Urban Sketch at a local bar
Urban Sketcher Suhita Shirodkar
Like most artists, I’m prone to a bit of doom scrolling art and artists on Instagram. Today, urban sketcher @Suhitasketch, posted a lively collection of sketches, some of which she didn’t feel were successful. And more often than not, she refrains from posting them on Instagram. In her post she said that
“lots of my stuff bombs, mostly because it doesn’t catch the spirit of what I wanted to catch”.
(Link to Suhita’s Instagram post I’m referring to, is at the bottom of this post).
That got me thinking.
Why do I feel that some of my sketches aren’t successful? Why do I hold back posting some of them on Instagram?
I used to be happy with just achieving technical accuracy in my people sketches, but after five years of sketching people every day, is it enough?
Technical Accuracy vs. The Story
For me, there are two aspects to a sketch, the technical accuracy and the level of interest in a sketch told through the story. So let’s look at both of these elements individually. Do they carry the same weight? Are they equally as important as each other? Or can you mess up the technical accuracy, and still have a successful sketch?
Two Versions of the Same Scene
Of these two sketches, which do you think is more dynamic and has more life to it? The slower more technically correct sketch on the left, or the quick less technically correct sketch on the right?
Technical Accuracy
When I first started sketching and painting, it was the level of accuracy that was the barrier to posting. Maybe the perspectives were off, or the colours I used weren’t very complimentary, or I’d made a mistake and tried to correct it, and now rather than looking better, the mistake had become the focal point.
This is all part of the learning curve every artist goes through. It’s part of the creative journey. Art is a marathon not a sprint. It’s a journey of discovery to find your style and master your art materials. If you make it about the destination, and don’t give enough emphasis to the journey, you’re going to be met by disappointment. And this may even drive you to give up on your artistic endeavours.
My reticence to post was also about a lack of confidence in my sketching output. I was still experimenting to find a style I was comfortable to settle into and rely on. I was also comparing my sketches against other more seasoned urban sketchers, and felt my efforts fell short from a technical perspective. Whether it was the lines, the tonal values, or the colour selection. I couldn’t use them as effectively as the urban sketchers I admired.
I spent years trying to find the technical aspects of my style. I watched videos. I tried to emulate other people’s sketching styles. I spent hours practicing technical aspects of ink and watercolour. But at some point, I started to understand the role of line variation, and the importance of tonal values, and the impact of colour.
It’s at that point (last year in fact) that I realised you can still have a successful sketch, if you fail at technical accuracy, as long as your sketch has a level of interest that tells a story.
Example of an Urban Sketch where technical accuracy don’t detract from the Story
In this Vila Nova de Milfontes beach scene I sketched the man with continuous line, and the way I sketched his feet don’t have a good level of accuracy. But that doesn’t detract from the story I was trying to show. Even though the father and child aren’t playing together, I think this scene shows the close connection between the two.
What’s Your Story?
I don’t believe you can have a successful sketch if you fail to establish a level of interest through the story you’re trying to tell.
Suhita Shirodkar referred to what was missing from her failed sketches, as the “spirit” of the sketch.
And Oliver Hoeller refers to it as “the why” (why are you sketching what you’re sketching?)
You could also refer to it as “the story” or the “focal point”, but basically it’s about establishing and conveying a level of interest in a specific area of your sketch.
How The Story Inspires me to Sketch
When I look at a scene, I need there to be something that intrigues me about it, so that I’m inspired to sketch it. I want to convey a story, and for my scenes to have an obvious focal point.
The level of interest doesn’t have to be epic. It can be a specific element within the scene. For example, a dramatic hairstyle, a specific piece of clothing, a dynamic posture, or the action the person is doing.
Example of an Urban Sketch and the scenario that inspired me to sketch
I sketched this scene at the Quasi Bar in our town. What intrigued me was that people were in small groups, and all clustered around phones.
If I’m able to identify something within a scene that piques my attention, and inject that as an area of interest in my sketch, then I’d consider my sketch a success. Even if some of the technical aspects of the sketch fall short.
