Urban sketch in the cafe

Day 62 of my #Kick365 sketching challenge to draw people in ink and watercolour. A little urban sketching adventure to Tavira.

Uber Driver Photo Booth Sketch

I took an Uber into Tavira, and we got hung up as we left Cabanas because of the big cycle race that’s going on this week. So I had plenty of time to sketch my Uber driver. We were parked for a while so there wasn’t a lot of different poses to sketch, but when we were chatting, I noticed his reflection in the rear view mirror, so added that as my third sketch in the photo booth series.

I messed up the second portrait, his beard has ended up as his long hair because I drew the beard first and then added the face in the wrong place. But I just went with it and carried on finishing the sketch.

This is the first Sikh Uber driver I’ve travelled with, and it’s a lot more interesting to sketch a turban than the series of bald heads I’ve had to sketch recently! And I noticed, another Dacia car. These seem to be popular Uber cars. The make of a car is something I wouldn’t usually notice, but when you sketch scenes, you start noticing little details like this.

Urban Sketch in the Park

When I arrived in Tavira today I was walking through the Jardim do Coreto, and saw this guy on a park bench. I really liked how his legs were wrapped around each other and I wanted to capture the pose. But, as usual, I didn’t plan the sketch properly. So I started with his head and hood, and then ran out of space and ended up cutting his feet off. Not just one – but half of both!

As well as his feet, what attracted me to this composition was the curve of the red bench. It reminded me of a spine, especially the way he was leaning into it. He sat for a while, so I was able to capture the gesture, and I like the comparison between the drab clothes he was wearing and the vibrant coloured bench.

Urban Sketch at the Café

After the park I head to the cafe, and started this sketch, but got interrupted, so when I got to my next cafe, I finished it off. I captured the pose of her hand but it looked odd, so I sketched a cigarette in it. (But it’s an indoor cafe, so she wasn’t smoking). Although the woman is the focal point, I kept her as a tonal sketch, and added watercolour to the foreground and background.

Ordinarily I’d colour the subject that was the focal point, and leave the secondary objects in tonal shading, but I like this switch around in style. It’s not so obvious, but it still works. I think because the size of the subject draws your attention, and the fact that she’s smoking.