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

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.

Not much time today, but enough time for a quick coffee at a local cafe and a quick sketch, about being in a foreign country but still able to order scones and clotted cream. This was an experiment in reportage and page composition.

A reportage sketch with a restaurant bill as some collage fodder, and a Valentine’s Day Poem to develop a story around a scene I only saw for a couple of minutes. Sometimes you need to invent your own story, when you have no idea what’s going on.

Day 57 of sketching people. A visit to a local bar in Cabanas to sketch in the sunshine to sketch groups of people, to practice compositions with a group of people. And also try out a new sketchbook format in the shape of a photo booth strip of images.

An in-depth post about how to evaluate whether your people sketch is successful. Discussing the merits of technical accuracy vs. the value of finding and conveying the story in your sketch. Peppered with examples, this article talks about how to get your sketch to show a story, rather than telling a story. And using text to turn your sketch into reportage.

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 45 of sketching people. Sketches of Suhita Shirodkar, an urban sketchers who is presenting a lecture and demo at the next Urban Sketcher’s Symposium in Toulouse.

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.

Day 41 of sketching people. Sketches of Delphine Zigoni, Len Grant, and Rita Sabler, three urban sketchers who are presenting a lecture at the next Urban Sketcher’s Symposium in Toulouse.

This is my first Reportage Urban Sketcher Profile, and features Norwegian illustrator Per Ragnar Møkleby. I cover Per’s method for using text to convey mood, embracing wonky lines, not being a slave to reality, daring to urban sketch, sketching complex scenes with simplified figures, and how self-portraits can save the day.

Day 40a of sketching people. A collection of sketches of instructors who are hosting workshops at the next Urban Sketcher’s Symposium in Toulouse. Sketched from their promo videos

Day 39 of Sketching people in ink and watercolour. Social Commentary urban sketch with a short poem about doom scrolling, and today’s Earthsworld portrait challenge from Facebook.

Day 34 of sketching people. Urban Sketching at the Tavira Plaza, in the food hall and at the medical centre. Leveraged Oliver Hoeller’s approach to assess the plan of attack for the why, what, and how of approaching your sketch. Dabbled in a bit of reportage, and resorted to some blind contour people sketches when I didn’t feel like achieving accuracy.

Day Twenty of a 365-day people sketch challenge. Experimenting with a bright colour triad for the Earthsworld’s portrait challenge. A portrait of Oliver Hoeller to kick off my Colour Confidence Tutorials. And a Reportage sketch of a fond farewell at Faro Airport.

On Day Six of my people sketching challenge, I sketched people in a café, and considered how to find the story I want to tell. I also sketched people at the till in a supermarket.

Urban Sketching during our trip to Turkey. In Istanbul, and at the beaches and cafes of Bodrum. Also sketched during a windy ferry ride to Datca. All Ink Sketches, no Watercolour.

Travel Urban Sketching at Lisbon Airport and a scene from my hotel window in Istanbul. Pen and Ink sketches.

More people sketches for my one week 100 challenge 2021. I sketched figures on public transport, at cafes and at the local farmer’s market. I also had a go at a bit of reportage.