A quick people sketch at the cafe, and swatching a muted shade of green, that morphed into a beautiful skin tone shade using natural sienna, cobalt turquoise light, and opera pink. I also ruminate on how I sketch people and how they see themselves, and how those are two very different things when I sketch my version of reality.

Day 95 of sketching people. Today I sketched groups at the monthly Sol de Inverno event in Tavira. I used a different easel today, made out of an A5 watercolour book cover, and it worked really well.

Day 94 of sketching people at a live sketching event at a local art gallery. I faced the dilemma of wanting to add colour to my sketches but having to wait for the page to dry before I could begin another sketch.

Day 93 of urban sketching people at Tavira Plaza. Ink and Tonal Shading sketches on location, and discovered that if I leave the Tombow water soluable ink to “cure”, you can add watercolour on top of it and it doesn’t bleed or spread.

Easter Sunday wandering around Tavira looking for inspiration to sketch people and buildings. But I only managed a few sketches, one of them was the honey man at the craft fair by the river.

Day 91 of urban sketching people at the cafe. Sketched onto a watercolour paper background of coffee stains. I also prepped some page for my next cafe sketching trip, experimenting with different ways to apply the coffee and vary the patterns created.

Sketch of a building and street scene in Santa Luzia next to Tavira. Used loose Ink lines and watercolour application to create a dynamic sketch. And evaluated what aspects of the sketch worked, and what improvements I could make to future building sketches.

Urban Sketching day out in Tavira sketching Tavira Public Gardens. Take a deep dive into how I planned the composition using the L-shaped layout, and how to create dynamic skies. I also sketched one of the town’s many churches and tested how to use water-soluble ink to create shadow area.

Day 86 of sketching people. The calm of sketching people at the cafe when you know they’re not going to move much vs. the urgency of sketching people on a bench when you fear they may get up to walk at any minute means you create different line styles. Tight vs. loose.

Urban Sketch of a local washing line I walked back from Conceição to Cabanas on my way back from an…

Day 82, 83, and 84 of sketching people at the cafe, garage, and on the boardwalk. Not a huge output, but took the opportunity of sketching in the cracks of life. Making the most of time I spent waiting around. Better than doom-scrolling.

Day 81 of sketching people in ink and watercolour. A detailed sketch of my MIL relaxing on the couch.

Day 79 and 80 of sketching people. Urban Sketching people during my train journeys around the UK. I sketched at Kings Cross, Doncaster, and Hull, on the train, and at the cafe. Experimented with some limited palette compositions.

Day 76, 77, and 78 of sketching people. Urban Sketching people and statues I encountered in London, and sketching the audience at the Royal Albert Hall during a concert. Merging colour and monochromatic sketches to increase the focal point, add depth, and simplify the composition.

Day 75 of sketching people. Urban Sketching people in the departures long of Faro Airport, and on the plane from the front row – so lots of toilet queue sketches. Experimenting with different compositions using an outlined oblong shape in the background to tie people and objects together on an A6 page layout.

Day 72 of sketching people. Urban Sketching people at the cafe at the end of the street. Playing around with compositions to leave enough negative space so my sketches can breathe. Also added text, social commentary, and overheard conversations to turn these urban sketches into reportage.

Day 71 of sketching people. A morning urban sketching people at cafes and a mobile screening unit in Tavira. Experimenting with different backgrounds and page layout compositions.

Day 69 of sketching people. Traveled to Ayamonte Spain for a day of urban sketching. I sketched people at the cafe, a few buildings and an iconic statue in the square in old town. My watercolour pencils saved the day, and I used this day trip to experiment with page layout ideas and using spot colour for areas of focal point.

Day 68 of sketching people. Urban Sketching at a local cafe at the end of the street. Combining people sitting in different parts of the cafe together at a table, and experimenting with compositions for a reportage post.

Day 66 of sketching people. Urban Sketching afternoon at the Tavira Plaza to capture people in ink and watercolour. Experimented with a V-shaped Composition, tonal shading with a spot colour background, and creating depth with desaturated colours.

Day 61 of sketching people. Urban Sketching at a cafe, I used a comparison between objects to build a composition and plan the story I want my sketches to tell. Then Urban Sketching at a Pétanque game, where I had to rely on capturing a scene that developed organically into a pleasing composition. On this sketch I also used a collage element to fill some negative space.

Day 58 of sketching people in ink and watercolour. A visit to the Tavira Municipal Museum with the Urban Sketchers Algarve chapter of the Urban Sketchers Org. A warm-up sketch of Tavira rooftops and washing line, and while other sketchers were sketching the Tile Exhibition, I focused on sketching my fellow sketchers.

Day 47 of sketching people, a busy day at the Tavira second hand market, municipal market, and at a nearby café. Also sketched my uber driver going there and coming back. Different people sketching styles, and some interesting perspectives and colour choices.

Day 42 of Sketching people in ink and watercolour. Three urban sketches capturing daily observation commentary at Faro Airport in Portugal. Experimenting with reportage by adding text to two of the sketches, and a short poem about my urban sketching experience at the airport.