Pencil Sketching – Was Jack McDonogh Australias Best Teacher?
Jack McDonogh (1916-1994) believed that it an essential part of being an aspiring artist was the ability to draw scenes in pencil before painting them in watercolour, oil colour, or any other medium. Jack believed in the importance of practice as he used to say “practice, practice – forever practice” as he believed that there was no such thing as an instant artist. Sketching the Australian landscape presents a challenge as there are certain fundamental rules that must be followed. Jack believed that there were many ways to sketch with a pencil and his methods were just one way that worked well for him. Some of the fundamentals that Jack covered in his book “An Introduction To Pencil Sketching” included; composition, perspective, geometrical solids, architectural details and sketching the element of a landscape. Jack developed an easy to follow step by step approach to teaching his students. Jack believed that perspective was probably the most important aspect of drawing landscapes. You
