Slowly coming out of the winter, tho I know in this part of the country it’s a big tease.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What am I to do if I don’t loiter? Some artists comment,”You draw so fast!”. But if they watched me, they’d observe I’m anything but a blur. I may use techniques that achieve great effect, and I prefer to say I draw fluidly, but, it ain’t speed. Decisiveness rules the day. But, it still takes time. And, if your subject seems to be comfortable and settled into what they’re doing, enjoy what you’re doing. Slow down a bit, look more deliberately.
Perhaps it’s that I draw in ink and with pigmented pens, and use multiple nib sizes and brush nibs that cover rapidly. It might also have to do with not sketching in pencil first then switching to ink or paint. Once warmed up I might get to final contours and tones early in the process. Still, if you’re going to adorn a dress with flowers, or convincingly portray a head full of curly locks and beard stubble, time flows on, and easily enough, you’ve spent 20-30 minutes trying to capture a citizen enjoying a book while sipping away at a beverage.
I see the following tools used in the above drawings: various fountain pens, Pitt Artist Pens, white grease pencils (aka White China Markers) and White Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen. Papers would be: Strathmore toned paper, Yasutomo, Utrecht toned paper, Cachet Eartbound, different ledger books, Tomoe River Paper.
We’re just not getting enough sleep. Folks are conkin’ out in public. On the trains, in bookstores, on benches, cafes, parks, libraries, malls, movie theaters. I’ll concede the narcotic at work could be a drab plot in a movie, not sufficient action packed gore, sex, or violence in the cinema, too much turkey for lunch, terminally long waits for partners to try on every shoe with a sole. Whatever the cause, they’re dropping like flies for 40 winks till pot holes, ushers, or asphyxia jars them back to the realm of the hustle.
 
 
 
 
For the record, the drawings in this post were executed in several stocks of books, Rhodia, Stillman & Birn, Utrecht, Tomoe River Pad, Lakota, and various ledger books. Tools used included ballpoint, gel pens, various fountain pens, and Pitt Artist Pens of severa nib sizes, and some watercolor pencils.
This post will illustrate how a drawing develops in stages. The above drawing of chef Kenny preparing meals at Table To Stix Ramen was done while I ordered & dined on a delicious bowl of pork belly ramen and a desert of green tea ice cream. It began as you see below, with a quick sketch in a gray Pitt Pen while chef was at the ramen pot.
The skeleton of the image is established quickly and light enough to make amendments that will be incorporated into the drawing as contours and tones get strengthened and become more definitive.
Since Kenny is moving, I worked on the foreground, the counter, the plates, the hot water dispenser, until Kenny would return to tend boiling ramen. Back and forth, as he moves, I develop him and the space around him.
Below, four stages of the same four hour drawing done on two days at the same time both days so I would have consistent lighting. The basic structure of the train overpass is set down before I develop the variables such as shadows, clouds, and trees or the textures on the walls and pavement.
In the following two nude studies, it is relatively how the figures were drawn with contour lines using lighter values,mind then developed by building shadows and adding highlights.
The four preceding drawings all began with a lighter value followed by darker values to sharpen features and create contrast between skin and clothing or that develope special allusions. The brown drawing of a man drinking from a cup begins with an either/or distinction between light and shade and then a second application of ink deepens tones so that an ear and the shape of his hair becomes evident. Further steeps in that direction  will ” flesh out” the character of your subject.
The following drawing were from a still productive steel maker in Cleveland.
All drawings were executed with pigmented pens, some fountain pen but predominantly Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pens. The white was either a Pitt Pen White or a white grease pencil. The papers were Yasatomo, Strathmore toned paper, Clairefontaine, and various ledger books. With the exception of the bald dude with the dark eyes, all other drawings were drawn from life.
Further examples of how a drawing develops can be found on a July 3rd post from 2015 titled Appropriate Distraction. You’ll find that easily on this blog’s site map.
Below are more examples of the strategies employed above. One is from my imagination, the rest are observed. One of the inherent benefits of drawing from life in dynamic conditions such as the cluster of heads inside a movie theater just before the lights go down, is that you’re forced to avoid dawdling and redrawing contours several times. The practice ushers out timidity and procrastination, relaxes an over emphasis on being exact and builds confidence.
This week, I’m throwing up a collection of head studies and anonymous portraits captured while drawing in public, largely on public transit.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Making use of the same tool kit I have worked with over the last few years. Fountain pens such as Pelikan M215 and M250, Faber-Castell Basic Black Leather, Sailor Bent Nib, Lamy Studio, all filled with Platinum Carbon ink. Don’t forget to rinse you fountain pens out on a regular basis, say 2-4 weeks. And, I make use of the full range of F-C Pitt Pens, all colors, all greys, and the whole variety of nib widths. And yes, those are my fingerprints, it’s automatic copyrighting.
As I have for the last dozen years, I rose early to scoot downtown to the Palette & Chisel for their annual New Year’s Day Life Drawing Marathon. Got in at 7:30 am and left for an early supper at 4 pm. Left this year with a few I liked.
On the way in and warming up with a sketch of a gent sleeping it off.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
All drawings in this post were drawn in a ruled journal with Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens. While I like the surface and ivory color of the paper, and feel that it has a nice fidelity to the marks, producing a clean edge void of feathered lines, the drying time of the inks is fairly quick so I have next to no time to smudge or dab all but the heaviest and wettest application of ink. Most of the black line work was done with a Pitt Artist Pen with a 1.5 in which produces a strong line with some, though modest, variance of line width. Minimal use was made of a Pelikan M250 Tortoise with a gold B nib that is a dream to draw with but the slight sizing didn’t let me put her thru the gears.
Just a side note, I used to identify the models by their first names sometimes as a way to help catalogue so many drawings, i.e., Pete 1, Pete 2, Mary standing 1, etc. but one of the models who had an unusual name that was also shared by a porn star, started getting harassed by co-workers when one or more of those jackasses discovered the nude drawings of her, downloaded them, and e-mailed them to her colleagues. I had to go back to all those drawings and re-edit and in some cases, delete them from my website.
just another example of the upside/downside to this wonderfully virulent tool.