Once again here are some sketches from my lunch break practice.
I’m currently working on another freelance assignment that I obviously can’t post until it has been published.
For this reason, I’ll be working pretty much on just sketches in my (little) spare time.

I just realized I’m getting fond of a handful of specific compositional structures: the cruciform and what I call the swirly curvy road
Ok I don’t know how art scholars would call the latter, so there you go.

The cruciform is a pretty basic form of composition, whereby the main elements of the picture lie on two lines roughly parallel to the canvas sides.
In the Cruciform, the eye is naturally led along these two main lines to the focal point, which is usually at the intersection.
The benefit of the cruciform is that it naturally engages the entire canvas, and it creates a strong point of interest.

The swirly curvy road is, quite banally, some kind of path, either created by elements of the picture or an actual path, which leads to the point of interest.

To be honest I don’t plan ahead when I’m working on these sketches (like “a-ha, Cruciform, I choose you!). I just noticed it today, which means I’ll try and avoid these two particular structures in my practice to avoid becoming predictable.

On something slightly unrelated, I just found out (obviously from from Wikipedia) why you often see sketches of court hearings in the news:

Courtroom sketch artists attend judicial proceedings as members of the public. In the UK and Hong Kong, courtroom artists are not permitted to actually sketch proceedings while in court, so they must create their sketches from memory after leaving the courtroom.
Courtroom artists can quickly capture a moment on paper and then sell their work to media outlets who would otherwise be denied a visual record of the trial. Pastels are typically used, but artists also use pencils, charcoal or other materials suitable for sketching.

An established freelance artist working in a busy court system can work up to 45 hours per week. They may be paid per sketch, or on a per diem commission. Sketches may be sold to television stations, newswire services, or newspapers, or even to lawyers or judges who may want to keep a sketch as a memento of a particular trial.
Courtroom sketches may also be purchased for institutional archives, if they depict a trial of historic importance. The entire set of courtroom sketches related to the Lindy Chamberlaintrial were purchased by the National Museum of Australia from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
A courtroom sketch artist must work quickly, particularly during arraignment hearings where a witness may appear in court for only a few minutes. A television-ready sketch can be produced in that time, and viewed on television immediately after a court proceeding is finished.

I’ve never drawn sketches in a court room.
A plan is taking form.

by Paolo Puggioni