experiments

Based on looking at how George Butler and Lucinda Rodgers work, I decided to recreate their methods.
They work outside with a large board and paper, with ink and brush or pen.

I haven’t worked outside on a large scale, as I usually work in sketchbooks as they’re more practical to put in pockets.
however, this was a really god breather for me. I set up with a coffee outside Bella Italia on the Promenade, some where I feel in Cheltenham you always get a variety of people. I also found the cafe outside section good to sit in as no one could peer over my shoulder, which often tickles my irritance.

• I found it comfortable but also I learnt some things I didn’t think about - 

• With the ink I found it very hard to draw the people as they all seemed to be in a rush! Ink however was the most efficient way to capture them ,as I tried coloured pencils and they simply don’t have enough variety in their stroke.

• I found it hard to draw the people when I didn’t have the space they where in - drawing in the background first seemed more logical to give the people perspective and an area to be located in.

• I learned to roughly sketch in shapes where the people can’t walk, trees, buildings etc and draw the people in around them, to then go back to the buildings to add detail into them. 

Different colours worked well to distinguish time zones or buildings from people. Other wise the picture would be layers and layers of black ink and be all a black blob.

• I liked the board size as i could exaggerate forms, however I felt my position sat at the cafe was too far removed from the people and therefore they appeared smaller on my page then ideal. Next time i will try a bench, or standing against a pole in the centre of the walkway. 

first exercise - ink
Here, there seems to be not many people, but as a first sketch, the composition is not ideal and isn’t going to be. A higher vantage point would be advantageous so that the people could be seen from more viewpoints and less buildings, as in this image the buildings make up two thirds of the image.

Second exercise, colour ink and pen with pencil back ground.
Having learned from the first sketch, I have altered my composition, focusing on the people passing. The overlapping colours and heads of close passers by adds more interest and creates a greater sense of movement.

third exercise, pencil background and ink people.
The different densities of ink works well.

What I could do to improve this is to bring the board out and use one image for just the people, concentrating on them and as advised, observe, observe! Draw the person from memory. That way you are capturing a person but also using your imagination to block in the information that has been lost, hereby creating characters and emphasising features that stood out to the eye in the fleeting pass.

• Work in two images - people and buildings. Put together through light box and tracing or Photoshop.