I’m an Urban Sketcher…
Gallery
Category Archives: urban
Still lives
A family waiting outside the Bath Grand Pump Rooms, next to the Roman Baths. They sat silent and still for about 20 minutes, which made drawing them much easier. I was about 30 yards from them and couldn’t see whether they were serene, … Continue reading
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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28 bench-sitters
Another collection of strangers, mostly tourists, sat on benches in the square next to Bath Abbey. They’re chatting, reading, texting, pondering, relaxing, waiting, eating ice-cream, and just watching, like me. The square’s a great place for sketching people, they usually stay … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, coloured paper, from life, inks, kit, Lexington grey, line drawing, people, sketching, street scene, urban, waiting, waterbrush
Tagged Bad Blue Heron, Bath Abbey, Brown 41, coloured paper, fountain pen, Gil Scott-Heron, Noodlers inks for sketching, people in the city, people watching, seated people, sketching in ink, sketching people, urban sketching, water-brush filled with ink
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Urban sheep
A flock of sheep on the steep field in front of Lansdown Crescent on the Northern slopes of Bath. An odd but lovely urban sight, a very faint echo of the times when drover’s roads criss-crossed the UK, bringing flocks of sheep into many city-centre markets. … Continue reading
Posted in animals, Bath, buildings, coloured paper, from life, Lexington grey, sketching, urban, white pen
Tagged Bath, coloured paper, Curved Air, drover's roads, flock of sheep, fountain pen sketching, Lansdown Crescent, Lexington grey ink, medieval Bath, Noodlers brown ink, sheep in city, sketching sheep, urban sheep, White Rotring pen
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An urban stroll
I’ve been reading Freehand Drawing and Discovery by James Richards. Richards is an architect so his drawings look like planning proposals, but it’s got a lot of good tips on creating simple but effective urban landscapes. It also mentions ‘serial visions’, a … Continue reading
Posted in buildings, from life, inks, journeys, line drawing, sequential, street scene, technique, travel, urban
Tagged city walls, Freehand Drawing and Discovery, Gordon Cullen, pedestrians, sequential sketches, serial vision, sketching an urban walk, street scenes, Tenby streets, Vision On gallery, walking through a town
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From a moving vehicle
A collection of fast drive-by sketches; trees seen from a train, and vehicles from a car. The trees were glimpsed for a few seconds as we shot past, so a brush-pen was ideal for quickly capturing their individual shapes and key lines, with … Continue reading
Posted in collections, coloured paper, from life, inks, journeys, monochrome, sketching, technique, trains, travel, urban, vehicles
Tagged drive-by sketches, individual trees, Lexington grey ink, sketching from a vehicle, sketching on coloured paper, sketching on the move, sketching trees, sketching vehicles, The Temptations, tree shapes
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Steam Fair
The wonderful Carters Steam Fair was in Bath over the summer, with steam-powered bumper cars, dodgems, dive bombers, chair-o-planes, giant octopus and much more. I sketched some of the logos on the vintage slot machines in the penny arcade (just doing the lines on … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, collections, from life, gouache, nostalgia, park, sketching, urban, vehicles, white pen
Tagged Arcade Fire, Bath, Carter's Steam Fair, fairground sketching, penny arcade, Scammel lorry, slot machine logos, steam fair, urban sketching, vintage truck
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Worshippers, ancient and modern
Lexington grey fountain pen and water-brush, white Gelly Roll pen, white gouache, on coloured paper, A5 – 10 minutes line drawing at the museum, and 30 minutes adding the light and shade at home A small fraction of the 2,000 votive figures … Continue reading
Posted in collections, coloured paper, exhibitions, Lexington grey, monochrome, museum, Stockholm, urban, white pen
Tagged Ayia Irini, crowd, crowd of statues, Field for the British Isles, monochrome, monochrome sketch, shop window dummies, Stockholm Mediterranean Musem, The Specials, urban sketching, votive statues
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Stockholm sketching
Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, watercolour, A5 – one hour We spent last week in Stockholm, and I was delighted to have the chance to go on a sketchcrawl, kindly arranged by Nina Johansson. Here are Tina (on the fence) and Nina … Continue reading
Posted in buildings, from life, holiday, journeys, people, sketching, Stockholm, urban, waves
Tagged docks, fountain pen, kayak, Nina Johansson, ship, sketchcrawl, sketchers, Stockholm sketching, The Doors, urban sketching, water
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Mostly drawing 