Sketch of a Couple I saw at the Indian Restaurant

Day 59 of my #Kick365 sketching challenge to draw people in ink and watercolour. The scene was briefly captured yesterday, but I inked it, collaged it, and wrote the poem today.

Reportage Sketch with a Poem

When I was picking up our Indian takeaway last night I had a few minutes to wait so captured this scene quickly with pencil and then made it into a bit of reportage with a poem.

A special Dinner just for two,
Is what we planned tonight.
We ventured out for curry
On a windy chilly night.

Our food is coming shortly.
Our Drinks are sitting here.
I planned a nice romantic night,
Full of married love and cheer.

But then you grabbed your phone,
To check some football scores.
So I fired up the Tinder App,
Swiped right and 2 and 4.

I have no idea what this couple’s story is. But they were both on their phone on the most romantic night of the year, so I decided to interpret what I saw and create my own version of their story.

Composition/Layout

This sketch page could have benefited from some additional negative space in the lower left hand corner, to balance out the white space in the upper right hand corner. My goal it to keep reviewing my sketches, until this need for negative space becomes second nature.

Collage with my Reportage

I decided to add a bit of collage to this sketch page, and used my takeaway receipt to sketch the guy on. I like the use of text, and it plays well into the concept of reading words on a phone. I haven’t used bills or receipts before in sketches, but in a travel journal or a piece of reportage they can add an extra layer of interest and bolster the story.

Somebody on my Facebook Group asked how I stopped the receipt from fading. Here’s how – after I’d finished sketching and painting, I applied a couple of strips of wide clear tape over the receipt. As well as stopping the receipt fading, the glossy area actually adds an interesting dimension to the sketch.

Restaurant Bills and Receipts as Collage Fodder

I saw a post on Instagram recently, where an artist collected restaurant bills during her travels. Then she sketched what she ordered on the bill and stuck it in her travel sketchbook to complement the other sketches on the page. I think this is a great idea, that I’m going to covet. I think this is where I got the inspiration to include last night’s receipt into the sketch page.

I decided to delve a bit more into the idea of adding collage to urban sketches, and stumbled on this YouTube video from Liz Chaderton which focuses on laying down a collection of neutral coloured papers onto your sketch page, and then sketching and painting on top of it.

Things like restaurant receipts and tickets work well for this type of collage, because they make their presence known, but they don’t dominate a page by becoming an overwhelming feature within the sketch.

I think I’m going to start collecting some neutral coloured collage fodder to experiment with. Liz demonstrates the collage technique as a base for sketching buildings, but I’m sure the technique can be successfully adapted to fit within a people sketch. I might even try colouring some of my natural papers with a bit of distress ink to vamp them up a little.