Category Archives: urban sketching

Regency Parade

Quick ink-brush sketches of yesterday’s ‘Grand Regency Costumed Parade’, part of the annual Jane Austen festival held in Bath. The parade ended appropriately in Parade Gardens, where some of the 500 participants stood still long enough to be drawn.  On the right is … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, brush pen, clothing, figures, parades, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Same difference

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 , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

..and now in colour

I’ve copied the two Tenby ink sketches (putting water-colour paper through our printer works!) and added some colour. The printer made the original ink sketch lighter and the overall effect is a bit washed out, but it’s interesting to compare … Continue reading

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Tenby in ink

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 , , , , , , , , , | 6 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

Car Parklife

I think a key part of urban sketching is depicting the stuff of everyday life, no matter how banal. So here are three quick views from the car while parked at motorway services during the trip to Scotland and back. That’s it, nothing to add! … Continue reading

Posted in cars, coloured ink, coloured paper, holiday, journeys, Lexington grey, pencil, travel, urban sketching, vehicles, waiting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

More pencil

I’m still enjoying using the Grafwood 6B pencil, with no rubbing out so no hesitant and uncommitted lines! It’s very smooth, perfect for quick contour sketches of people, and can go from light to dark with the lightest touch. Here … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, buildings, eye, figures, line drawing, pencil, people, self-portrait, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chim chim cher-ee

More soft pencil sketches; Summer evening views over Bath chimneys and roof-tops to the trees beyond. There’s a couple of seagulls flying home to roost (?) in the first one, and more of the telephone wires I love in the … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, buildings, landscape, pencil, rooftops, seasonal, sky, urban, urban sketching, watercolour sketch | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 , , , , , , | 7 Comments