I took the train to Vila Real Santo Antonio (VRSA) yesterday to attend their annual Fair. It was the first time I attended, but really want to get more comfortable sketching in crowds.
I wasn’t interested in shopping, I wanted to go to sketch people, and there were so many people in attendance.
Sketching on the Train
It’s only a 20 minute train ride to Vila Real, but there were a couple of great characters that I captured in ink.
I’m becoming quite enamoured with using diluted ink to add shading, whereas before I was using my Tombow brush pens.
Sketching at the Market
The fair was spread out in three different locations, and I found a a couple of shaded areas to perch on my chair and sketch the scene. The guy running the polvo (octopus) stand caught my attention.
I was initially just going to sketch him and a couple of customers, but I ended up creating a double-page spread of some of the surrounding stalls and the crowds of people milling through the scene.
I adjusted the scene to bring together the interesting elements, and leave out the bits that weren’t that inspiring. That’s the great thing about urban sketching, you only have to sketch your version of reality.
I gave my brush pen filled with diluted grey waterproof ink a workout. It’s great for doing tonal studies and the biggest benefit is that the ink isn’t reactivated if you paint over the top of it with watercolour.
Sketching by the Statue
There’s a promenade by the marina with a selection of benches, so I chose a location near a cubist statue, and waited for my prey to land. It didn’t take long until two couples sat to share the bench, and they stayed long enough for me to sketch. Then this trio of chatty ladies sat at the bench opposite, and I was able to sketch them too.
Although the primary reason for today’s sketching adventure was to capture people, it was a good opportunity to experiment creating depth by adding background elements, but rendering them more loosely and lightly so they don’t detract from the intended focal point.
Etchr Sketch Satchel
This was my first outing for my Etchr sketch satchel, but because I was seated I didn’t need to use it as an easel, and just used it to carry my art supplies.
I’m doing an experiment to see which tools I actually use, and which get put in the bag and ignored. I have a tendency to pack too many pens etc. So when I’m urban sketching, I’m going to track what I actually use. That way I know what tools are the bare minimum I need to carry. This is in prep for attending the Urban Sketching Symposium in Toulouse next year.
What I Packed:
Three travel brushes, two Hongdian 2 fountain pens (grey ink, black ink), Twisbi and Pilot Parallel fountain pens with black ink, Grey fineliner, mechanical pencil, water brush with water, two water brushes with different grey diluted inks in them.
What I Used:
Mechanical pencil. Water brush filled with diluted grey waterproof ink. Water brush filled with water to use with my watercolour palette. My Twisbi fountain pen, and my Pilot Parallel pen, both filled with black waterproof ink.
It actually surprised me that I’m happy using a water brush with my watercolours, rather than filling up a water pot and using a regular brush. It’s certainly a lot easier than balancing water containers, and replacing the water when it gets dirty. A water brush and a piece of kitchen roll seems to be the way to go, and it’s dramatically more convenient.
I had a lot of people looking over my shoulder as I sketched. I certainly wouldn’t have been comfortable with that a year ago, but now it doesn’t bother me at all.
I’m at the tail end of a Kick in the Creatives 365 day art challenge (I’m on day 364 of 365). I think the intent of the challenge is to do 365 consecutive days, but I started my 365 days of urban sketching people back in December 2022. So it’s taken me just shy of 3 years to reach the end. I’m kind of miffed that this urban sketching day out wasn’t day 365, because I sketched so many people it felt like a crescendo. Tomorrow for the final day is going to be a bit of an anticlimax.
