So, I recently got myself tangled up trying something new, all because I stumbled upon the name Joseph Westbrook. Wasn’t really planning on it, just saw some stuff attributed to him, maybe some old sketches or a particular way of putting things down on paper. Looked interesting, kinda raw but deliberate, you know? And I thought, hey, I should give that a whirl. See if I can figure out what makes it tick.
First thing I did was just look closer. Tried to break down what I was seeing. It wasn’t about fancy materials, seemed more about the feel. So, I grabbed some basic charcoal pencils I had lying around and some cheap paper. Didn’t want to waste the good stuff if I was just gonna make a mess, which, let’s be honest, was pretty likely.
I started trying to copy a simple piece, just a still life kind of thing I saw. Man, it was harder than it looked. My first few tries were just… bad. Really stiff. Westbrook’s stuff had this energy, even in simple lines, and mine just looked like I was trying too hard. Getting that looseness was the real challenge.
I spent a good couple of afternoons just messing around. Tried holding the pencil differently, using my whole arm instead of just my wrist. Made a lot of smudges. A LOT. My fingers were black. But slowly, I started to get a bit of a better feel for it. It wasn’t about perfect lines, more about capturing a sort of… essence? Yeah, maybe that’s the word. Less thinking, more doing.
One thing I really noticed was the use of shadow. It wasn’t just filling in dark areas. It felt like the shadows were just as important as the object itself, giving it weight. So I started focusing on that, really pushing the darks and letting the lighter areas pop. That seemed to help a bit. It started looking less like a flat copy and more like something with a bit of life.
Did I end up making something that looked exactly like a Joseph Westbrook? Nah, not even close. My stuff still looks like mine, just maybe a little looser, a little bolder in the shadows. But that wasn’t really the point, was it? The point was trying it out, getting my hands dirty, figuring out a tiny piece of how someone else saw the world and put it down.
It was a good exercise. Reminded me that you don’t always need fancy gear or a big plan. Sometimes just grabbing what you have and trying to mimic something that catches your eye is enough. You learn something, even if it’s just that you make a big mess with charcoal. Definitely worth the smudged fingers.
