Day 158 of sketching people during a trip to Malia Beach on the Greek Island of Crete. A mix of solitary figures on a page, and one compilation that takes a little bit of deciphering because one of my sketch subjects got up and walked away.

Two Trains, Two Planes, and a Taxi ride to reach our Greek destination of Crete. I managed a couple of sketches of people I encountered along the journey. I don’t think night flights are ideal for getting a lot of sketching done.

Flying home from the Urban Sketcher’s Symposium in Toulouse was one last opportunity to add to my event sketchbook with more sketches of people at the airport and on the plane. It was also a great exploration into mixing monochromatic elements with colour.

At the Urban Sketcher’s Symposium in Toulouse this year I started a severe fascination about drawing wonky lines, and I wondered why a confident loose, quick, and wonky line looks so much better than a thoughtfully slowly rendered straight line. The Laws of Gestalt Psychology help to explain this phenomenon and also help to quiet your inner critic.

Continuing on with day 153-155 of my #Kick365 sketching challenge to draw people in ink and watercolour. Three day’s of sketches in different locations, and different approaches for capturing the story in the sketch by capturing overheard conversations and using some poetic reportage.

Even though I had a week at the USk symposium in Toulouse, I only got around to sketching three buildings. The rest of the time I sketched people, and attended workshops.

The Urban Sketcher’s Symposium in Toulouse was a four day event and I sketched people every day during the workshops, lectures, and demonstrations, as well as while I was exploring the streets of Toulouse.

Day 147 of sketching people during a speed sketching Zoom event hosted by Chloe at Drawing is Free. Using a limited set of art materials, so that I focused on the line and shade rather than colour.

I swatched all the colours in my Daniel Smith Palette with their Naples Yellow, to see what useful shades I could create for my next summer Adventure. The most useful Naples Yellow colour mixes I created were subdued greens, and toned down pinks and reds.

My second workshop at the Toulouse Urban Sketcher’s Symposium with Veronica Lawlor which was all about reportage and capturing stories with your sketches. We did warm up exercises to familiarise ourselves with the area using vignettes and thumbnails, and let our stories evolve organically from the elements that interested and intrigued us.

Day 146 of sketching people during my travel day to the Urban Sketcher’s Symposium in Toulouse. Including some sketches with some poetic reportage, and some using a limited colour palette.

Day 145 of sketching people during a speed sketching Zoom event hosted by Chloe at Drawing is Free. Using a limited palette to explore the impact of colour on feeling and mood of a portrait.

Urban sketch of a building in Conceição de Tavira Urban Sketching a Street Scene On the way back home from…

Day 143 and 144 of sketching people in ink and watercolour. I seem to have a penchant for sketching people on their phones. In one sketch I added some poetic reportage, and in the other sketch I used a limited colour palette and sketched my version on the background scene.

Day 142 of sketching people in ink and watercolour. Experimenting with using a bright and a desaturated green from Manganese Blue Hue, to create some colour harmony in my cafe sketches.

Day 141 of sketching people in ink and watercolour, and a short poem to add some social commentary to the scene of a father and son, sharing a meal together, but not sharing a moment of interaction with each other.

Day 140 of urban sketching people, this time a man with flushed cheeks trying to hydrate with beer. I added a little bit of poetic reportage to add some additional “colour” to the sketch.

Day 139 of sketching people during a speed sketching Zoom event hosted by Chloe at Drawing is Free. Using an unrealistic limited palette to explore the impact of colour on feeling and mood of a portrait.

Day 138 of sketching people in ink and watercolour, painted using a colour triad I’ve been exploring. As i watched MOH on the driving range, I took a photo, and then sketched the figure from the photo. But sketched the landscape from reality.

Day 137 of sketching people. Urban sketch of men at the IMT office in Faro, with some poetic reportage as social commentary to illustrate the scene, and make the story about the make-shift “Silence” sign.

Day 136 of sketching people. Urban sketch of a woman on the phone, using a bright colour triad and an analogous colour combination. Also added some poetic reportage, and sketched oversized hands to help to create a strong focal point in this composition.

Day 135 of sketching people during a speed sketching Zoom event hosted by Chloe at Drawing is Free. Using small format watercolour paper to limit the size of my portraits.

Sunday morning sketch in Cabanas capturing a street scene with bougainvillea in ink and watercolour, using a colour triad to ensure colour harmony, which is especially useful when you’re sketching lots of foliage.

Day 134 of sketching people. Speed sketching with Pencils4tea onto collaged paper with Portuguese text, and an urban sketch at a cafe using analogous colour palette from a bright colour triad, and a complimentary colour for balance.