A fresh series of Beach Bums
Day Eighty-Nine of Sketching People
Day 89 of my #Kick365 sketching challenge to draw people in ink and watercolour. Time to stock up on more Beach Bums. Haven’t felt inspired to sketch these recently, probably because it’s been winter and dreary. But now that the sun it out – a perfect time to sketch some bums!
More Beach Bums
These remind me of my Mum. No her derriere wasn’t the model for these! But when I painted my first Beach Bum it was during Covid and I’d moved in with my Mum in Norfolk to spend some quality time with her. The first Beach Bums off the production line made her carers smile, so I framed them and hung them by the downstairs toilet, so that my Mum and her carers could see them to bring a daily does of merriment.
I really should remember to take photos before I frame my Beach Bums, but I get too enthusiastic about getting them into frames, and it’s usually not until I’ve added the picture framing tape onto the back of the frame, that I remember I forgot to photograph the sketch.
Beach Bums: Fountain Pen Sketch
The first Beach Bums was sketched using my TWISBI Vac700 fountain pen with an EF nib, and Sketch Ink (Lotte). The jury is still out about whether I like the look of using this darker ink line. On the positive side it adds a distinct feeling of depth between the figure and the background. But I wondered whether it was a little bit too heavy and distracting for such a small picture, so I switched pens.
Beach Bums: Fine Liner Pen Sketch
The other three Beach Bums were sketched using my Staedtler Pigment Line 0.05 nib, and this reduces the impact of the ink lines.
In the past I’ve just added a simple blue background to my Beach Bum sketches, but in each of these I’ve added more expressive layers of blue, and created different scenes by playing around with the view (just the sea; the sea and the horizon; and the beach, the sea, and the horizon). I also added salt to the damp watercolour, to create sparkles and movement in the water. This technique is a bit hit and miss, as you have to relinquish control of the end result. Even though each one ended up differently, I like all of them.
Testing my new Hahnemühle 100% cotton sketchbook
Another change I made with this round of Beach Bums was to use 100% cotton paper. I bought a new A5 sketchbook of Hahnemühle 100% cotton cold pressed paper a while ago – but hadn’t used it. My plan was to dismantle the book (take all of the pages out) and then make my own sketchbook with a mix of Hahnemühle 100% Cotton 250gsm and Hahnemühle 200gsm, so that I could have both types of paper to sketch and paint on when I’m out urban sketching. The pile of cotton pages was there waiting to be added to the book, and I decided to use a few to see if I liked the paper. I really didn’t notice much of a difference to sketch or paint on it, but I think I need to do a side-by-side comparison when I’m out urban sketching. My main requirements are that the ink dries quickly, and the watercolour doesn’t take too long to dry either. In the studio these things don’t matter too much, but when I’m sketching quickly during my urban sketching outings, those two considerations are really important.
