Mostly drawing

Didcot

Posted on December 7, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Double page montage from a day visiting London. A tired underground train passenger, Didcot power station seen on the return train to Bath, and a contour drawing of chairs back home. The brown wash on the sketches is black tea, added while enjoying a refreshing cuppa at the end of the day.

1mm Pigma pen, Lexington grey brush, black tea, A5 – 25 mins

The cooling towers of Didcot power station are a striking landmark on the London to Bath train route. Here’s an earlier sketch of them from the Summer, complete with oily stains from a salad.

Water-brush with Lexington grey, white Uni Posca pen, gouache, A5 – 20 minutes

Posted in Bath, from life, journeys, Lexington grey, London, monochrome, sketching, trains, urban, zoo | Tagged chairs, Didcot, montage, passenger, power station, tea, Team America, The Upsetters, train window, tube train | Leave a comment

High contrast faces

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Ed Mostly

nov 271

Water-brush with Lexington grey ink, A6 – 10 minutes

I was watching a Word War Two history documentary and was struck by a very high contrast photo of a group of men. I copied nine of the faces using ink-brush, noticing the way that the nose is suggested by the gap between the eye sockets and the shadow below. Knowing that these men were all Nazi collaborators inevitably alters the way I read their faces and expressions…

Posted in brush pen, Lexington grey, monochrome, TV | Tagged faces, high contrast, Lexington grey ink, Nazi collaborators, old photo, Talking Heads | Leave a comment

@ Bristol #2

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Some more from @Bristol. Two sketches overlapping on one page creating an odd couple; a gorilla skeleton and a large model of Morph, a 1970’s children’s animation classic from Aardman. Each sketch took about 10 minutes, and that’s a paint accident, not blood, on the gorillaz skull.

Pencil, brown Pigma pen, Lexington grey water-brush, watercolour, A5 – 20 minutes

Here’s me seen by the @Bristol thermal imaging cameras, looking wonderfully skull-like thanks to a cold nose and glasses! ThermalImageGrab72

Posted in animals, collections, exhibitions, from life, museum, sculpture, skeleton, sketching | Tagged @ Bristol, Aardman, bones, cold nose, gorilla, Gorillaz, Morph, skull, the Odd Couple, thermal imaging | 1 Comment

@ Bristol #1

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Ed Mostly

The massive main landing gear of an airliner, sketched at @Bristol. The wheels are about 5 foot high and it has an ‘articulating bogie unit’, hmmm… I spent 5 minutes marking the key lines in pencil to get the perspective right, but didn’t have time to draw all the intricate wires, cables, pistons, etc; should have done some greebling.

nov 274

Pencil, fountain pen and water-brush with Lexington grey ink, white Lumocolor pencil, watercolour, A5 – 30 minutes

Posted in airplane, collections, from life, Lexington grey, machinery, museum, vehicles | Tagged @ Bristol, articulating bogie unit, Grandmaster Flash, greebling, landing gear, main landing gear, Messier Dowty, wheels | 2 Comments

Specky

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Ed Mostly

My commitment to daily drawing is regularly tested late evening. ‘It’s 10pm, I haven’t managed a sketch yet, what could I draw?’ Favourite models include a glass of water, my left hand, a model skull, or figures on TV; this time it was my glasses.

(I love the way pencil compliments Lexington grey ink, producing a soft monochrome)

‘B’ pencil, water brush with Lexington grey ink, A6 – 5 minutes

Posted in every day matters, from life, home, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, objects, pencil | Tagged Band of Horses, daily drawing, glasses, specky, spectacles | 4 Comments

Walcot Street

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Night-time view up Walcot Street while waiting for a burger at Schwartz Bros, a Bath institution. It took about 3 minutes to draw the lines on location, and 5 more at home to add the ink wash and yellow highlights from memory.

schwartz 1mm Pigma pen, water-brush with Lexington grey ink, watercolour, A6 – 10 minutes

Posted in Bath, buildings, from life, Lexington grey, monochrome, night, urban, vehicles, waiting | Tagged night time, pedestrian, Schwartz burgers, street lamp, street scene, Walcot Street | Leave a comment

Sketching fuel

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Ed Mostly

My sketching’s mostly fuelled by Lexington grey, a wonderful ink made by Noodlers in the USA. I use it in almost every sketch I do as it’s rapidly waterproof, but also safe for fountain pens. It works well with water-colour washes, and you can use it diluted to quickly build very stable layers of tone and shade. I carry 3 water brushes loaded with the ink in different dilutions in my sketching kit. It’s a slightly smokey grey, warmish but neutral enough to work alongside all colours.

It’s always been hard to buy in Europe, so many thanks to the Sketching Forum for news of a UK supplier (last time I looked they had ~~27 bottles left…~~ now down to 8 as of 10/1/14). I’ve stocked up with a couple of bottles and drew them, in Lexington grey ink, alongside my original big bottle from the US.

grey

Fountain pen and water-brush with Lexington grey, watercolour, A6 – 20 minutes

Here’s a couple more similar Lexington sketches; boots and a teapot.

Fountain pen and water-brush with Lexington grey, watercolour, A6 – 15 minutes each

Posted in from life, grisaille, inks, kit, Lexington grey, monochrome, objects | Tagged Fatboy Slim, fountain pen, grey ink, Ink bottles, Lexington, Noodlers, teapot, Ugg boots, waterbrushes | Leave a comment

Shrubbery steps

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Bath is full of steep footpaths, and I’ve sketched this one several times before, always looking down. Here I’m looking up for a change, on an overcast afternoon.

1mm Pigma pen, water-brush with dilute Lexington grey and Windsor and Newton inks, white gouache, A5

Posted in Bath, coloured paper, from life, inks, Lexington grey, sketching, urban | Tagged David Bowie, footpath, looking up, steps, The Shrubbery | Leave a comment

Green Park Station

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Saturday morning sketching with Louise and Mark at the farmer’s market in Green Park Station, Bath. (The last train left the station in 1962, part of the notorious Beeching cuts.) The line drawing took about 30 minutes, with another 20 minutes adding an ink wash at home. I was trying out a large panoramic sketchbook I’ve made; having the extra space was a luxury, but it was tricky to handle when standing…

Topical note: Spot the red poppy being worn by a shopper ahead of Remembrance Sunday, today. (Click here to see the picture bigger)

Fountain pen and water-brush with Lexington Grey ink, A3 – 50 minutes

Posted in Bath, buildings, from life, inks, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, panorama, people, sketching, urban | Tagged Beeching cuts, farmer's market, Green Park Station, Poppy day, Remembrance Sunday, The Monkees | 2 Comments

The Wild West

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Guns, tipi pegs and keys from the recent ‘Gangsters and Gunslingers’ exhibition at the American Museum just outside Bath. Strange to see so many battered objects intimately associated with legendary figures. Dillinger’s fake gun was a particular delight.

(Following a post by Tina Koyama and a recent discussion on the Urban Sketchers Flickr pool I’m now adding the approximate length of time a sketch takes; each of these 4 sketches took about 5 to 10 minutes.)

guns