Mostly drawing

Daily Sketch-kit updated…

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Ed Mostly

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 enough variety to meet most demands. The internet’s an amazing resource for researching new tips and methods, so I’d encourage you to experiment until you find the pens etc that help you to sketch as often as possible; if there’s anything in your kit that discourages you from sketching ditch it!

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 | 2 Comments

Livestock

Posted on August 2, 2015 by Ed Mostly

More rural sketching: haughty llamas, inquisitive young bulls and nervous Blue-faced Leicesters, all seen last week in Galloway, South-West Scotland. I’ve sketched sheep and cattle before, but never llamas. Their faces reminded me of camels and kangaroos, with pursed lips and striking eye-lashes, and they managed to look both amused and mildly affronted at the same time!

5B Pencil, Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, water-colour, A5 – about 30 minutes each

Posted in animals, coloured paper, farm, Galloway, line drawing, pencil, rural | Tagged blue-faced Leicesters, farm sketches, fountain pen sketches, Four Tops, llama faces, pencil sketches of animals from life, rural sketching, sketch of cattle, sketch of llama, sketch of sheep, sketches of animals | 2 Comments

Toys again

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Ed Mostly

Toys and models are ever-reliable subjects for a quick drawing. You can arrange them how you like, getting a range of angles rarely available in the real world. They’ve also removed any unnecessary details, doing most of the simplification needed for a sketch!

Lexington grey in water-brush and fountain pen, water-colour, A5 –

Posted in airplane, animals, bikes, coloured paper, inks, line drawing, objects, toys | Tagged Chemical Brothers, fountain pen sketches, sketch of motorbike, sketch of toy puma, sketches of model plane, sketches of toys | 2 Comments

More pencil

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Ed Mostly

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 are people around town (I’m trying to catch more walkers as well as the easier sitters), the first floor windows of a restaurant, and another late night selfie.

Grafwood 6B pencil, water-colour, dilute Lexington grey and Namibia blue in water brush, white gel-pen, A5 – various times

Posted in Bath, buildings, eye, figures, line drawing, pencil, people, self-portrait, urban, urban sketching | Tagged Jr Walker and The All Stars, pencil drawings of people, pencil sketches around town, selfie pencil sketch, sketch of windows, sketching in Bath, sketching people, sketching people walking, urban sketching | 2 Comments

Stone faces

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Ed Mostly

Twelve of the fifty stone heads that gaze down on an original Magna Carta in the Chapter House at Salisbury Cathedral. They were carved in the 13th century, seem to be based on individuals, and capture a range of expressions that look completely modern; Turner found them interesting too. I drew some similar ones in the Mezquita, Cordoba. Then there’s the gravestone in Cordoba of a celebrated matador (the grave appears at the end of the film). And finally the tomb of a C17th Bishop of Bath and Wells (but not this one), alongside another stone head that looks very like one of the ones in Salisbury.

Various inks in fountain pen and water-brush, water-colour, A5 – a range of times

Posted in collections, coloured ink, Cordoba, death, faces, monument, sculpture | Tagged fountain pen sketches, Manolete's grave, medieval portraits, Salisbury Chapter House carvings, sketches in cathedrals, sketches of sculptures, sketches of stone carvings, The Only Ones, tomb of Bishop of Wells | Leave a comment

Hedgy

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Ed Mostly

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 finally a wash of white water-colour for the sky. The white gel pen’s a very useful piece of sketching kit; I also used it in the sketch at the bottom for a similarly crisp high-contrast boundary between the sky and the buildings. (Ok, dullish. Especially if read aloud in a monotone.)

Grafwood 5B pencil, dilute Lexington grey water-brush, white gel pen, watercolour, A5 – 1 hour?

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 | 6 Comments

The bends

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Ed Mostly

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 figures from a reference photo I took just before heading home). Then a couple of earlier versions of the same scene (sat slightly further to the right on the pavement) from April 2013, and June 2012 when I’d been sketching for about a year. The three sketches over three years are a good example of my ongoing see-sawing between no-line and bold line, with the latest one being somewhere in the middle!

All sorts, watercolour, A5, A6 and A7 – various times, the most recent about 45 minutes

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 | Leave a comment

Marker pen sketches

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Ed Mostly

A couple of late night selfies (smile!), washing up on the drying rack, sketches from a walk in the Mendips, and hands. All using my new favourite marker pen; it’s very different from using the 6B pencil, you can get some line variation in the width but that’s about it. Choose your lines carefully as they’re bold and there to stay…

Edding 30 marker pen, various inks in water-brushes, watercolour, white crayon for the eyes, A5 – various times, all fairly fast

Posted in animals, boots, domestic, faces, hands, home, kit, line drawing, marker pen, monochrome, self-portrait | Tagged close up sketch of eyes, marker pen sketches, sketch of boots, sketch of washing up, sketches of cows, sketches of hands, sketching kit, sketching selfies, Supergrass | 1 Comment

Chim chim cher-ee

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Ed Mostly

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 second.

Grafwood 6B pencil, watercolour, A5 – 30 minutes each

Posted in Bath, buildings, landscape, pencil, rooftops, seasonal, sky, urban, urban sketching, watercolour sketch | Tagged Bath sketches, distant trees, early Summer evening views, pencil sketching, rooftop sketches, rooftop views, seagulls flying, sketches of chimneys, Smokey Robinson, telephone wires, urban sketching | 1 Comment

In praise of pencils

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Ed Mostly

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 very smooth (no sharp grit), and very dark, but doesn’t smudge too much. The softness makes it highly responsive, and using it feels half-way between a brush and a pen. With almost no pressure the tip glides over the paper, making it wonderful for expressive ‘blind/contour drawing’. Increase the pressure and the line widens and darkens; turn it slightly and you find the sharper edge and get a clearer narrower line. It’s lightweight, won’t leak in your pocket, water-proof, and blends brilliantly with ink-wash and water-colour, the line vanishing when needed. I’m clearly a very late arrival at the pencil party, but here are some initial attempts, exploring it’s versatility… Two streets in Bath, a concert audience, people in a park, a rose, and my left hand.

Grafwood 6B pencil, water-colour, ink-brush, mostly A5 – various times