Quietly Watching

I was sitting quietly, sipping coffee and watching others sitting quietly, sipping coffee and reading and writing, in Waterstones Café in Swansea. Ideal conditions for sketching people. So I did. Ballpoint pen into an A6 sketchbook.

Coffee And Scribbles

I had a nice cuppa coffee in Waterstones Café this afternoon and scribbled some of the other patrons as I sipped. I used to go regularly to the café before Covid, but the lockdown got me out of the habit, which is a pity because it’s a good place to sketch as people are usually absorbed in a book and don’t notice me. I’m going to try and get back into the habit weekly now, the coffee is good, a reasonable price and I can get some decent sketching done. They also have a loyalty card, so every 10th cuppa is free.

Sketchbook Archives: 49

Here’s a selection of scribbles from my sketchbooks in September 2014, I was busy out and about sketching that month. I must find more time to draw in public again.

Got There In The End

Here are the final three sketches I did last week at life drawing group at Swansea Print Workshop. I’m going to be focusing on portrait drawing for the foreseeable future and I want to improve my technique to get an accurate likeness as quickly as I can. But for me, it still takes a while, slogging through fast poses and then slowing down, to analyse the face thoroughly and get something credible. The final pose, bottom left is the one that looks most like the model and I got it in the last 20 minutes of a two and a half hour drawing session. It was very focused, very intense. I used a W.H. Smith HB pencil onto Bristol Board with Faber Castell Pitt 6B Graphite to fill the background.

You can see the progression from the start to the end of the session below. It took a lot of analysis and repeating the drawing to get it right.

#Caturday Saturday

I carried on with this little cat piece, using  Derwent Aquatone watercolour sticks onto a heavy watercolour paper with Escoda Versátil brushes. The cat shapes are from a stencil I cut of our little Bill the rescue cat some time ago. This is the first thing I’ve done with the Aquatone sticks and I’m getting used to what they can do, especially with blending. Once they’re dry, the colour doesn’t dissolve when you put water on, unlike normal watercolour paints. I’m thinking I might draw some detailing on top with Faber Castell Pitt drawing pens. Experimenting like this is part and parcel of an arts practice, you never stop learning.

Keeping At It

Here are the next 3 sketches from the life drawing session last night. I’m going to be focusing on portrait drawing for the foreseeable future and we had a long pose yesterday so I was able to get in a lot of practice. These are more accurate than the first three I did and I was also able to have a bit of a play with the drawing style. I had fun breaking up the head into swirls and angles, and it helped me to analyse what was in front of me. I think it’s a better way of understanding what’s there than trying to be very accurate and detailed from the start. There are 2 x 10 minute drawings and one of twenty minutes.

Portrait Drawing Week 1: Back In The Saddle

I took voluntary redundancy from my job last week, so this week I returned to the evening life drawing sessions at Swansea Print Workshop. I used to go regularly, for years, but as I grew older I found I was too tired after a working day and I’ve probably not been for about 4 years. Of course, I still do loads of sketchbook drawing, but I like to work with professional models and take my time, being methodical. So, back in the saddle tonight. These are the first three of nine sketches, two at 5 minutes and one at 10 minutes, all using graphite block.

Sketchbook Archives: 48

Back in August 2014, I did a spate of formal portrait drawings with Faber Castell Pitt pens into my sketchbook. These are half hour poses and it was great to have such a selection of people to draw.

The Quiet High Street

I had a nice cuppa tea in Waterstones Café this afternoon and watched people in the street below the first floor window. Not so long ago, this street was thronging with pedestrians but now hardly anyone passes by. It’s happening in city- and town centres across the country, as more people take up Internet shopping. I think the lengthy Covid lockdown of 2020 – 2021 changed the culture of people hanging out in public spaces too. People walked by quickly as it’s getting chilly, so I had to scribble fast. Working at this speed with moving figures, I get a sense of maybe how L.S. Lowry might have worked, they’re quite stick-like.

Getting On A Bit

Here’s another scribble from to The Divine Comedy gig at Swansea Arena on Saturday evening. I sketched a couple of people after the support band, Studio Electrophonique. It was a seated gig but by the last quarter, most people were on their feet and dancing, with a crowd around the stage. The security staff looked slightly nervous but the fans were very good natured and quite frankly, getting on a bit. Too much risk of broken bones at this age in a mosh pit 😀