I’m an Urban Sketcher…
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Category Archives: from life
Skullduggery
Some more of a favourite subject. This time the skulls are from a sheep (I think), and a fox (possibly). Whatever animals they used to be they offer beautiful mini-landscapes to sketch, with lots of hills, cliffs, valleys and caves. Their … Continue reading
Posted in animals, coloured ink, coloured paper, death, from life, Lexington grey, monochrome, sketching, skulls, white pen
Tagged animal skulls, drawing skulls, fountain pen sketch, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, noodlers inks, sketch challenge, sketch of sheep skull, sketching skulls
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Bootylicious
My trusty boots drawn last month after the first (very light) snowfall of the year. Below is an earlier sketch of them, showing the change in my approach over the last two years; moving from black felt-tip lines and watercolour, to fountain pen and dilute ink washes. … Continue reading
Posted in boots, coloured ink, coloured paper, comparisons, from life, inks, kit, sketching, watercolour sketch
Tagged Brasher Supalite boots, comparing sketch techniques, drawing boots, fountain pen sketches, Nirvana and Destiny's Child, sketch of boots, sketching with inks, walking boots
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Monochrome flames
A couple of mid-winter sketches, trying to capture the dancing shapes of a log fire. I drew ‘blind’, watching the flames to catch their individual fluid shapes, feeling out the lines with a pencil, and occasionally looking down at the page to get their location about right. They reminded me … Continue reading
Open wide…
I’ve tried ‘extreme sketching’ a couple of times before, drawing while walking along (see bottom of post), during a paintball session, in the rain, and while on a merry-go-round. I enjoyed the challenge and the resulting shaky lines, so last week I had a … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, coloured paper, eye, from life, hands, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, pencil, people, self-portrait, waterbrush, white marker pen
Tagged dental work, extreme sketching, faces staring down, Nico, open mouth drawing, patient's eye view, sketching at dentist, sketching teeth, sketching while walking, Velvet Underground, view from dentist's chair
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Drink?
A glass of milk, mugs of tea, and a glass of water; late night drink sketches (more here). I’m still fascinated by the way that something so simple can be so tricky to get right; the combination of ellipses, curious lighting … Continue reading
Posted in coloured paper, domestic, from life, glass, gouache, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, objects
Tagged cup of tea, drawing cups and mugs, drawing ellipses, fountain pen sketches, glass of milk, glass of water, mug of tea, Rolling Stones, sketching at home, sketching drinks
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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 Bath streets, brush pen drawing, brush pen sketches, Hokusai manga, inspired by Hokusai, lexington grey sketch, quick face sketches, simple face drawings, sketching passers by, street sketching, urban sketching, Van Morrison
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Wiry views
Drawn at dusk, sat on the bottom steps of The Shrubbery (previously), looking down Harley Street in Bath. My eye was caught by the telephone wires and chimneys silhouetted against the winter sky. I was sorry that I didn’t get … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, buildings, cars, coloured ink, from life, grisaille, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, sky, street scene, urban, vehicles, waterbrush
Tagged Bath sketch, Bath street, chimney silhouettes, drawing cars, fountain pen sketch, Japanese cabling, overhead wires, rooftops sketch, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, sketching in ink, street scene sketch, telephone cables overhead, telephone wires, urban sketching, winter sky
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The life of stuff
I’m looking forward to more outdoor sketching in Spring, but in the meantime here are some well worn shoes (previously), a phone recharging, utensils hanging in the kitchen, and a bag waiting by the door… Everyday domestic scenes, the stuff of … Continue reading
Posted in coloured ink, coloured paper, domestic, every day matters, from life, home, inks, kitchen, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, objects, waterbrush
Tagged domestic sketches, fountain pen sketching, ink in water-brush, James Booker, kitchen sketch, monochrome sketches, sketch of phone charging, sketch of shoes, sketch of shopping bag, sketching with Noodlers inks, waterproof inks
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Two Dogs
First there’s Skip, who sat beside me while I sketched people on a beach in Tenby. She was poised and alert, watching a gap in the fence where a rat had just appeared and vanished, but I had to be quick! Then there’s 3 … Continue reading
Mostly drawing 
Roll, with spam
Another minimal sketch of a kitchen roll, last thing at night. White Gelly Roll pen, Lexington grey water-brush, gouache, A7 – 10 minutes And here’s the most charmingly odd message from the 240,000+ spam comments that the blog’s received so far: “Can I just say what … Continue reading →