The ideal sketch is one that remains in the initial idea, without being made or materialized as a final work. Not for that reason they are failed sketches, but rather they are impulses, generators of ideas and later sketches. That is, they are the true germ of the final work when it materializes. And in any case creative action occurs, but without taking it to the last possible consequences. The sketch that is more or less finished, but which has not yet materialized, can also be called that. So it only remains as something ideal, drawn and not rethought.
Ideal sketch and preliminary sketches of the mock Alfocea, Huesca
On many occasions, artists evolve the original idea and, for various and possible causes, the final result is far from the original idea. These causes can be material, lack of budget, change of plans, etc. But also emotional or personal, disagreements in the “initial script” of the author himself or with his client / promoter, inconsistencies, lack of interest, etc. In some cases, the project is not carried out, leaving only the original idea and its initial sketch without drawing.
Ideas can be presented in the form of an ideal drawing, design or sketch, or literally, by describing the intention in words. Although the latter is more spontaneous, it is less concrete, and therefore more ideal. What makes it more concrete is the sketch that follows the idea, hence the term ideal sketch.
Ideal sketch for the painted architectural feigned in Alfocea, Huesca
The germ idea of the work
An initial idea can lead to an ideal sketch, and later to a succession of sketches with modifications, additions and corrections. This is what happened in the trompe l’oeil project for the bare wall of a demolition in Peralta de Alfocea, Huesca. The developer’s initial suggestion, without measurements or other objective references, caused me to draw a preliminary idea, and thus I drew an ideal sketch. The idea was to create a painted architectural feigned. It was about giving visual continuity to the adjoining buildings on a bare wall resulting from a demolition. The idea of the pretend itself was started by the ideal sketch.
But these first ideas sketched by themselves are often interesting, sometimes because of their technique, others because of their idea itself, but above all and many times because of their originality. Precisely because it is the first idea, it makes it special because of its spontaneity.
Ideal sketch for Aerostatic Dome
The story of the final work buries many ideal sketches, often in the form of a blur that can only be understood by the author. How many scribbles in the margins of sketches, and notebooks “pregnant” (full) of ideas, are nothing more than attempts or approaches to concrete works? That is why they are worth more for what they can say and report than for what they can aesthetically contribute. Likewise, the motifs drawn, sometimes incised, in the rock art of the caves of our ancestors, are they not ideas expressed as a desire or aspiration to something? Therefore they are ideas, intentions not yet realized, only expressed.
Explanatory example of an ideal sketch case
In this real case, the work or project of the idea was not carried out. I present and explain below an ideal sketch that emerged and developed in the summer of 2019. For this reason I will not mention places or related people, and I will focus on what interests us now, the genesis of the idea and its development.
Modular development and final motif for fake plasterwork
There was a dome to be decorated, an environment to accompany and a style to interpret. The three conditions to generate the idea. Given my tendency to create optical illusions in the form of trompe l’oeil, the first idea was to give continuity to the decoration of the site, how? Reproducing with paint the existing plasterwork in other places and rooms. In this way the motif would be unified and integrated at the same time. This was the first idea, the ideal sketch expressed in words. Ideal sketch that is specified in successive sketches, test and rehearsal to improve the design for the final work.
The development of the drawing of the idea was easier as it was about replicating the same fourth section of the motif. In a circular way, turning this section every 90 degrees closes the linear assembly. Another subsequent operation is the lighting or shading of the sketch, finishing the sketch in an ideal way, in the absence of a reference such as a real and authentic source of light.
Sketch and final shaded motif
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