Category Archives: figures

…and one dog

Quick brush-pen sketches of anyone who caught my eye while I sat outside  Bath Abbey, waiting for the shops to open last Sunday morning. I got faster as I sketched, focussing on eye-line angles and getting head/torso relationships right (scarves make … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, brush pen, figures, ink brush, Kuretake, Lexington grey, Manchester Symposium, people watching, street scene, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Perfect View

Read from top left to bottom right, six quick pencil and ink-wash sketches on grey paper (white sky and colour added at home) made while walking up Perfect View, dodging occasional passing cars and dog-walkers. The road looks rural, but is in … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, brush pen, comparisons, figures, journeys, Lexington grey, pencil, sequential, street scene, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Busy-ness

A busy double-page sketch of a busy view, from upstairs at Picnic Cafe, this time looking down Upper Borough Walls; a typical Saturday afternoon in Bath, shoppers strolling and checking phones, seagulls soaring and me sketching. (The red phone boxes have been converted into … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, brush pen, buildings, cafe, figures, ink brush, Manchester Symposium, people watching, shoppers, street scene, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Six pigeons

Sat on my habitual weekend sketching perch, the steps by the back-door to the Roman Baths, overlooking the paved square next to Bath Abbey. The people on the benches were the original focus for the sketch, and then the pigeons … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, benches, brush pen, figures, ink brush, Lexington grey, people watching, street scene, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Manchester Symposium

I’m very excited to have been selected to present a demo (using brush-pens for sketching) and a lecture (on the long and rich history of books about sketching) at this year’s Urban Sketchers International Symposium in Manchester. Yippee! Maybe see you there … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, brush pen, cafe, figures, ink brush, International Symposium, Lexington grey, people watching, shoppers, street scene, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The quick(ish) and the dead(very)

Two double-page spreads from yesterday’s USk Bristol/South West sketchcrawl at Bristol Museum (15 sketchers, our best turn out yet!). Here are passengers at Bath railway station, a recreation of the Dignitas flat and the reconstruction of an ancient Egyptian face (both … Continue reading

Posted in Bristol, brush pen, cafe, death, faces, figures, museum, people watching, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Twilight

It’s either late afternoon or early evening. Lights are coming on but the sky is still reflected in the car windows, colour’s fading from the cars, buildings and people. That’s the back of the Royal Crescent silhouetted in the background, a … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, brush pen, drawing buildings, figures, ink brush, rooftops, street scene, twilight, Uncategorized, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Winter crowds

Bath’s Christmas shoppers filling the wet streets (a festive carousel in the far distance), battling the wind and rain, pacing the pavements, queuing for the bus home, and generally milling around town. All sketched using my new best friend, the Kuretake #8 brush-pen, … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, brush pen, dogs, figures, ink brush, Lexington grey, people, street scene, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Tenby people

The last few Summer sketches from Tenby. This time people-watching around the town, moving from fountain-pen to ink-brush for the key lines. I was using a fairly ‘blunt’ brush then (a well-worn detailer water-brush) filled with dilute ink, so the pictures weren’t as crisp as the … Continue reading

Posted in beach, brush pen, comparisons, figures, holiday, ink brush, monochrome, people, people watching, technique, Tenby, urban, urban sketching, Wales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Beach life

Two scenes of Tenby beach-life, complete with seagull drones, ice-cream van, and parasols. The first was from the cliff top, the second from rocks at the base of the cliff, and each is followed by their pre-watercolour version. Finally the same view as … Continue reading

Posted in beach, figures, holiday, people watching, sea, Tenby, Wales | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments