I’m an Urban Sketcher…
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Tag Archives: urban sketching
Concertina sketchbooks
I’ve tried using concertina/accordion-fold sketchbooks in the past, but found them very awkward to use when out and about. They’re usually spineless (like this Seawhite version and my homemade one below) with no hinge between the covers, so you can’t use a … Continue reading
Posted in concertina sketchbooks, kit, sketchbooks, technique, urban sketching
Tagged accordion fold sketchbooks, concertina sketchbook for urban sketching, making concertina sketchbooks, panoramic sketchbook, simple sketchbook instructions, sketchbook construction, urban sketchbook, urban sketching, urban sketching kit
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And now for something…
…completely different. My last post was unexpectedly popular (a six-fold increase in visitors to the site!), and hopefully there are wooden sketchbooks now emerging from book-presses all over the world. Here’s a sketch from a small exhibition at the Victoria Art … Continue reading
Wood bound sketch-books
A practical post today, revealing the depths of tinkering and making that sketching has led me to. So please enjoy my ten-step recipe for making plywood covered sketchbooks that are perfect for urban sketching. The key to their suitability is the binding, … Continue reading
Posted in kit, sketchbooks, technique, urban, urban sketching
Tagged bespoke sketchbook, how to make a sketchbook with wooden covers, making an urban sketchbook, making sketchbooks, plywood cover sketchbook, sketchbook construction, urban sketchbook, urban sketching, urban sketching kit, wood bound sketchbook
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Groups and crowds
After many sketches of individuals and couples about town here are some attempts at drawing crowds and larger groups, trying to catch the body language and brief gestures that help to connect the figures. The first three were sketched from the top … Continue reading
Street photography and sketching
Five years ago I enjoyed ‘street photography’, trying to catch telling moments in Bath’s weekend busyness. After a while the hobby lost its appeal, it wasn’t quite as satisfying as it had been, and it was around then that I started drawing. Five years … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, brush pen, ink brush, Inktense, people watching, street scene, urban, urban sketching
Tagged ink brush sketching, sketching in Bath, sketching people in cities, sketching with Inktense pencils, street photography, street photography and sketching, street sketching, Teardrop Explodes, urban sketching
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Busts
Sketches from last weekend’s USkBristol/South West sketchcrawl in Bath. Fourteen of us started inside the Abbey (it was too wet to go up the tower) where I sketched a memorial bust and inscription. We then moved to the Guildhall market where I drew a … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, brush pen, cafe, figures, ink brush, Inktense, people watching, sculpture, sketchcrawl, urban, urban sketching
Tagged Bath Abbey sketches, Bath sketchcrawl, ink brush sketching, Inktense pencil sketching, Jimi Hendrix, sketch of man sat on stool, sketch of memorial bust, sketching in Bath market, Urban Sketchers Bristol/South West, urban sketching
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Down and up the path
First a four panel sequential sketch, done in brush-pen while walking down The Shrubbery, a steep local path, last month. Then the same view as the last panel a couple of years ago, and finally the view looking back up The … Continue reading
Improving a brush-pen
My favourite media for urban sketching is brush-pen (Inktense pencils a close second), and my favourite brush-pen is the Kuretake #8. It’s the cheapest (direct from Japan here), has great ink-flow (the Pentel is very dry), the brush is springy (firmer than … Continue reading
Compare and contrast
Recent sketchbook pages of people (and horses) around Bath, drawn with either ink-brush/brush-pen or Inktense pencils; spot the difference! I’m tending to oscillate between these two media, still loving the speed and fluency of the brush for figures, but also the slightly … Continue reading
Posted in Bath, brush pen, clothing, figures, ink brush, Inktense, kit, people watching, street scene, urban, urban sketching
Tagged brush-pen sketching, ink brush sketching, sketch of horse drawn carriage, sketching in Bath, sketching with Inktense pencils, The Small Faces, urban sketching, urban sketching materials
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Funchal neighbourhood
Yet more from Madeira… Fellow customers at our local bakery/cafe, a first floor view looking down the street we were staying in to the mountains beyond, and a much extended house on a steep street nearby (slightly Seuss-like with tower, external … Continue reading
Mostly drawing 