If you don't have the luxury of being a full-time artist, you have to 'keep fit' and continue to stretch and learn, in order to have the best chance of your hand obeying your wishes on the occasions you can spend on painting.  Sketches are the scales of a pianist, the vocal exercises of the singer.  They are the training sessions that help to take us to the next level and allow us to 'keep our hand in'. But they are frequently imperfect, and usually kept out of public sight.  

I use sketching to hone my observation skills when switching subject matter. Actually doing the sketch is usual, but often it's even more valuable to take time looking for all of the errors a day or so later! The 20 or so sketched below have all been completed in the last 10 weeks (early 2024).

The sketches below include: Morgan Freeman, Prince Harry, Volodymyr Zelensky, Sir David Jason, Brenda Blelthyn, Jamie Dornan, Ed Miliband, and an un-named model.