Sketching everyday things

Lately, I’ve been revisiting books and artists who inspire me. One such book and artist is The Art of the Affair - An Illustrated History Of Love, Sex, and Artistic Influence by Catherine Lacey and illustrated by Forsyth Harmon. The book is a delightful read - full of information and gossip about writers, artists, and other celebrities from the Jazz Age. But, what I really love about it are the watercolor and ink illustrations by Forsyth Harmon. She uses black pen lines to give definition to the illustrations but does most of her shading with layers of watercolors. Truly inspirational.

I attempted a few Sktchy-inspired portraits with her style in mind. Needless to say, her style is very difficult to replicate!

For our Christmas card this year

In reasearching Forsyth’s work, I discovered her still lifes on her website. I love these drawings of everyday items that seem to have so much beauty and personality to them. It was so eye opening to me to discover so many subjects for art all around me. I also saw the challenge of finding beauty in things that are so commonplace and ordinary that you never really look at them, much less find beauty in them.

So, I decided to start sketching my everyday items around me - starting with Forsyth’s book.

A digital drawing using Procreate and my Apple Pencil

A favorite snack - also done with Procreate and my Apple Pencil

I think I am hooked on drawing the everyday items around me! Have you tried drawing the most mundane, boring items around you?

Stay tuned for my next post on working in Procreate and animating my drawings with Sketchbook Motion.

Day 2 of #oneweek100people2017 Challenge

Yesterday, I decided to get a change of scenery for my urban sketches. I first went to the Walnut Creek Public Library and sketched the many people seemingly using computers and laptops, instead of reading any actual books. Here are my sketches - I started no. 21 using a water soluble brush pen and then moved to my Pilot Falcon fountain pen with a soft extra fine nib, and finally added in gouache on Canson Mi Teintes toned paper.

I then moved onto to Broadway Plaza and went to Boudin SF for lunch. I discovered that people spend far less time at a lunch semi-fast food restaurant such as Boudin, than they do at a cafe or reading at the library. I had to be quicker and also sketch people (as I did in the library) using a lot of overlapping elements to indicate the depth of the people from me and each other.

For my 40th person, I decided to draw portrait at home that would also satisfy the #sbsadrawingaday Day 66 prompt PURPOSE. I had just watched episode 1 of the 3rd season of NetFlix's Chef's Table - which was about Jeong Kwan, who is not a chef, but a Buddhist monk. Jeong is so full of peace and happiness and PURPOSE that I had to draw her for my 40th person yesterday.

A New Art Challenge - #OneWeek100People2017

Two of my favorite online urban sketchers and art instructors, Liz Steel and Marc Holmes, recently decided to start a new art challenge - drawing 100 people in one week (really, in 5 days). As Marc puts it:

So – what is this #OneWeek100People2017 all about?

Is it a race? A stunt? A kind of monastic self-flagellation? Or just an excuse to get out and have fun drawing?

Well, why not all of the above!

I love a new art challenge - anything to make me accountable for turning out more art and practicing my skills - like capturing lots and lots of people. So, yesterday, March 6th, I went out to a cafe to start the challenge.

I went to my favorite local cafe, The Coffee Shop, and intended to draw with my Pilot Vanishing Point fountain pen and/or sketch with my watercolor Pocket Palette 20 people before I would go home. This took me longer than I thought it would - about 2 hours, but I'm pleased with the results.

Nos. 1 - 10 across a 2 page spread of my 7" x 7"  watercolor sketchbook — Nos. 1 - 10 across a 2 page spread of my 7" x 7" watercolor sketchbook

For no. 20, I decided to take more time to do a Sktchy-inspired portrait in gouache

Today, I plan to take a trip to my local library to get my 20 people done. What about you? Have you decided to take the plunge and join in? I'm hoping my quick capture skills will improve over the week. We are going to see the BNP Paribas Indian Wells tennis event on Thursday and Friday of this week - so, expect to see a lot of tennis spectators in my sketches soon!

5 Minute Continuous Line Drawings

My favorite app right now for improving my artwork and sharing it with a supportive community is Sktchy. The app allows people to post photos for inspiration for artists, who upload their artwork for all to see, with a swipe right to see the underlying inspiration image. An endless source of inspiration!

Sktchy has recently been starting some weekly challenges with a Monday Muse, a Tuesday QuickDraw, and a WIP Wednesday, to name a few - as well as their Weekend Art Extravaganzas. I have been particularly enjoying the Tuesday QuickDraws since they force me to loosen up and just go with whatever comes up in the allotted quick draw time frame (usually 5 minutes or so).

This week, Sktchy asked us to attempt some 5 minute continuous line drawings - which I LOVED! I took the time to add some watercolor afterward - but I did use a timer to limit myself to just 5 minutes for the continuous line drawing (no lifting allowed!). Here's what I came up with:

Have you tried quick draws? Or continuous line drawings? What are your thoughts on either?