This morning the San Diego Urban Sketchers met at the West Coast Clydesdale Ranch. We spread out and sketched buildings, horses, chickens, vegetation, corrals and the vista. As usual my attention was more focused on people and I did several different versions of this sketch, making changes to better convey the story of artists working together and supporting each other.
I drew with a Sharpie and watercolor. Later I scanned it into Procreate and adjusted portions of the sketch.
I have been thinking about how to show the reflection of light since sketching snowscapes two weeks ago and especially since sketching a puddle from some minor flooding last week. This morning the light came in the window and through a wine bottle that we were using for a vase. The polished table also reflected light and altogether it was an excellent opportunity to try to understand the look of luminance. What I know so far is that the contrast between light and dark tones, and between clear and blurry color matters. If I were to redo this sketch I would consider including elements such as the window frame and the wall around the window just to add a non-reflective contrast to the light.
I used marker and watercolor and then later scanned the sketch into Procreate where I developed the background and blurred the light coming through the bottle and from the table.
One of my goals for this blog is to tell a story through image and this little sketch tells a story a few men who were people watching in a square and a few women who were walking briskly past the men.
I began with a simple line drawing in my sketchbook but was unable to scan it later due to computer issues. So I copied the drawing in Procreate, an iPad app, and then added color. Since I redrew the sketch, I made some changes to the building, leaving out detail and making it more of an abstract suggestion.
At open studio today I worked on defining the figure with strong lines and accentuating the lines with strong color. I played with exaggerating the angles of the elbow, wrist, shoulder and face.
I worked with a Sharpie marker and watercolor. Later I scanned it into Procreate where I added the border and some background lines on the left side.
Sitting around the fire pit on a cold January night makes for perfect conditions to exchange ideas. This sketch is part of an occasional study of what it looks like when people are learning individually or in groups.
All three figures are holding their hands to the fire as though welcoming the warmth and the exchange of ideas. Two have direct eye contact and the third has his head down as though pondering a related thought. The sparks from the fire suggest a lively exchange of ideas and the fire echoes the theme of the burning excitement of getting an idea right.
I began with several sketches in marker and watercolor. I scanned them into Procreate and mixed two of them into this drawing since parts of each told the story through the symbolism of eye contact, outstretched hands, fire and sparks.
I scanned in an ink sketch I did up at the college and then selected areas of the sketch to fill in with color. I like the unpolished look it gives. This style of sketching is perfect for a day such as today when I do not have as much time for sketching as I would like.
I began this sketch in late December and finished it today. One of my learning goals is to communicate ideas through the way I use images and I worked on this sketch today with this goal in mind. Over the holidays our home was full of activity. I caught this moment of rest in the late afternoon as we all paused to recoup before an evening of food and games. Although I liked the original sketch, it did not capture the story of two connected people cooperatively resting up and reenergizing.
I used Procreate to make changes to the original sketch. To emphasize the individual nature of rest, I pushed the left figure back on the page, so each is clearly separate, each is engaged in an individual activity, and neither is interacting. To show that both figures are cooperatively resting, I emphasized their similarities by having both look at their computers in the same way, by using the same colors for their clothing, and by having both sit at the same table.
The original sketch is an ink drawing. It was scanned into Procreate for further changes.
Deliberate Sketching 