If I’m going to finesse drawing people that I need to practice and practice. My goal is to sit in a public space and watch the world go by, and then quickly sketch people as they wander by. It’s a lot harder than it looks!
Doing urban sketches that feature people feels like I’m trying to run before I can walk, so I’ve been using my regular visit to the Culver City Stairs hiking route to take photos of people, and then coming back home to sketch (pencil and then fine-liner) and finish them off with a watercolour wash.
It’s not technically urban sketching, but it feels like a viable stepping stone to give me the confidence launch head-long into urban sketching for real. I know some urban sketchers only paint buildings, but people are what breathe life into a scene, so they’re an important element in what I’m trying to capture.
I’m going to continue to draw these local people from photographs, and then start venturing out with my sketchbook and pen to draw from life.
I know these pictures above are just the start of a series, and I’m going to continue to draw images with people as the main focal point. When I posted these images on my Instagram account I accompanied it with a short poem.
There’s a punk outside TJs obeying the lights.
And Culver Stair hikers taking all the flights.
A farmer’s market shopper waiting patiently in line,
and a masked Culver activist using up his time.
And not to be forgotten, last and by no means least.
A bushwhacking lady and her chain saw beast.
I’ll post my progress on this faux-urban-sketch series, and once I have the confidence to do them live, I’ll post those too.
