Category Archives: monochrome

Chester Zoo

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Ed Mostly

A busy afternoon sketching a tiny fraction of the 11,000 animals and 400 species on view at Chester zoo. The baby Asian elephants were charming, the flamingos were like animated brush stokes, and the giraffes were improbable wonders of balance and grace, … Continue reading →

Posted in animals, from life, Lexington grey, monochrome, sketching, zoo | Tagged Chester zoo, elephants, flamingos, giraffes, monkeys, nature, painting with tea, Simon and Garfunkle | Leave a comment

The Beetles

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Beetles are the most diverse group of organisms on earth, representing a fifth of all living organisms, and there are over 4,000 species in the UK and Ireland alone. Here are three I’ve met since starting sketching… I found this Lesser Stag … Continue reading →

Posted in from life, garden, insects, monochrome, pencil, sketching | Tagged beetles, bloody-nose beetle, Ground beetle, Jonathan Richman, Lesser stag beetle, Mister Rogers Remixed, Penguin Cafe Orchestra | Leave a comment

Enough thumbnails, already…

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Ed Mostly

A last example, for now, of travel thumbnails. This time in a taxi from Istanbul airport to a city centre hotel, where we arrived before I could finish the last frame. The driver was puzzled when I showed him the … Continue reading →

Posted in airport, from life, Istanbul, journeys, Lexington grey, monochrome, sketching, urban | Tagged city streets, gelly roll, rear view mirror, Rolling Stones, taxi driver, taxi ride, transportation, windscreen view | Leave a comment

People watching

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Istanbullus sitting, walking, fishing, watching, on the phone, and waiting. Slowly learning to construct figure drawings out of lots and lots of curves. Fountain pen with carbon ink, Pigma 1mm black pen, water-brush with Lexington Grey ink, A5

Posted in body, brush pen, from life, Istanbul, line drawing, monochrome, people, sketching, urban, waiting | Tagged curves, figure drawing, fishing, Istanbullus, on the phone, people watching, Richard Hawley, sitting | Leave a comment

Steep street

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Looking up a street near the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, next to the entrance to the seventeenth century Valide Han or caravanserai on the right. It was a Sunday and most of the shops were closed, with shutters down. The Han … Continue reading →

Posted in buildings, from life, Istanbul, Lexington grey, monochrome, sketching, travel, urban | Tagged caravanserai, Grand Bazaar, street scene, Valide Han, Van der Valk, wicket gate | 1 Comment

Jet set

Posted on August 3, 2013 by Ed Mostly

My view on the way to Turkey, about 5 miles high, somewhere over France. I spent 6 days in Istanbul, mostly sketching, which was a great luxury. So lots to scan and post over the coming weeks, including lots of lovely … Continue reading →

Posted in airplane, clouds, from life, gouache, Istanbul, journeys, Lexington grey, monochrome, travel | Tagged airport, sky, The Kinks | Leave a comment

Londoners

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Ed Mostly

19 of the thousands of people I saw yesterday in a very hot London. Sketched in cafes, train stations and the passport office where I was getting my passport renewed at extremely short notice ready for a return trip to Istanbul … Continue reading →

Posted in from life, Lexington grey, monochrome, people, sketching, urban, waiting | Tagged cafe, London, pigma pens, profiles, station | 1 Comment

Toy museum

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Ed Mostly

A couple of sketches from the wonderful and surprisingly large Toy Museum in Sintra, Portugal. The museum houses the personal collection of João Arbués Moreira, who was there on the day we visited, keen to chat about his favourite exhibits and … Continue reading →

Posted in airplane, collections, exhibitions, from life, grisaille, Lexington grey, monochrome, museum, objects, Portugal, sketching | Tagged doll's heads, dolls, Edwin Starr, heads, model plane, Sintra, staircase | 3 Comments

‘Fail better’ #2

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Another repeated subject, with 4 versions of a familiar view where I regularly have to wait. The cars change, a notice is tied onto the lamp-post, a badly drawn traffic cone appears, and a bird flies over. But the basic … Continue reading →

Posted in Bath, from life, Lexington grey, monochrome, sketching, urban | Tagged Fail better, lamp-post, pavement, The Kinks | Leave a comment

TV thumbnails

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Using the pause button to do lots of quick thumbnail sketches while watching late night television. Good for trying to catch the key lines and shapes. Not happy with the sketch? Do another one. Still not entirely happy? Do another. … Continue reading →