Category Archives: monochrome

Bird’s eye view

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Ed Mostly

Three sketches from the Urban Sketchers Bristol/South West group visit to Bath last weekend. We spent an hour in the Abbey tower and on the roof, enjoying wonderful views over the city centre, and after lunch sketched in the adjacent square. … Continue reading →

Posted in Bath, brush pen, buildings, buskers, church, drawing buildings, figures, ink brush, monochrome, people, rooftops, sketchcrawl, urban, urban sketching | Tagged Bath sketchcrawl, bird's eye view, ink brush sketching, sketch of busker and audience, sketch of rooftop view, sketches from a great height, sketching Bath Abbey, The Drifters, Urban Sketchers Bristol/South West, urban sketching | 4 Comments

End of the line?

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Ed Mostly

I love a good memento mori, and this is the most striking one I’ve sketched so far. It’s a decommissioned crematorium oven (!) in the museum at Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol, found while on a sketchcrawl there with the Bristol/South … Continue reading →

Posted in Bristol, brush pen, cemetery, death, figures, Lexington grey, monochrome, museum, urban sketching | Tagged Arnos vale cemetery, Belle and Sebastian, Bristol South West Urban Sketchers, crematorium oven, fountain pen sketching, graveyard sketching, memento mori, pareidolia, sketches of graveyard statues, urban sketching | 10 Comments

54 people, mostly seated, and 2 dogs

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Ed Mostly

During the Summer holidays I binged on sketching the general public in Bath, my default approach to ‘urban sketching’. I enjoy the seasonal differences: sunglasses, shady hats and bare arms in Summer; compared to high collars, long coats and wooly hats in Winter! … Continue reading →

Posted in Bath, brush pen, clothing, comparisons, figures, ink brush, Lexington grey, monochrome, people watching, seasonal, sketchcrawl, technique, urban, urban sketching | Tagged Bath sketch-crawl, drawings of seated figures, ink brush sketching, seasonal differences, sketching figures, sketching in Bath, The Mynabirds, urban sketching, urban sketching technique | 3 Comments

Outdoor museum

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Ed Mostly

The Weald and Downland Museum is a collection of old buildings that have been saved from dereliction and demolition and given a new home. It’s like a much smaller, rural English version of Skansen, the wonderful original ‘open air museum’ in … Continue reading →

Posted in brush pen, buildings, drawing buildings, ink brush, monochrome, museum, rural, technique | Tagged drawing of anvils, pavement, rural sketching, sketch of hover-fly, sketch of poppy heads, sketch of shady interior, sketch of smithy, sketch of thatched cottage, Weald and Downland Museum | 4 Comments

Same difference

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Ed Mostly

Compare and contrast time again with three sketches looking down the same street towards the Royal Crescent, while sat under one of the five huge trees in The Circus. The first was done with ink-brush a few days ago (colour wash added … Continue reading →

Posted in Bath, buildings, comparisons, grisaille, inks, Lexington grey, monochrome, street scene, urban, urban sketching | Tagged Bath, Bath sketches, Brock Street, fountain pen sketching, ink brush sketches, Rolling Stones, The Circus, urban sketching, urban sketching techniques | 7 Comments

Tenby in ink

Posted on August 29, 2015 by Ed Mostly

The view from Castle Hill, and Tim’s corner barber-shop (“Quality haircuts at fair prices”). I used the acetate grid to mark some key lines in pencil, and then started in the middle with the ink-brush and worked my way out. They’re … Continue reading →

Posted in brush pen, buildings, church, grisaille, inks, Lexington grey, monochrome, rooftops, street scene, Tenby, urban, urban sketching | Tagged ink brush sketches, King Tubby, monochrome ink sketches, sketch looking down street, sketch of barber-shop, sketches of Tenby, street scene sketch, Tenby Castle Hill view, urban sketching, urban sketching technique | 6 Comments

A dog’s life

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Ed Mostly

Queenie doesn’t spend all her time snoozing, but it’s easier to draw her when she is… Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, white gouache, A5 – 20 minutes

Posted in animals, coloured paper, dogs, domestic, Lexington grey, monochrome, pets | Tagged Badly Drawn Boy, drawings of sleeping dog, fountain pen sketches, sketches of a dog, sketches of Jack Russell | Leave a comment

More marker pen

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Ed Mostly

St Nicholas’ Church in Burton, Cheshire, and another one of busy kitchen shelves, both sketches using fairly strong perspective, vertical and horizontal. The church was built out of sandstone in 1720 in a very plain style, and the clock only has one hand, dating ‘from a time … Continue reading →

Posted in buildings, church, coloured paper, domestic, home, marker pen, monochrome, objects | Tagged drawing of church tower, kitchen sketch, marker pen sketching, perspective in sketches, Sidney Barnes, sketch of jars and packets, sketch of kitchen shelves, sketching on coloured paper, St Nicholas Church Burton, water-brush shading | 2 Comments

Hedgy

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Ed Mostly

Three stages of a monochrome hedge sketch (sounds stunningly dull, but bear with me…). First the initial pencil line drawing; then adding grey ink (which blends really well with soft pencil) for the leaf shadows, and white gel-pen for the foliage outline; and … Continue reading →

Posted in botany, comparisons, garden, kit, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, pencil, sky, technique, white pen | Tagged Explosions in the Sky, foliage outline, high contrast sketch, pencil line drawing, pencil sketch of hedge, sketch of hedge, sketching technique, white gel pen sketch | 6 Comments

Marker pen sketches

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Ed Mostly

A couple of late night selfies (smile!), washing up on the drying rack, sketches from a walk in the Mendips, and hands. All using my new favourite marker pen; it’s very different from using the 6B pencil, you can get some line variation in … Continue reading →