado. Her "all semester" assignments of keeping a daily sketchbook and turning in your week's sketches taught me that regular sketching helps keep the hand limber, the mind focused and always searching for composition layouts, and paved the way to "seeing" with the artist's eye. She allowed us to do art projects that were one of a kind, usually as long as it was exploring the medium. I remember for our "printmaking" section of the class she approved my making a print on some fabric, of which I made into dress. On the day she gave out 'grades', I wore my dress. Today's instructors? I am sure art teachers do that and more. Knowing that makes me very pleased. It's just that Ms. Olson seemed a little ahead of her time. We're talking 40 years ago. I had great college instructors, too, just too many to remember. Although my art history professor was awesome, that will be another blog at another time....because this is about the one that "hooked" me.

One of my goals is to become a "sketcher" again. I have the time, I know the rigor and I believe it will boost me back to a plane I once thoroughly enjoyed, so I have retrieved my dusty old sketchbook, the one I have used for more serious stuff in the past few years, that a dear old friend, Rosa Stevinson gave me. Inside the cover she wrote in beautiful calligraphy:
"Blank Pages Filled with Possibilities"

Below is one of my favorite drawings done in plain old ballpoint pen from a few years back. It is my daughter. I placed her in a swanky uptown apartment. We laugh about it often. She IS that person, but she doesn't live in the swanky apartment, if you catch my drift. So...who influenced you???