Category Archives: figures

Japanese shrines

Four shrines in Japan, where many of the statues wear red bibs (‘yodarekake‘), placed on them as a sign of devotion and usually faded to a soft pink in the sun and the rain. The second sketch is looking down one section … Continue reading

Posted in animals, coloured ink, figures, Japan, journeys, sculpture, urban | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Cafe life

People watching in cafes, mostly this year in Bath, but the last one’s from Istanbul a couple of years ago when I was using a marker pen. If you can get a good table a cafe’s a great winter sketching location; strong light sources, sheltered, … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, cafe, clothing, coloured ink, coloured paper, figures, from life, Istanbul, Lexington grey, line drawing, marker pen, monochrome, people, urban, waiting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Waiting in town

A bus queue lined up alongside Bath Abbey, and more tourists sat on benches (previously, and here). Drawing directly with ink means ‘mistakes’ are visible, recording the process of feeling out where the lines need to go. Usually I just restate the line, … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, body, buildings, figures, from life, inks, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, people, street scene, technique, urban, waiting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Busted

A fine pair of portrait busts from the upper floor of Bath’s Victoria Gallery (you can see both of them in the linked photo). First there’s Sir Cloudesley Shovell (honestly), a famous C17th admiral and guitarist. Then George 3rd, king of Britain for 59 … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, coloured ink, coloured paper, exhibitions, faces, figures, inks, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, museum, objects, sculpture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

55 passers by

I’ve added a new page to the blog, sharing books that are currently inspiring my sketching; the first is Hokusai’s Manga (‘manga’ originally meant ‘light drawings or sketches’). After copying some of his very simple but individual faces (bottom of post) I sat … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, brush pen, figures, from life, inks, Lexington grey, monochrome, people, sketching, street scene, urban, waterbrush | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Yet more toys

It’s cold and dark outside, but there are always toys to draw…. Here’s Henry (a mild mannered janitor), some Airfix 1:72 scale knights, a Playmobil vulture, a shire-horse, a grass-hopper, and The Thing from the Fantastic Four. Pencil, Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, … Continue reading

Posted in animals, collections, coloured ink, figures, insects, line drawing, monochrome, objects, toys | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Buskers, home and away

The large numbers of tourists visiting Bath means that it is blessed with many good street entertainers, excellent models for a quick sketch, and mostly fine performers. So here’s another collection of buskers, this time including one I saw in Japan. … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, buskers, coloured ink, coloured paper, figures, Japan, line drawing, people, street scene, urban | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments