Mostly drawing

Same difference

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Ed Mostly

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 at home), the second with fountain-pen about six months ago in Winter, and the last in Spring three years ago using felt-tip and gouache. I think the ink-brush needs to be darker to hold its own when given a colour wash, and it can look a bit myopically hazy, but it’s an excellent medium for quick sketches…

Lexington grey ink-brush, water-colour, A6 – 20 mins ink sketch, 20 mins water-colour

Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, white gel pen, A5 – 45 mins

1mm Pigma pen, gouache, white gel pen, Lexington grey water-brush, A5 Kraft paper – one hour

Posted in Bath, buildings, comparisons, grisaille, inks, Lexington grey, monochrome, street scene, urban, urban sketching | Tagged Bath, Bath sketches, Brock Street, fountain pen sketching, ink brush sketches, Rolling Stones, The Circus, urban sketching, urban sketching techniques | 7 Comments

..and now in colour

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Ed Mostly

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 with the monochrome originals; how the eye is drawn to other details and reads the scene differently… Preferences?

Posted in drawing buildings, ink brush, street scene, Tenby, urban, urban sketching | Tagged ink brush sketching, monochrome and colour sketches, Sidney Barnes, sketch of street scene, sketching technique, tenby sketches, urban sketching | 4 Comments

Tenby in ink

Posted on August 29, 2015 by Ed Mostly

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 both A4 which gave me a bit more room for detail. I’m strongly tempted to add a light colour wash, particularly in the second one, but have resisted so far… Maybe some red for the barber-shop sign and green for the distant hills at the end of the street?

Pencil (now erased) and Lexington grey in water-brush, A4 – one hour each

Posted in brush pen, buildings, church, grisaille, inks, Lexington grey, monochrome, rooftops, street scene, Tenby, urban, urban sketching | Tagged ink brush sketches, King Tubby, monochrome ink sketches, sketch looking down street, sketch of barber-shop, sketches of Tenby, street scene sketch, Tenby Castle Hill view, urban sketching, urban sketching technique | 6 Comments

A dog’s life

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Ed Mostly

Queenie doesn’t spend all her time snoozing, but it’s easier to draw her when she is…

Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, white gouache, A5 – 20 minutes

Posted in animals, coloured paper, dogs, domestic, Lexington grey, monochrome, pets | Tagged Badly Drawn Boy, drawings of sleeping dog, fountain pen sketches, sketches of a dog, sketches of Jack Russell | Leave a comment

Shoreline

Posted on August 23, 2015 by Ed Mostly

A couple of sketches from the peaceful Galloway coast, both done with pencil for line, dilute ink for shading, and water-colour wash for soft colour. First some smooth pebbles at low tide, and then a very still sea at flood-tide, with the Isle of Man wearing a cloud cap thirty miles away on the horizon.

6B pencil, dilute Lexington grey in water-brush, water-colour, A5 – 40 mins each

Posted in beach, clouds, Galloway, holiday, pencil, rural, sea, waves | Tagged flood-tide, Isle of Man, pencil sketches, sketch of beach pebbles, sketch of calm sea, sketching by the sea, sketching in Galloway, The Who | Leave a comment

At the fair again

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Ed Mostly

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 minutes, hence the nightmarish multiple heads! I also drew other people there, watching the rides and taking photos, various dogs and birds, and I found a plein-air oil-painter at work (he was painting the Steam Boats…). At the bottom there’s a Helter Skelter from another recent fair, and a previous (better) attempt at the same ride.

Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, 6B pencil, water-colour, all A5 – various times

Posted in animals, Bath, coloured paper, fairground, figures, line drawing, park, people watching, urban, urban sketching | Tagged Carter's Steam Fair, fairground sketches, merry-go-round horses, Ride, sketch of merry go round, sketch of photographers, sketch of plein air painter, sketching at the fair, urban sketching | 2 Comments

A pair of mugs

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Ed Mostly

Late night cuppas and their shadows, as featured several times before. Just the usual three inks, and I left the table-top unpainted this time.

Namiki Blue in fountain pen, Brown 41 and Lexington grey in water-brush, A5 – 30 mins

Posted in coloured ink, domestic, from life, inks, kitchen, objects | Tagged cups of tea, drawing of two mugs, fountain pen sketch, Leftfield, line drawn of mugs, noodlers inks, sketch of drinks, sketch of mugs | 4 Comments

Car Parklife

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Ed Mostly

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!

Pencil, Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, water-colour, A5 – 20 minutes each

Posted in cars, coloured ink, coloured paper, holiday, journeys, Lexington grey, pencil, travel, urban sketching, vehicles, waiting | Tagged drawing cars, fountain pen sketches, line drawings of cars, motorway services, sketches from a car, sketches of car parks, sketching the banal, sketching while waiting, sketching with ink and pencil, Talking Heads, urban sketching | 3 Comments

More marker pen

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Ed Mostly

St Nicholas’ Church in Burton, Cheshire, and another one of busy kitchen shelves, both sketches using fairly strong perspective, vertical and horizontal. The church was built out of sandstone in 1720 in a very plain style, and the clock only has one hand, dating ‘from a time when it was sufficient to know just the hour of the day’.

Edding 30 marker pen, Lexington grey in water-brush, water-colour, A5 – 30 minutes each

Posted in buildings, church, coloured paper, domestic, home, marker pen, monochrome, objects | Tagged drawing of church tower, kitchen sketch, marker pen sketching, perspective in sketches, Sidney Barnes, sketch of jars and packets, sketch of kitchen shelves, sketching on coloured paper, St Nicholas Church Burton, water-brush shading | 2 Comments

Grounded

Posted on August 8, 2015 by Ed Mostly

Stuffed and numbered birds on display at the small but wonderful Stewartry Museum, Kircudbright; I didn’t have time to paint all their glorious colours, so had to settle for ink-brush monochrome, concentrating on feathers and form. Then the head of a dead Gannet found while beach-combing (I put it on a stick to draw it). The gannet was fairly ripe, and the orange neck feathers had lost their smoothness, but the beak was still an impressive fish spear (the beak’s four inches long, and unlike most birds they have no nostrils so water doesn’t get forced up them when they hit the water at sixty miles-per-hour!) .

Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, water-colour, A5 – 30 mins for the birds, 15 for the Gannet