I’m an Urban Sketcher…
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Category Archives: inks
Ow, my head hurts
Two bisected heads; first a pickled crocodile at the Grant Museum in London (tiny and old but very lovely), and then an anatomical model human at the Tokyo Museum of Emerging Science (large and modern, where I saw all the … Continue reading
Posted in animal, body, coloured ink, death, exhibitions, from life, inks, Japan, line drawing, monochrome, museum, skulls
Tagged anatomical sketches, bisected heads, crocodile head, fountain pen sketches, Grant Museum, Rage Against the Machine, section of crocodile head, section of human head, sketching in museums, sketching with coloured inks, Tokyo Museum of Emerging Science
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I, Robert
Some robot/robert sketches from Japan, mostly at the Tokyo Museum of Emerging Science. First some animatronic manikin heads that nod and change expression empathetically when you speak into a microphone. They’re looking down on Asimo, the museum’s star attraction, named after Isaac Asimov, … Continue reading
Posted in body, coloured paper, from life, hands, inks, Japan, Lexington grey, line drawing, pencil, people, robots, Uncategorized, urban
Tagged Asimo, Dr John, Isaac Asimov, large model Transformer, manikin heads, robot hand, robots, sketches from Japan, sketching robots, Tokyo Museum of Emerging Science, Transformer robot
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Skulls
A bit late for Halloween, but here are some recent skull sketches. The first is of the full-size medical model that I’ve drawn many times before. I love its tricky curves and deep hollows, and the brown and blue inks combine to … Continue reading
Posted in animal, body, coloured ink, death, fruit, inks, Japan, Lexington grey, monochrome, skulls
Tagged ape skull, different views of an object, drawings of skulls, fountain pen sketches, human skull, macaque skull, monochrome sketches, Noodlers inks for sketching, sketching in ink, skull netsuke, The Kinks
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Remembrance
It’s the 11th day of the 11th month, so here’s a bas-relief memorial tablet in Salisbury Cathedral, placed in memory of Edward Tennant, a young officer and poet killed on the Somme in 1916. It includes touching testimonies to his life and times; “when things … Continue reading
Posted in brush pen, coloured ink, death, inks, line drawing, monochrome, monument, sculpture
Tagged 1st World War memorial, Armistice Day, bas relief memorial, Edward Tennant, John Singer Sargent, Officer died on the Somme, Remembrance, Salisbury Cathedral, sketch of a sculpture, Talking Heads, young officer
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26 more Japanese commuters
More quick sketches from Japan, this time a collection of commuters at Kyoto main station around 10pm. I was sketching from one of the many high balconies (see below), pleased to catch a couple of salarymen in the middle of a … Continue reading
Posted in coloured paper, from life, inks, Japan, journeys, kit, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, night, people, trains, urban
Tagged coloured paper, Japanese bowing, Japanese commuters, Kyoto station, monochrome, salarymen, simple sketching kit, sketching commuters, sketching in Japan, sketching with fountain pen, The Jam, urban sketching
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Tokyo commuters
I spent last week on a study trip to Japan, a great opportunity generously supported by the Japan Foundation. The schedule was hectic and very full, but it helped to hone my speed-sketching skills, straight to ink using a simple fountain-pen and water-brush kit. So … Continue reading
Posted in brush pen, collections, coloured ink, from life, inks, Japan, kit, line drawing, monochrome, people, trains, travel, urban
Tagged coloured ink sketch, Japan Foundation, Japanese priest, John Gregory Orchestra, Noodlers Brown 41 ink, sketching commuters, sketching with fountain pen, straight to ink, Tokyo, Tokyo commuters, urban sketch of commuters, waterbrush sketch
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28 bench-sitters
Another collection of strangers, mostly tourists, sat on benches in the square next to Bath Abbey. They’re chatting, reading, texting, pondering, relaxing, waiting, eating ice-cream, and just watching, like me. The square’s a great place for sketching people, they usually stay … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, coloured paper, from life, inks, kit, Lexington grey, line drawing, people, sketching, street scene, urban, waiting, waterbrush
Tagged Bad Blue Heron, Bath Abbey, Brown 41, coloured paper, fountain pen, Gil Scott-Heron, Noodlers inks for sketching, people in the city, people watching, seated people, sketching in ink, sketching people, urban sketching, water-brush filled with ink
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An urban stroll
I’ve been reading Freehand Drawing and Discovery by James Richards. Richards is an architect so his drawings look like planning proposals, but it’s got a lot of good tips on creating simple but effective urban landscapes. It also mentions ‘serial visions’, a … Continue reading
Posted in buildings, from life, inks, journeys, line drawing, sequential, street scene, technique, travel, urban
Tagged city walls, Freehand Drawing and Discovery, Gordon Cullen, pedestrians, sequential sketches, serial vision, sketching an urban walk, street scenes, Tenby streets, Vision On gallery, walking through a town
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Glasses and bottles
Six attempts to sketch translucency using a range of line thicknesses; from ‘barely there’ (the pencil on the green San Pelegrino), to ‘bold’ (1mm Pigma pen on the chair with pint glass). They’re all late evening sketches of whatever’s in front of me, to keep up … Continue reading
Posted in collections, coloured paper, from life, glass, inks, Lexington grey, monochrome, objects, sketching, waterbrush
Tagged Bobby McFerrin, closure in sketching, drawing water, glass of water, line drawings, pint glass, sketch of wine bottle, sketching a glass, sketching bottles, Spencer Davis Group, translucent
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Seated
A seated figure sketched while waiting for a couple of minutes at the Sports Village at Bath University; I used the rest of the page to test inks on top of paint. One corner of the testing was oddly beautiful, the … Continue reading
Mostly drawing 