Now We Are One

Hello. It's been a little while. We went on holiday for 2 weeks last month to Menorca, Alex's first trip abroad. He turned one last month so it was about time he went on a plane and we even managed to go in the cockpit on both the flights! But don't tell anyone or the captain will get fired! Alex was surprisingly good at hanging out by the pool and I managed to sketch some people. Here they are:

The unexpected bonus of the holiday is that since we got back Alex has started sleeping all night! The only thing disturbing him now really is me (we only have the one bedroom). I've had a cough and it woke me up at 3.30 this morning and I haven't been able to get back to sleep so I feel a bit like this:

I've got a sketchbook full of compositions and ideas for free-motion animals and birds I plan to do - I've taken to making bits of art work for Alex's friends, along the lines of the bee I made for Alex's birthday but my own design. The only thing holding me back now is not having anywhere to work. Now he is one Alex is so good at entertaining himself so my problem now is that the only table I have is the kitchen table which is only really good if I want to add some squashed cherries to my work! So I intend to drag my tired self to IKEA today to finally FINALLY buy a desk and set up this art area in our very underused lounge that I've been talking about for so long that seriously I've even bored myself of the subject!!

My Hiatus Pt.1 'Two girls and a dog having a picnic'

i have scanned! alexander was asleep and let me put him down for long enough to scan a few bits from my sketchbook. i'm so tired, i should have taken the opportunity to sleep but i felt an overwhelming desire to post something. of course he 'waah lahhed' before i finished and he is now across me feeding hence the one-handed-sorry-about-lack-of-capital-letters post! i don't know whether to put all the sketches i've done since alexander was born into one post or to split them. one thing i can say is that they are really not brilliant. i get this desire to draw but my mind is so much on alexander, especially when we are out, that i don't focus on the sketch. i'm not someone who is able to concentrate on more than one thing at a time and that applies to drawing too. even the loosest, simplest stuff i do like the continuous line drawings i have to put 100% concentration into!

well, here is what i did yesterday in the park. i go to the park nearly every day. this was right before alexander woke up in his pram and before a random jamaican guy tried to get my number.

i have for a while been noticing that some people when they sketch combine black pens of various nib widths. i really like this as it gives something similar to the line variation you achieve with a dip pen and so is an out and about or baby friendly alternative to a dip pen! i was a bit scared about doing this, i've never really known what to do with my 'M' pitt pen. but i've tried it here and i really think it has turned out okay. i have also gone back to my sketching roots and used my beloved grey and vanilla promarkers. they are the first colours i ever used and also really what got me into sketching regularly. it is my favourite way of sketching to just have one or two simple colours and a lot of white space. i don't know whether this sketch means i have gone back to square one though! i hope not!

Equipment: Sakura Pigma Micron 01, Pitt 'M', Promarkers Cool Grey 2 & Vanilla

Sketching with the dreaded white pen

I sketched this guy with my white pen onto the brown paper bag I'd stuck in my Moleskine. I was waiting to see the midwife today and I liked the idea of sketching this man because of his flat cap. He looked kind of out of place among the other people in the waiting room. Also, he was right opposite to me so I thought it would be a good opportunity to see how I would get on with sketching a face following on from my portraiture class the other day. Well, I was amazed! I started by drawing the hat and then when I began to draw the face I had absolutely none of the hesitation and nervousness about it that I used to have! One portraiture class and I have overcome my fear! I'm so pleased about that. And also (you'll have to take my word for this) the man on this page actually does look like the man I saw in the waiting room! Unbelievable!

Equipment: White Uniball Signo pen, brown paper bag stuck onto a page of Moleskine sketchbook. The lines have come up a bit fuzzy in the scanner.

Sketching on the way to class

I sketched a girl on the bus, a lady in the cafe at the Bristol Folk House while waiting to go into my new portraiture class, a lady on the bus on the way home, and the girl who took her seat when she got off the bus.  I was so pleased when I saw the lady with the bright orangey-red hair sit down in front of me. What perfect providence for a spot colour sketch! At the point when the girl took her seat I only had another 2 short stops before it was my stop and I didn't think I'd have enough time to sketch her but I couldn't miss out on the opportunity to get that bright pink pen out. I sketched her so quickly I started to draw in the knitted lines of her hat which I actually think really makes the sketch!  I need to get a pen for colouring in black skin tones.  I've got a few pens I use for skin tones but none that are anywhere near right for black skin. All of these were drawn with the Pitt Pen, skin tones are done with Promarkers, and the colours are the Berol Fine Markers and Triplus Fineliners. The Berol and Triplus are great because they don't bleed through the pages.

Sketching at Antenatal Class

I did a couple of sketches of people sitting in front of me at antenatal class today. This was the second and final of the two antenatal classes (i.e. there are only two).  They are two hours each. I'd had the  intention of sketching some people in the surgery waiting room before going into the class, but I arrived right on time so went straight in. I was really glad though that I had my sketching stuff with me as it allowed me to disappear into my own little world. I really wanted to attend the classes in order to learn about caring for my baby but, as I am on my own I found the constant talk of the daddy's role pretty tough to take. Thank goodness for my trusty Pitt Pen and Moleskine!

So here are the sketches... The lady in the picture on the left was turned at a bit of a strange angle and I couldn't quite get the correct posture for her. I did learn a few things at the class thankfully, and another positive outcome of it was that a lady who was doing some kind of observations of the class leant over and said that she liked my sketches.

When I  got home I rang up and enrolled on a 5 week portrait drawing class at Bristol Folk House which put me back in better spirits!

