I’m an Urban Sketcher…
Gallery
Author Archives: Ed Mostly
Afternoon shade
Another one from Portugal using gouache and inks on tinted paper. Sketched while sat in the shade of a spreading oak tree on one of the terraces in the fabulously strange and beautiful gardens of the Quinta Da Regaleira in Sintra. … Continue reading
Posted in botany, from life, garden, gouache, Portugal, sketching, travel
Tagged Lexington grey, marker pen, monochrome, oak tree, Quinta Da Regaleira, shade, terrace
1 Comment
Bog Island
Bath Abbey appearing over the rooftops on a bright and breezy day, sketched while leaning on a lamp-post (sincere apologies). I was on Bog Island, named after the public toilets, or ‘bogs’, which used to be there and that were converted … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, from life, grisaille, urban, waterbrush, watercolour sketch
Tagged architecture, Bath Abbey, Bog Island, city, George Formby, Google Streetview, under-painting, water brush
Leave a comment
Sintra National palace
Up on the roof at 7am, sketching Sintra National Palace as the sun rose over the hills. I used a handy folding ruler to draw some pencil guidelines at the start to get the foreground rooflines right, and found that their vanishing … Continue reading
Posted in buildings, from life, journeys, kit, Lexington grey, monochrome, Portugal, sketching, waterbrush
Tagged architecture, chimneys, early morning, gouache, Palace, roofscape, satellite dishes, Sintra, tinted paper
6 Comments
There, and back again
Two more airplane sketches, flying to and from Portugal (sketches from Lisbon and Sintra to follow…). On the first flight I had an aisle seat and drew shoes, the strong perspective and my hands sketching. Returning home I had the middle seat so focussed … Continue reading
Posted in airplane, baby, from life, hands, journeys, monochrome, sketching
Tagged creativity and learning, in-flight, Lisbon, sketching self sketching, slice of lemon, water brush
Leave a comment
Travel kit
Flying off to Lisbon and nearby Sintra for a week, expecting many sketching opportunities, and hoping that my family patiently indulge my addiction hobby. I’m trying to keep my kit relatively simple… I’ve packed small and medium sized gouache and … Continue reading
Posted in gouache, journeys, kit, sketching, travel
Tagged Jean-Christophe Defline, packing, pens, sketchbook, travel sketching kit
Leave a comment
Headlines
Revisiting cross-hatching by drawing a concrete dragon’s head at the bottom of the garden. I’m learning to keep the initial guidelines fairly fine, unlike in the Skansen picture, so they don’t unbalance the overall effect. I’m also starting to understand … Continue reading
Posted in garden, hatching, kit, line drawing, monochrome, objects, sculpture, sketching
Tagged cross-hatching, dragon, head, Lamy Safari
1 Comment
Public transport
Travelling on public transport usually involves some waiting, and opportunities for a quick sketch of people at rest. It’s when a small portable sketch kit is most useful, and provides excellent practise for capturing a likeness. Here’s a selection from the … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, from life, journeys, kit, people, trains, urban, waiting
Tagged bin, bus, passengers, portable kit, public transport, quick sketch, station, Venice, waterbus
Leave a comment
‘Fail better’
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett A good description of learning to sketch, amongst other things, and my frequent attempts at drawing my left hand are an excellent example! So here’s the latest batch … Continue reading
Posted in body, from life, hands, inks, pencil, sketching, watercolour sketch
Tagged coloured ink water-brushes, Fail better, hatching, Samuel Beckett, The Replacements
1 Comment
Looser lines
An early Spring Saturday with Jim in Bath Abbey Courtyard, where we tried to sketch with minimal looking down at the paper, ‘blind contour drawing’. We didn’t manage the recommended “90% looking at subject, 10% checking the picture’s progress” proportions, but … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, from life, inks, people, urban
Tagged Bath Abbey, bench, blind contour, courtyard, expressive lines, people, public
Leave a comment
Gouache thumbnails
Some tiny views around Bath, including one of Little Solsbury Hill at the top. Gouache seems to work well for thumbnail landscapes. The freedom to paint on top of paint is particularly useful when sketching skies, but still seems strange after using … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, clouds, from life, gouache, sketching, sky, Spring, thumbnails
Tagged Bath, clouds, coloured paper, gouache, Solsbury Hill, strong wind, tree
2 Comments
Mostly drawing 