Tours of Sketchbook No. 25

I just finished sketchbook no. 25! Here is a quick tour followed by a longer view.

A slower tour.

Trying different mark making methods

I am addicted to taking online art classes. I am planning on doing a blog post reviewing all of the classes I've taken both at Sketchbook Skool and on Craftsy. But for now, I will just talk a little about one of the classes I'm taking - Paul Heaston's Pen and Ink Essentials on Craftsy.

Paul is a master at pen and ink drawings - especially with hatching. For my homework (for this class and Koosje Koene's Sketchbook Skool's Seeing klass drawing selfies), I drew myself using the scribble method of mark making and indicating value.

I really liked this method of mark making as it got me to loosen up and really just pay attention to values, rather than lines.

Next, I used the basket texture technique in another selfie value study. Both of these drawings were done from a black and white selfie photo.

I also liked this method, though it is more deliberate and time consuming. But, it did help me concentrate just on values.

What do you think of these mark making methods? Have you tried them?

Portraits 40 - 49 for The 100 Day Project

I managed to keep up my work on the 100 day project during our vacation. Here are the portraits I did on our trip and one when I got back.

Urban sketching on Vacation

We are on vacation in Paris, London, and Barcelona this week. Here are some of my sketches so far.

More to follow . . .

Drawing inspiring artists

One thing I definitely love about the Sktchy app is being able to pay tribute to artist who inspire or support you by drawing them! I did that with varying degrees of success over the last few days.

Vin Ganapathy is a huge inspiration for me. He has been one of my teachers at Sketchbook Skool and is one of the first artists from whom I've bought original artwork! I love his portraits done primarily in Tombow brush pens. They are so expressive! I used my watercolors, Kuretake brush pen, and some of Marc Taro Holmes's watercolor techniques to draw Vin here. I loved the shadows in this inspiration photo.

Jane Royal is a beautiful water colorist who I've met on Sktchy. She paints people with the minimum of graphite lines and really lets the watercolors do their magic. She has been very supportive of my art. I wish I had captured her likeness better here. Nut, it's the thought hat counts, right?

Who are your favorite artists? Have you drawn or painted them?

Urban Sketching using Marc Taro Holmes's Techniques

I have been loving Marc Taro Holmes's Craftsy classes, Sketching People in Motion and Travel Sketching in Mixed Media. I love how he understands the constraints of urban sketching - especially when people are moving, you're on vacation and your family wants to keep moving, etc. To sketch people in motion, Marc teaches us how to capture gestures quickly with pencil and then move onto fountain pens, brush pens, and watercolors. In terms of travel sketching, Marc teaches us to do single line drawings, then 5-7 line drawings (cinq à sept), use shading and brush pens, watercolors, and eventually, watercolors alone.

I recently practiced these techniques in my hometown, Walnut Creek.

Liberty Bell Plaza -- Main St. & Mt. Diablo Blvd. — Liberty Bell Plaza -- Main St. & Mt. Diablo Blvd.

And practiced these urban sketching techniques using photographs from Sktchy.

I followed Marc's demonstration using watercolors only

I practiced sketching people in motion at Chloe's gymnastic show.

Latest Portraits for the 100 Day Project

I haven't posted my latest portraits in some time! Though you can always click on the link above to see my entire 100 day portrait.

And finally, yesterday's portrait.

Thanks for following along!

New Craftsy Class!

A Sketchbook Skool and Instagram friend, Minjoo Yoon, who is also a lawyer-turned-artist, posted a beautiful urban sketch and said that it was based on a class she was taking through Craftsy from James Richards. I had to check it out!

Minjoo was taking Essential Techniques for Sketching the Energy of Places with James Richards. I signed up and immediately downloaded the video lessons and started in. James is a great urban sketcher and he gives so many helpful tips that I never would have thought of - including drawing from a one point perspective using a single eyeline as a basis point and shorthand tips for capturing people and crowds. Truly mind-blowing!

I didn't get a chance to go out on location to try his techniques yet, but I did practice them on an urban photo from Sktchy.

To ink or not with watercolors?

This weekend, I talked this portrait of my friend's nephew.

In tackling this portrait, I decided to start with my pencil and then use watercolor. I didn't start with my normal fountain pen with Platinum carbon black ink.

This was a departure from my normal style, but I kind of liked it. So, I posted it on Sktchy and asked for feedback. The majority of the feedback was that I should leave the portrait as is - and the hardest thing with watercolor is knowing when to stop!

So, I thought I would tackle this next portrait of Kiana - in my usual style with fountain pen and ink first and watercolor next.

What do you think? Which do you prefer - watercolor & pencil or ink & watercolor?

Trip to Monterey in Comic Form

In Danny Gregory's Sketchbook Skool Polishing klass, he taught us to document our days in comic form. He said that the point is not really any one individual daily comic, but the accumulation of the days over time. I tried to do that, but realized that my daily activities are pretty routine and repeatable, and, frankly, not very exciting to motivate me to do it. But, on a recent trip to Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove with friends, I found the idea of a daily comic as a usual and fun way to document and remember the activities we enjoyed and shared together. Here are my comics from that three day trip.

Trip to Monterey

This weekend, I took a trip to Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove with my friends, Julie and Sharon. I had a lot of fun introducing them to the Sktchy app and drawing them!

I drew this at lunch at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We had an awesome table with this lovely view.