Urban Sketch at the Reception Desk

Day Thirty-Four of Sketching People

Continuing with day 34 of my #Kick365 sketching challenge to draw people in ink and watercolour. I returned to one of my favourite sketching spots, and used different styles to capture the people I sketched on location.

I also reimagined one of my urban sketches once I got home, to give it a more whimsical feel then added a short poem to the sketch, and added some text to another. This mixture of sketch and text, gives these vignettes I’m sketching a more reportage-feel.

Urban Sketching People

Another little urban sketching adventure at the Tavira Plaza Mall. I headed to the food hall again, my second time this week to do a couple of sketches.

Urban Sketch of Man on his Computer

It was pre-lunch so there were many people eating, but this guy was on his computer, and looked like he was plotted up for the duration, so I took a seat behind him and sketched the shops and restaurants in the background.

I played around with warm and cool blues on his clothing, but also added warm (almost lilac) blues and cool blues on the background, shelf and under the counter. I wanted there to be a colour harmony between the focal point (the man), and his surroundings.

I also wanted to see the effect of using warm and cool blues on the large areas to see if it really did help to push the cool painted areas back, and bring the warm painted areas forward. And it does work.

Urban Sketch of Man eating a big bag of crisps

I did an urban sketch of this old man devouring a big bag of crisps. He was only lone soul that looked like he was going to be there for the duration of my sketch. The sketch the left (a little closer up), was done live at the mall.

I began sketching the man as the focal point, and didn’t really leave room for the bag of crisps. I wasn’t happy with this urban sketch because the focal point was wrong.

What first attracted me to sketch this scene was the huge bag of crisps this old man had on his lap. It was a family sized bag, and it looked like he was going to eat the lot. So when I got home I decided to experiment with sketching the scene again, but this time making the focal point the crisps.

Now admittedly, the angle of the arm reaching into the bags looks completely unrealistic, but I love the exaggeration anyway. I also liked the more severe look on his face. “Don’t interrupt me until I’m finished!”

Once I’d sketched this more whimsical version, it inspired me to add a quirky little poem about the scene.

When the bag of crisps is as big as you,
Stare glassy eyed and sit and chew.
Then rummage deep within that packet, 
and make a bloody awful racket!

In Oliver Hoeller’s book “Pack Your Sketches Full of Life!”, he talks about a plan of attack for drawing, which is the Why, What, and How of approaching your sketch. I’d identified these initially, but then when I started sketching, I didn’t follow through and keep to the plan of attack.

Here’s what my plan of attack should have looked if I’d live sketched the quirky version:

WHY are you sketching what you’re about to sketch?

• This family sized bag of crisps being consumed by an old man.
• In my mind, it would usually associated kids gorging on snacks and junk food, but here’s this old man, tucking into a family sized bag, all by himself.

WHAT is absolutely required to be in the sketch to make it work?

• The absolute requirement is to show the huge bag of crisps.
• I liked the repetitive action of the arm delving into the bag, again and again.
• I needed to capture that it was an old man.

HOW are you going to sketch your scene, using line, value, colour, and forced contrast?

• LINE WEIGHT: In my sketch I didn’t play around with line weight, because I was using a 0.05 fineliner that doesn’t have any variety in weight. If I’m going to add more line variation, I need to use my Sailor Fude or Noodlers Flex Nib pen.
• VALUE: I placed the light source coming from the back, but it would have been better to place it coming from the front, so that the forced contrast was more effective.
• COLOUR: I used bright blue for the coat, and a complimentary colour for the bag of crisps.
• FORCED CONTRAST: In my sketch I left white highlights on the underside of his sleeve, but if I’d placed them on top of his sleeve, and left the bag of crisps dark, that would have created a greater area of contrast around the bag of crips to accentuate it as the focal point.

I’m usually really good about identifying the why, because without a why, I’m not motivated to sketch. There has to be something that piques my interest about a scene. But I think I need to start focusing on the What, and the How. I usually wing these, and make it up as I go. But if I planned better, it would make my sketches more impactful and effective.

Urban Sketch of Man in at Reception

I loved this guy’s “flood pants”. It looked like he’d been sitting down for a while, and his jeans looked a little short. The line weight variance was, again, non-existent, so I used colour to accentuate the focal point of the people in their tan and the blue clothing).

I used the red of the fire extinguisher to be the entry point for the sketch, and then the man’s red socks to get your eye to travel across the sketch. Then up his body and around the background elements, like the heads of the receptionists.

Because there wasn’t a lot of dynamic excitement in this sketch, I used the scene as an attempt to make sure that in a busy scene, I could colour the surrounding area and make sure it didn’t detract from the two people in the sketch.

Urban Sketch of Couple in the Waiting Room

I’d kind of had enough of sketching at this point. I hadn’t had a coffee and I was starting to get a caffeine withdrawal headache. But I wanted to capture the poses of this couple because they were close by. I’d done some blind contour sketches at the Drawing is Free bonus event on Tuesday, so figured I’d do the same art style with this couple. That way I wouldn’t be too bothered with accuracy. I really liked the way the lady had her arms folded and the way the blue strips of her jumper went in different directions.

I was in the waiting room a long time, but this couple were in here even longer. But they seemed to be quite happy just waiting patiently. What this sketch lacks in accuracy, it makes up for in character. It’s a moment captured in time, and I was glad I made the effort. One of the things Oliver talks about in his Plan of Attack, is:

Blind Contour Added to my Urban Sketching Toolbox

I’m adding blind contour and continuous line drawings into my urban sketching toolbox, for all those times when I can’t be bothered with accuracy, but still want to capture an urban sketch scene.

This style of sketching really helps to just free your mind and get on with a sketch without any expectations that it’s going to be any good. And more often than not there’s at least one or two elements of a blind contour sketch you’ll end up loving, and if you’re lucky, you’ll love the whole thing.