A spy in Wonderland

Skaters II, watercolour only.

Yesterday, I was asked if I was a spy, really. It came after saying I have lived and travelled abroad and am only in England temporarily. Spy or not, I don't do cold, so the 4°C and showery afternoon was a challenge.

The London Urban Sketchers had arranged to sketch in the Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park and after meeting in a nice warm pub ten of us headed across Marble Arch and into the event.

Near the entrance was a big wheel complete with Santa in his sleigh, and it had to be drawn. Taking shelter under one of the many wooden food chalets, I grabbed an Inktense pencil and started sketching. The slightly unusual effect is due to spots of rain on the page.

I wasn't happy with the red, so added red watercolour at home.

Next up, Isabel & I sketched Zippo's Circus. I have to say I was tempted to go and see the show, especially as a sign boasted "It's warm inside". Instead, it was a cup of hot chocolate and onto the outside skating rink. I sketched the skaters directly in watercolour. The spots on the page due to the paint taking forever to dry.

Isabel & I sketching skaters, 27th December.

Skaters I, Inktense Pencil sketch.

 With icy feet, fingers & nose, a great find was the firepit, where thawing out whilst sketching was a perfect way to end a visit to the Winter Wonderland before heading to the pub and sharing of sketches.

Pencil with watercolour added at home.

Unfinished Pencil sketch (too cold)

  

Note: I was using a Monologue A5 hardback sketchbook, which the company sent me to review. I have to say that so far, for me, this is not a book that works well when out and about sketching. Firstly, it has perferated pages, which means you are limited to single page spreads and I am already loosing pages after just 3 days of use. Then, the paper is thin with even a few splashes of rain making it buckle slightly and you can not draw on the back with out the drawing underneath showing through.On a positive side, the paper takes pencil and ink well. If you don't over use the water the intensity of watercolours does remain.

Procrastination.

Brown Staedtler pen in A5 sketchbook.

The ironing pile needs to be tackled, especially as I do not have any clothes for work tomorrow - here in Doha the weekend is Friday and Saturday. Instead of doing it, I sat in front of the tv and sketched the corner of the lounge. Now, I'm on the computer and the ironing still need to be done.

Dog sitting studies #5

Nelson is spoilt by my parents and he has a free run of their house. Last night, I was getting ready for bed and he went to sleep horizontally across my bed. He is a fidget even when asleep, constantly shifting position, so I quickly grabbed a sheet of paper and 2 pens out of the pot. After I sketched him, I pushed him off the bed as I got in and he went to sulk in the hallway.

Blind contour Friday 2

One attempt only to draw my big red handbag and I didn't cheat at all!

Check out the host of blind contour here and click the links for other participants too.

Life drawing class - Vicki

 

It is so good to have a weekly drop-in life drawing session near my parents and I went along this morning, still suffering from travel tiredness. I think all the drawing I have done over the last 4 months - especially EDiM - has paid off, as I was very pleased with my results. However, I didn't complete the full 3 hour session as I got too tired to concentrate.

Having got my scanner back, which takes A4 comfortably, I drew on A3, so these are the images I could squeeze on it. Plus I covered 8 sheets, so it's too boring to post them all.

D

Drawings from top to bottom: Long pose in pencil: 15 minutes of long pose in coloured pen: 15 minute seated pose; & 5 minute warm up sketch.

I'm not sure who's blog it is, sorry, but recently an EDMer wrote about her life drawing, pointing out that she had realised that it''s not necessary to draw the whole model. Today I remembered that and concentrated on the shapes I liked, hence the legs at the top, and had fun with the 15 minutes before break and used orange as my main pen colour.

World cup fever

Over in the UrbanSketchers' flickr group discussion, Marcelo Bresciani - who's fab blog is here- challenged "in honor of this global event, why not capture our experiences with a sketch?" Following a trend, I sketch myself watching the Australia v Ghana match yesterday afternoon on a large A3 pad. The pad is quite heavy, which is why my thumb is straight, I've no ideas why my toes look tense.

Then in the evening, I sketched Cameroon v Denmark. We were watching in a friend's friend's uncle (or something like that)  indoor shisha (hubbly-bubbly) cafe, which had 2 screens showing the football. People sat around smoking shisha, drinking coffee and watched the football. Unlike during Wednesday's South Africa match. which was quietly watched, last night there was lots of excitement, especially after Cameroon started so well. I first took my sketchbook and the new coloured pens on Wednesday, but felt too embarrassed to draw as I was the only female in there, apart from waitresses. However, on this second visit I thought I'd be brave, but only for a few minutes.

EDM 275 Draw a tube of toothpaste

A perfectly flat squeezed tube of toothpaste. I'm a neat-freak, what can I say?

BTW I think the last time I drew a tube of toothpaste I was an art student  way-back-when.

BTW2 I think this will be the last time I add colour using coloured Staedtlar. I prefer either pen & ink or pen & watercolour.

BTW3 I'm using a uni pin fine line 0.1 and HATE it. The black is not very black and the nib is awful. I need to visit home and stock up on Staedtlar pigment liners, which are my favourite pens.

EDiM - #22

Yesterday's challenge was to draw a piece of clothing, which I didn't do because of my museum drawing trip. Today, whilst my students were doing a weekly test, I drew a pretty young woman in a colourful dress. Unfortunately, I forgot my glasses and couldn't do any more to the portrait as it was giving me a headache, instead I did a quick coloured sketch of the beautiful dress fabric.

EDiM - #16

Challenge 16 is draw a favorite tool, very uninspiring in my opinion, anyway... With my new coloured pens I forced myself to do the challenge this afternoon and I drew this old corkscrew/bottle opener, which is a tool that is always in my suitcase. It is totally useless here in Sudan as it is a dry country. The other tools in my suitcase are penknife (Swiss Army mini sized), mag-lite torch and a pair of chopsticks. The chopsticks are carried as I learnt to use them in Korea and now use them at every opportunity, so I don't forget the techniques.

Challenge #17 is to draw a musical instrument, which is going to be impossible, so I will substitute something else. Therefore, tomorrow's EDiM will be a mystery, currently to me too.

We are now halfway through EDiM and I'd like to say thank you to all of you who have stopped by.

EDiM #15 and some coloured pen sketches

Swapping my  EDM challenges around, I did number 15 Draw a tree or trees, leaves or branches today, instead of 14's what you see in the morning when you get up. Above is my loose interpretation of this challenge as I am getting a little bored of drawing objects. I was sat in OZone cafe (for the 2nd time that day) waiting for friends and drew the buildings across the road, framed by palm branches and the bushes of the garden. I started with the phone aerial as that is what first caught my attention.

When studying the buildings here, you notice that nothing is square... balconies on the same floor tilt in different directions. Floors are built up at different times and are also on different angles, but only slightly. Makes everything look slightly off when you draw it. Oh well, that's what urban sketching is about I guess. 
 Friday's first sketches were done with my new coloured pens whilst waiting for a friend to have lunch. OZone is a great space to draw, with lots of people to watch. I'm pleased with the way I suggested the fat man's form without actually drawing an outline. The lady on the left had fuchsia pink glasses, but the rest of her was a drab brown. Were they her touch of rebellion or individuality?

Once again, I apologise for the quality of the pictures on my blog, but I do not have my scanner here and have to rely on my camera.