(excerpt from Southwest Magazine article on the art of sketching)

Linda Leslie:

I am inspired by the human figure found in contemplation, by beauty and the abstract design of life in a form of dance. I think about proportion, movement and feeling when sketching.

I generally sketch with graphite mechanical pencils in a journal. I enjoy charcoal and Conte crayon too. I will also sketch with graphite directly on an oil painting in progress.

Sketching keeps my eye working. It helps to keep my work loose and more confident. I feel calm, peaceful and happy when sketching. I try to think of nothing. I feel less pressure and more freedom than when painting.

Although the feeling of my sketches relates to the finished work, many times the finished piece is different from the original idea. A sketch or a painting is always changing and will continue to change, as the model will, and as I will. Although it is not my intention that the sketch becomes a finished work of art, many times it does. I try to put the two together: freedom and finish.