Urban Sketch without and with a story
Here’s a sketch I did last week. My first sketch (on the left) failed to convey the story. The element that attracted me to this sketch was an old man eating a huge bag of crisps. I started sketching the man, and didn’t leave enough room for the crips. So I didn’t manage to adequately show the story.
I had another go at the same sketch when I got back home. I wanted to see how I could have sketched the scene, so it showed the story I wanted to tell. This turned out much better, and it’s a good example of how the technical side of a sketch was wrong (his right arm digging into the bag is at an unrealistic angle), but rather than seeing this as a technical failure in the sketch, the exaggerated poses helps to support the story I wanted to show.
Writers should Show Don’t Tell
Fiction writers have it drummed into them, that they should use the approach of: show don’t tell. To put this into simple terms – telling a story dictates sensory details and emotions, whereas showing a story evokes those sensory reactions and emotions.
For example, if you’re reading a paragraph in a book about two people at a train station, one about to leave on a long trip. Here’s examples of how the author could tell and show:
- TELLING: “Sandra waved her daughter goodbye, she was feeling very sad.” You’re being told the emotion, but it’s difficult to make an emotional connection to the scene.
- SHOWING: “As Sandra waved her daughter goodbye, she gasped a sob as her shoulders shook uncontrollably, then the tears streamed down her cheeks.” From that scene you’re able to come to your own conclusion about the mother’s emotions and reactions in this scene. And you may even be able to imagine yourself in the scene, based on a similar situation, making it easier to have an emotional connection to the scene.
How I Show Don’t Tell in my sketch: Man and Crisps
In the second version of the old man eating a bag of crisps sketch, I sketched him eating the snack, and the way his was clutching it with one hand and digging in with the other – showed the story.
- an oversized bag of crisps – why is this old man polishing off this family size bag of crisps?
- staring glassy eyed – is he in the zone, on a mission, lost in his snacking?
- rummage deep within the pack – has he nearly eaten the whole pack, so has to rummage to the bottom of the back to get his next crisp?
- making a racket – has be been snacking for a while, and doesn’t care about the noise he’s making? Or is he deaf and can’t hear the noise he’s making?
Now, what that story means to me, may be a very different interpretation than other people have. But there’s no escaping that there’s a story there.
Because I want to use text to support the story I’m trying to show, I turned this sketch into a bit of reportage by adding a short poem.
More Show Don’t Tell examples
Here are some more examples where I use text to support the story I’m trying to show, by turning this sketch into a bit of reportage by adding an observation.
How I Show Don’t Tell in my sketch: Man waiting for his Food
In this urban sketch below, I loved the posture of the guy on the right.
- There’s a big gap between order 651 and the next orders of 663, 664, and 665
- The man is leaning on the counter with his hand on his hip. Has he been waiting for a long time? Is he being patient?
How I Show Don’t Tell in my sketch: Couple in the Bar
In this urban sketch below, I like the juxtaposition of it being the wife engrossed in sports, while the husband sat there neglected.
- The wife was turned away completely and engrossed in the cricket playing on the bar’s TV screen
- Her husband sat there forlornly with his pint, gazing into space.
- I wrote some text, imagining that they’d been married for 35 years. I captured the scenario I’d concocted in my head.
You can make all sorts of inferences from this scene. I settled on one that fit my scenario.
In all of these examples, I’m still not telling you what you should think about these sketch, but I am showing you things to help you make up your mind about the story and come up with your own version of the scene.
Does your Focal Point Convey the Story?
It all boils down to your focal point. Did you identify what you wanted it to be, and then did you successfully represent it in your sketch?
To circle back to the two sketch of the guitarist. The sketch on the left doesn’t have any life to it and feels very static, but the one on the right shows a person playing with gusto and energy.
Even though the quick sketch on the right doesn’t have the same level of technical accuracy (his heads too big and his arm is mis-shaped), it has more life to it. It’s showing a man putting his heart into his playing.
Suhita’s Instagram Post
Here’s the instagram post that inspired this post. I don’t usually write posts this long, but I’ve realised that getting my sketches to tell a story is an important part of why I sketch.
