Category Archives: monochrome

Eye-lines

Mid-winter tired eyes sketched on four consecutive evenings before going to bed. I think they improved, with the last one being the best? I definitely became more familiar with the key shapes and lines, ‘zooming in’ on the subject, making accuracy and … Continue reading

Posted in body, brush pen, coloured paper, crows feet, eye, faces, ink brush, monochrome, self-portrait | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Drink?

More wrestling with ellipses, reflections, distortions and translucency. Coloured paper and white water-colour’s a great combination for these late night studies. Lexington grey in Kuretake #8 ink-brush and water-brush, watercolour, A5 – a range of times, but fairly fast as it was … Continue reading

Posted in brush pen, coloured paper, domestic, glass, Lexington grey, monochrome, objects | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Barry’s book #2

Another five illustrations for Barry’s book, all from life, illustrating various anecdotes and reflections. The holidays are approaching so there’s a fair chance I’ll get more done soon… Lexington grey in fountain-pen and water-brush, watercolour, A4 – about 1 hour each

Posted in Barry's book, domestic, fruit, grisaille, illustration, line drawing, monochrome, objects | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Baywatch, day and night

Two more Summer seaside views, when I was moving from pen to ink-brush for the key elements of a sketch. The first is from a ledge at the top of the North Cliffs, looking across the bay to Tenby old-town, with tree-tops below … Continue reading

Posted in boats, comparisons, ink brush, inks, landscape, Lexington grey, monochrome, sea, Tenby, Wales, waves | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Rising tide

From a visit to Aberporth a couple of years ago, trying out an inflatable canoe (it’s great!). I paddled around the headland to an inaccessible cove near the missile testing range, and sketched the beached canoe as the tide came in… … Continue reading

Posted in beach, boats, holiday, Lexington grey, monochrome, nautical, sea, Wales, waves | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Lots of buskers

Lots of buskers, mostly in Bath, and some of their audiences (ranging from the totally disinterested to the partially engaged). There’s a few more sketches of barefoot Ben Powell, a bottle-neck slide cigar-box guitar player, and a couple who were accompanying … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, brush pen, buskers, comparisons, figures, ink brush, Lexington grey, monochrome, people, street scene, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Oxford faces

I’ll follow Stuart’s advice and post something cheerier and less morbid (mostly). So here’s a range of faces seen on a day trip to Oxford, most from the wonderful Ashmolean Museum, which I’ve posted about before. They span the whole history of portraiture, … Continue reading

Posted in body, brush pen, faces, grisaille, ink brush, Lexington grey, monochrome, museum, Oxford, people watching, sculpture, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

More selfies

Another batch of late night selfies, including some deliberate attempts to avoid the usual self-portrait surly stare; I’m not sure that they’re any less alarming! All but one were done with my new favourite sketching tool, Kuretake brush-pens, either number 8 (plastic … Continue reading

Posted in brush pen, collections, faces, Lexington grey, monochrome, self-portrait | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Homework…

I rarely sketch from photos, but the wonderfully encyclopaedic People of the Twenty-First Century by Hans Eijkelboom is a treasure trove of reference images for the urban sketcher. It’s a beautiful catalogue of real people going about their lives, and copying the pictures … Continue reading

Posted in faces, figures, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, people, sequential, technique, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments