I’m an Urban Sketcher…
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Category Archives: technique
Shifting focus
A couple of attempts to simulate depth of field by using pen for the foreground and ink-brush (and lighter ink) for the background. A partial success? I think the first one’s more effective, partly because the key subject (the mug) is … Continue reading
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 Bath sketch-crawl, drawings of seated figures, ink brush sketching, seasonal differences, sketching figures, sketching in Bath, The Mynabirds, urban sketching, urban sketching technique
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Outdoor museum
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
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Daily Sketch-kit updated…
There are a few changes since the last update (pencils!), all explained on this page here. One of the key aspects of sketching is having a range of simple and familiar resources, always accessible. My daily carry is pocket-sized, but has … Continue reading
Posted in brush pen, coloured paper, inks, kit, Lexington grey, marker pen, pencil, sketching, technique, watercolour sketch, white pen
Tagged daily sketch kit, every day carry sketching, home-made palette, inks for urban sketching, Muji card-case palette, pens for sketching, portable urban sketching kit, tiny water-colour palette, water-brush filled with ink
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Hedgy
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
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The bends
Bath has a lot of steep streets, and lots of them have hairpin bends; so here’s one I pass fairly often (Streetview here). The first sketch was done in full sun last week (it’s followed by the initial line drawing; I added the … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, cars, figures, line drawing, street scene, technique, urban, urban sketching, vehicles, watercolour sketch
Tagged Aretha Franklin, comparing sketches, fountain pen sketching, hairpin bend sketch, hairpin bends, line drawing, sketching in Bath, steep streets, street scene sketch, urban sketching, urban sketching technique
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In praise of pencils
I’ve tried to like pencils, really I have. I love their woody simplicity, but never found one that felt right on the paper (too waxy, too smudgy etc). But a couple of weeks ago I tried a Grafwood 6B. It’s consistently … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, blind drawing, buildings, cars, figures, hands, kit, line drawing, pencil, people, street scene, technique, urban, urban sketching
Tagged drawing of hand, pencil sketches of people, pencil street-scenes, sketches of Bath, urban sketching, urban sketching kit, water-colour rose
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Edding 30 marker pen
I’ve used marker pens before, reloaded with different inks, with some mixed results. I tried a new one when I went to London last week. The bold lines were great for very fast sketches, and the ink is water-based (so doesn’t ‘bleed through’ the page), fast drying and … Continue reading
Posted in figures, from life, inks, kit, line drawing, London, marker pen, musicians, people, sketching, technique, urban, urban sketching
Tagged Edding 30, Great Western Railway Paddington Band, James Hobbs, London sketches, marker pen sketches, sketch of crows, sketch of police, sketch of sketcher, sketch of tube travellers, The Clash, urban sketching
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More cars
More sketches of street-parking in Bath, ignoring the buildings, just strings of cars snaking up, down and around the contours (previously). Cars are ubiquitous, a familiar part of urban scenes, so I’ve been trying to get them right; the angle of the wheel arches seems … Continue reading
A room with a view
A rooftop view of Cordoba’s Mezquita from our room, and a Moorish gateway in the street outside. The old town streets are narrow, with lovely strong shadows on the white walls and angled patches of sky above. These sketches are mostly grey/grisaille, with a … Continue reading
Posted in buildings, Cordoba, grisaille, holiday, Lexington grey, street scene, technique, travel, urban, urban sketching
Tagged Cordoba street sketches, CSS, fountain pen sketches, grisaille sketching, Instant Streetview, Mezquita roof sketch, Moorish archway, rooftop view, rooftops view sketch, Steven Reddy, urban sketching
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Mostly drawing 