Out and about in Redfield with the Moleskine

Here are a few I've done over the last couple of days. The first was a man at the surgery while I was waiting for the midwife. I almost didn't draw him because the bald spot was putting me off. But he was the only person in the waiting room so I had to just get over it! The next are of people in Tesco Metro while I was waiting to pick up a camera I'd ordered online. It's a shame I don't have more excuses to sit by the checkouts there as you definitely see some interesting people passing through, and they stand relatively still! I then went to the park briefly. I'd intended to draw a couple more people there but no-one was nearby. Then this dog came and stood in front of me, expectantly. I'm sorry I've called him 'Stupid Dog' I'm sure he's not. He just had a funny look on his face and was kind of knock-kneed with big fluffy paws that was all making him look quite comical.

These were all done with a pitt pen 'S'. The colours are Promarker and Berol Markers 'fine'. I found a pack of Berol markers in my cupboard I've never really used. Think I acquired them from a school I was working in. It never occurred to me to use them in 'art' but due to the Creative Every Day 'Colour' theme I've put a couple into my carry around pencil case in order to have some new portable spot colours.

Sketching people at the local library

I finally made it to my local library. It is just a tiny neighbourhood library, I'm surprised we even have one. It really is very small but it was so busy. I don't believe this business the Government tells us that people don't use libraries and that they can be closed down. There were a lot of people reading the papers and all of the computers were constantly in use which to my mind is proof that the local library is a really useful and essential resource for many people.

I haven't been able to read (I mean I can't concentrate on it) since I've been pregnant, and I am so picky about what books I want to read. But amazingly, despite there only being a small selection due to the size of this library, I borrowed three books! I find life easier when I have less choice.

I then sketched a couple of people who were using the computers. I'm not keen on the first sketch. Well, I was until I put the colour on. The second sketch I really like. I loved this girl's bright pink wooly hat, it really suited her. I struggled a little bit at getting comfortable to do these sketches as I was on a chair that had wheels and a springy back which with the baby bump was a bit difficult to support myself on!

Equipment: Top Sketch - Pencil and Promarker. Bottom Sketch - Pitt pen, pink Triplus Fineliner, and a tiny bit of Promarker for her skin.

I really like the bright pink fineliner. I am going to add this into my carry around pencil case and keep an eye out for things to sketch that include this colour. When I am sketching out and about, I never add a colour to sketch that wasn't in the original scene.

Sketches of people around Bristol today

I had quite a few things to do today and sketched a few people during the waiting moments. These sketches are in the order that I drew them. I was almost disappointed not to be kept waiting at a few more places!

Equipment: I only took a pitt pen and a blue, grey and sandstone Promarker.

Even more sketches of people who don't know I'm sketching them

I sketched this lady while I was waiting for my midwife appointment this morning.  She was deep in conversation with her friend. I have no idea what they were talking about as my Arabic is limited to counting to three and saying 'I love you' and 'delicious'. At one point she did say 'they are SO desperate' which might explain why she is pointing so emphatically.

 

I rather liked the pencil sketch and I'm not sure adding the colour was a good move but I am continuing with experimenting with trying to fill the page and after using ink the other day I have been reminded how much I love splashing black ink around with a big No.12 round brush just for the sake of it!

Providence, more sketches of people who don't know I'm sketching them (or probably do) and filling the page

On Thursday at the swimming pool I tried to sketch the lifeguards from the viewing gallery after my swim. I'd worked out that if I got changed quickly after my swim I'd have about 10 minutes in the gallery to sketch before the lunchtime swim session ended. Well, I can't say it was massively successful on the grounds that I acquired a little friend pretty much as soon as I had sat down. 'What are you doing? asked a little girl who later introduced herself as Charlotte. Well, she wanted to have a good look through my sketchbook and then ran off with it to show to her Mum and Grandma!!!

I'm pretty good with sketching fast but I'm most definitely not a multi-tasker and the only point at which I actually had the sketchbook in my hands was while Charlotte was talking to me! Nevertheless despite the abysmal lifeguard sketches, unbeknown to me sketching lifeguards wasn't the real reason I had gone up into that gallery. Charlotte spotted the 'Lox on a Chair' sketch and really loved it. She kept touching the page and saying how fluffy the cat looked. What a result! As much as I liked the sketch for the book I still had no idea whether a child would like it. Bless her. And she gave me a great big hug before she left.

And here is the lifeguard sketch aka 'the ruse'... I probably wouldn't have even posted it if it hadn't been for the Charlotte story. Actually, the face looks pretty accurate. I would imagine that the poor guy was aware that I was sketching him by the fact that Charlotte kept pointing and saying very loudly 'What? That one there?! Him there?!!'

Clearly I added the colour when I got home.  I've been trying to fill the page up a bit more.

Sketches of people who don't know I'm sketching them

I'm glad I put my A6 Moleskine into my bag again.  Today it prompted me to do these 2 little sketches, the first while I was waiting at Specsavers and the second while I was on the #45 bus going home.

I enjoyed doing these in the same way that I enjoyed the cat sketches.  I like drawing fast. I tend to find that if I spend more than a minute or so on composition the whole drawing just goes wrong. I've done loads of life drawing classes and more often then not really disliked what I've produced from them. I like the type of life drawing where the person running the session gives you just 1 minute to get the pose down but when I'm faced with 10, 20 or heaven forbid 60 minutes drawing someone I just get really fed up with it all.  Another challenge I find is that although I don't have any problem with drawing in public, I do get a bit hesitant about drawing people in case they turn around and see me drawing them. I don't know why it concerns me. I'm sure people would be flattered if they knew they were being drawn, I know I would.  And I'm never sure how obvious it is to someone that they are being drawn.  Do I look like I am sketching faces in my Moleskine or do people just assume I'm writing a shopping list?  I don't have the same hesitancy if I draw people in coffee shops though so I wonder if it is to do with the type of people I'm drawing. Do I unconsciously assume that students and business people in Caffe Nero are more open to arty stuff than people on the bus?