Vancouver was quite resplendent in my five sun dazzled days. Down by the dock near Gastown is the Bronze Angel memorial to the Canadian rail workers who served and lost their lives in World Wars I and II. On the other side of Gastown, exhausted and struggling souls are scattered along Hastings Ave for a number of blocks.
Upon leaving the city by train, minutes out of Pacific Central Station, I saw the man below, beside the tracks and on the edge of brambles, wrapped in a blanket, a bike in the brush beside him. Can’t know for sure his circumstances, but far too many are in conditions to the extreme of those garnering immense wealth and comfort truly way beyond need and security.
At this point, I can’t be swayed by an argument that would put the fault of the downtrodden, indigent, and failing souls upon their own shoulders. The imbalances of the day are so out of whack, that the system as a whole appears to me to be staggering from pathology.
Some wait and wish for a spirit of supernatural dimension to lift us up. Others wish for a spirited whisking away of the inconveniences about them.
To a spirited awakening for us all.
both drawn using Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pens in various nib sizes and grays, plus the Basic Black Leather fountain pen with Platinum Carbon ink. Top drawing in a Tomoe River Paper sketchbook. Bottom drawing in an unlined Rhodia sketchbook.
John & I off to lunch to celebrate his birthday this week. Mr. Fox has graced the planet with his presence and sense of humor for 50 years. You should start receiving your AARP literature any second now sir. Drawn in a Rhodia sketchbook witn Pitt Artist Pens.
Tahera Ahmad gives a talk on Islamophoboia presented by the Middle East and North African Studies of Northwestern Univ. at the Evanston Public Library. Same materials as the above drawing.
Dran during the Chicago chapter of the Urban Sketchers monthly outing. Captured at Architectural Artifacts. Pitt Artist Pens, fountain pen, in Molskine landscape format watercolor sketchbook.
 
After 17 years of living in Chicago, I finally sketched the Alcala’s Western Wear life size sign on Chicago Ave just west of Ashland. The weather was a bit cool but, I stood against a building in full sun so Between the warmth of the sun and the bricks that were radiating a little heat I wasn’t uncomfortable. You can note the neon tubes that trace the sculpture’s form. Pitt Pens in a Rhodia sketchbook.
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.
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.
