Category Archives: people watching

Manchester Symposium

I’m very excited to have been selected to present a demo (using brush-pens for sketching) and a lecture (on the long and rich history of books about sketching) at this year’s Urban Sketchers International Symposium in Manchester. Yippee! Maybe see you there … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, brush pen, cafe, figures, ink brush, International Symposium, Lexington grey, people watching, shoppers, street scene, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The quick(ish) and the dead(very)

Two double-page spreads from yesterday’s USk Bristol/South West sketchcrawl at Bristol Museum (15 sketchers, our best turn out yet!). Here are passengers at Bath railway station, a recreation of the Dignitas flat and the reconstruction of an ancient Egyptian face (both … Continue reading

Posted in Bristol, brush pen, cafe, death, faces, figures, museum, people watching, urban, urban sketching | 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

Beach life

Two scenes of Tenby beach-life, complete with seagull drones, ice-cream van, and parasols. The first was from the cliff top, the second from rocks at the base of the cliff, and each is followed by their pre-watercolour version. Finally the same view as … Continue reading

Posted in beach, figures, holiday, people watching, sea, Tenby, Wales | 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

54 people, mostly seated, and 2 dogs

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 , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

At the fair again

Carters Steam Fair (“100 smiles per hour!“) have been back to our local park. I didn’t draw the Steam Boats, as promised last time, but I did try sketching the merry-go-round horses; this was tricky as they kept setting off again every 2 … Continue reading

Posted in animals, Bath, coloured paper, fairground, figures, line drawing, park, people watching, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Back in the city

“Hey, I am just a city boy, I’m really not the country kind, I miss the city streets and the neon lights. See the train comin’ round the bend…” The first sketch is a passenger on a train back to the city (Bath, not … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, cafe, figures, hands, line drawing, people watching, trains, urban sketching, waiting | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Ink brush sketching

Here’s another collection of people in town, this time a monochrome set,  done with a water-brush filled with dilute ink for speed. They were sketched one afternoon while sat outside a cafe in early Spring, hence the scarves and big coats. The last of the … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, body, brush pen, clothing, Feet, figures, inks, Lexington grey, monochrome, people, people watching, street scene, urban, urban sketching, waterbrush | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hands, again

My hands, family member’s hands, stranger’s hands on trains, and hands on porcelain figures. Complicated miniature landscapes of curves, shadows, contours and foreshortenings that make regular appearances in my sketchbooks. As individual and expressive as a face, and always a challenge. No … Continue reading

Posted in body, collections, coloured ink, coloured paper, family, hands, monochrome, people, people watching, self-portrait | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment