Feature Image: Drawing Earthsworld Challenge
Day Fourteen of my 365 Day Sketch Challenge
Continuing with day fourteen of my #Kick365 sketching challenge to draw people in ink and watercolour.
Drawing Earthsworld Challenge
I did today’s Drawing Earthsworld Challenge from Facebook. I do love that combination on the clothing of the red against the turquoise. It’s a vibrant pairing. The shirt in the photo was actually a neutral tone. But I’ve accepted that I err towards bright and vibrant in my colour selection. And these sketches aren’t about replicating reality, they’re about creating my own personal interpretation of reality.
This colour combo works so well because turquoise edges towards a green-blue, and green is the complimentary colour of red.
I also played catch-up on one of the Earthsworld’s portraits I missed while we were away in Cordoba. I missed quite a few days, but I have a busy sketching day today, and I’m just going to let the others that I missed …. go.
My favourite part of this sketch is how the sketch fades out at the bottom, and there’s no hard edges. My natural tendency is to make edges tidy and neat, but I much prefer this looser style of ending a portrait.
Sketching from Photos
I did another review of the photos of people I took in Cordoba. Quite a few of them didn’t really inspire me to sketch, but I did find three that projected an interesting story that I felt compelled to convey.
Sketches of People in Cordoba
Group of Women out Shopping in Cordoba
This photo appealed to me because there were people at three different perspectives. Close, mid-ground, and in the distance. I think the three in the middle were all together. I made the girl in the middle the focal point, and kept all of the other people dressed in more muted tones.
There’s a lot going on in the background, with the shops and the Christmas lights, but the pink bag and orange trousers draws the eye. I also like that I gave her a neutral colour coat.
I’m getting more confident in adjusting the colours of clothing to help to create a focal point, or to create a sense of depth in a scene.
A Trio of People Sitting Outside a Bar
The lady was sitting down, and the two guys were standing. I like how she is book-ended by them, and their arms provide natural leading lines towards her, so she’s the focal point.
Initially I was just going to use ink lines for the guys, to create a profile shape. Then I thought about having them as silhouettes, but ultimately I ended up sketching them in detail. I can’t decide whether the blue coat is a little too distracting and draws the eye away from the focal point, or works, because it compliments the orange clothing of the woman.
A Trio of People Compiled from three different Photos
This trio was culled from three separate photos. I loved the large guy in the middle standing by the Aperol Spritz. Not sure if it is for him or a friend. I liked the nonchalant stance of the guy on the right, and the prim looking girl. All were in different bars, but I wanted to pull them together into a single scene.
I like how I rendered the watercolour mix on the blue sweater. It was actually a single tone blue with shadows, but I wanted it to look a lot more dynamic, to accentuate his shape. I’ve been picking up some useful wet-in-wet watercolour approaches from both Matt Gibbons and Matty Burnham, to create more interest and depth with watercolour by layering in different versions of the same colour into an area. I think it was Matty that mixes up three versions of a shade, and then just alternates dipping his brush into each variation so that the colours merge and mingle organically.
This sketch just screams … story. What’s going on? Who knows who? The fact that I manufactured this story, makes it even more interesting to me.
Drawing is Free Live Sketching Event
I attended my second Drawing is Free live sketching event tonight. It’s a one-hour speed sketching session, with each pose the length of a different music track. So each pose was between 3 to 5 minutes. This time around I kept it simple, and used ink lines (Staedtler pigment liner 0.05), and three Tombow water-based dual tipped grey pens:
- Light Grey = N95
- Medium Grey = N65
- Dark Grey = N45
Although I had all three to hand, I mainly used the Light Grey N95, and applied multiple layers to get a darker tone. But there are splashes of the Medium and Dark Grey in the eyes, and darker shadow areas, especially the hair.
I think at the next speed sketching event, I’ll limit my choice to just one of the Tombow pens. Simplicity is the key when you’re speed sketching.
There’s two portraits in this group that I love, and one I’m really pleased with the perspective. But I’m pretty pleased with how all of them turned out. I’m starting to feel that this repetitive daily practice of sketching faces, features, and small figures is starting to show some improvements in my sketching style.
