Added a block of colour to one of my urban sketches
Exploring Backgrounds for People Sketches
My current fascination is exploring different backgrounds when sketching people. I love sketching people. I’m slightly obsessed with it. But I’m always looking for ways to make my sketches more interesting. Whether that’s messing around with page compositions and sketch layouts, or looking at adding different types of loose watercolour or organic backgrounds to a simple sketch.
Today I came across some interesting Instagram posts by Roger Klaassen, where he’s used blocks of colour behind his figures, and below are three of his Instagram posts showing the different way he’s used the same block of colour background technique, but in different ways.
And then I experimented with a couple of my previous urban sketches of people, that I thought could benefit from the addition of some blocks of colour.
Mix of With and Without Blocks of Colour
In this page of concert sketches, he’s added a block of colour behinds some of the sketches, and left the other sketches with just the white of the page. The upside down L shape of the figures with the blocks of colour creates a very visually pleasing way of framing the rest of the sketches.
Single Sketch Against a Block of Colour
For this single sketch on a page, rather than colouring the entire background with a block of colour, the sketch of the person extends past the the edge of the block of colour on the left and right, which I think helps to make sure this big block of colour doesn’t overwhelm the image. I think this is helped by the horizontal line down the middle where the sketch and background meet, which helps to create an interesting balance between the two. What has elevated that feeling of balance is that the horizontal line at the top of the block of colour, is balanced out really nicely against the ragged edge on the bottom of the sketch.
Different Colour Blocks of Colour on a Page
First off, these are really quirky looking people sketches – and they make me smile in their simplicity. In this trio, Roger has used a yellow block of colour against the orange figure, and an orange block of colour behind the yellow figure. And the third figure doesn’t have a block of colour behind it, and is in a different colour than the other elements on the page. This is a great way to create a focal point, because your eye is automatically attracted to the element that doesn’t seem to fit the pattern. Without these two blocks of colour, the page would just be three random, unconnected people on a page (which is what many of my pages look like).
I looked back through Roger’s Instagram feed, and it seems like adding blocks of colour is something he’s just started experimenting with. Seems like I’m not the only one on a quest for interesting backgrounds when sketching people.
About Roger Klaassen
Roger was one of the three Correspondents at the Poznan Urban Sketchers Symposium last year, and if you have a moment, take a look at his people sketches on Instagram and visual diary from that event.
I can’t wait to go to the Symposium in Toulouse later this year, and maybe one year I’ll be brave enough to apply to be a correspondent and spend the symposium sketching people.
Adding Blocks of Colour to my Urban Sketches
I went through my most recent sketchbook and added some blocks of colour to a couple of the pages.
On this first example, the woman’s posture looks odd because I decided not to draw the chair. By adding this block of colour it’s helped to make the posture look a little less unnatural. So this block has definitely improved this sketch page.
I actually decided that the colour block I used was too close in tonal value to the clothing, so I changed it to a slightly darker tonal value, and it’s improved the look of this sketch even more.
On this second example, the couple in white in the upper left looked like the odd ones out, and it’s their lack of overall colour has made them the focal point. I added a green block of colour behind them, which creates a relationship between the other two couples who have green items of clothing.
The block of green has solidified this couple’s role as the focal point, and brought a nice aspect of balance to the page. This page layout has been improved by introducing this block of colour.
I think I’m going to have to keep going through my sketchbooks and see which sketch pages would look better with a block of colour somewhere on it … something tells me it’ll be an easy way to improve many of my pages.
Thanks for the inspiration Roger!
