I’m an Urban Sketcher…
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Category Archives: monochrome
On the beach #1
Two from Tenby, where I spent some blissfully vacant days sketching in the Summer. First a range of boats beached in the North Harbour at low tide, with an inquisitive pigeon exploring the seaweed. This was drawn on location, along with the key shading … Continue reading
Sketching cars #2
A second collection of car sketches. First a very cute Corvette I saw near our home; lots of beautiful details in this car, all the way down to the sting in the tail of the ‘G’ in the logo. Next there’s a full-size wire-frame model of … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, cars, coloured ink, coloured paper, from life, inks, line drawing, monochrome, street scene, urban, vehicles
Tagged Benedict Radcliffe, Citroen 2CV, Corvette Stingray, drawings of cars, Ford Anglia Deluxe, fountain pen sketches, Japanese taxi, London Taxi, sketching cars, Taxi Driver OST, urban sketching, wire frame car model
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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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Sketching cars #1
I kept noticing interesting cars during the Summer, and tried sketching a couple of them. Here’s Eelke’s well-loved and well-travelled Citroen DS (it’s a ‘1974 DS 23 Pallas injection electronique hydraulique’). Eelke had driven it from Holland, around England, Wales and Ireland, and was on his … Continue reading
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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toys R me
Here are four Britain’s cowboy figures, three views of a horse, and various robots enjoying some ‘circle time’. Toy figures are great sketching subjects; they’ve already been simplified as part of their miniaturisation, helping you see the key shapes and structures, … Continue reading
Posted in animals, collections, coloured paper, line drawing, monochrome, objects, technique, toys
Tagged Bad Blue Heron, Britains cowboys, brown ink sketch, drawing horses, drawing toys, fountain pen sketches, Noodlers Brown 41, sketches of robots, sketching model horse, The Flaming Lips, waterproof ink for sketching
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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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Mostly drawing 