Pages

Thursday 24 April 2014

Getting infected by Prashant Miranda

Prashant Miranda has to be one of the most contagious people I have ever seen.

His love for sketching is just so obvious and he communicates it so well that it is impossible not to want to at least try and keep a sketching journal.

In his videos for Sketchbook Skool he tells us about journalling, his travels, keeping a sketchbook as a way to remember things and how these sketchbooks have come to be his best friends.

Another thing I appreciated about his klass was his watercolour demo introducing a few techniques like wet on wet and wet on dry.

I haven't been very proficient this week, but I managed to try out the wet on wet technique for his assignment: sketching the sky.


I will keep making a few sketches of the sky in the future. I find it to be quite a lot of fun.

I couldn't help myself from making a portrait of Prashant. As I said, his enthusiasm just overflows and I wanted to capture that in my folded sketchbook (which is already full now, by the way ; I have to make a new one).


In one of his parting gifts, he sings us "Painting box" by the Incredible String Band. I had never heard this song before, nor about this band even. 

I think it was a very fitting choice and I keep hearing the chorus in my mind now.

Tuesday 22 April 2014

43rd international Sketchcrawl

The 43rd international Sketchcrawl took place on Saturday.

For this occasion we set the meeting point at Abbaye de Neumünster in the hopes that the weather would be good enough to sketch its surroundings.

Unfortunaltey it was a bit too winty and chilly, so we decided to go to the Naturmusee nearby instead.

It turned out to be an excellent choice, for they have a few sunlit terraces with a beautiful view on the fortress and shelter from the wind.

I don't have much patience to sketch scenery, so this is all I could manage in a short time.

43rd international Sketchcrawl
The colours are very different in reality

We were only 3 participants this time, Leen, Sybille and me.

43rd international Sketchcrawl
Splashing helps to hide many mistakes :D

The museum has a collection of interesting animals to see. I like to sketch the most unusual ones.

I had never seen this animal full of scales before. It was quite a find.

43rd international Sketchcrawl
Next time I will focus on getting the nicely arranges scales right.

Wednesday 16 April 2014

Virtual Paintout April 2014: Liverpool

For this month's Virtual Paintout we got to stroll around the Beatles' hometown: Liverpool.

The greates challenge for me is always to choose a location to draw, so I usually don't take more than 10 minutes to decide.

I liked this view of a busy station and wanted to try to convey that feeling.

I wanted to do something radically different from my usual submissions, so I didn't plan anything and went straight to watercolour.

I then added some ink here and there to give a bit more definition to the drawing.

As a finishing touch, I added lyrics from a few Beatles' songs. How could I not?

Liverpool
Ghosts of Liverpool
Check out the original image to compare.

Tuesday 15 April 2014

New week with Koosje Koene

Our second teacher in Sketchbook Skool is Koosje Koene.

She is an artist from the Netherlands who shares her creativity and art tips in a fun way.

Her klass is about taming our inner critic, that little voice in our head that tells us that what we are doing is not good enough, and about finding the courage to go outside and draw.

As an urban sketcher, I am already a bit used to drawing outside, but the inner critic is definitely still there and needs to be silenced or at least distracted.

One of her assignments is to draw an object with pencils in the most realistic way possible.

It is a work of patience, as her demo video shows us, and it teaches us to really look at the object we are drawing.

I made this drawing with watercolour pencils, because the paper in my sketchbook is too grainy and the pencils just didn't cover the paper correctly.

The highlights don't show enough. I will have to leave more white areas next time, but what bothers me most is the red circle. It just looks too fake.

Then again it is supposed to portray plastic, so I guess that is a good thing?

Sans titre
What are these thingys called?
The second assignment from Koosje is to go outside and draw. I am not sure I will have time to do that until Friday, though.

However, the 43rd international Sketchcrawl is coming this weekend, so I can catch up on that then.

This other sketch I made during Danny Gregory's klass. It is my parent's couch. I just loved how the light fell on it.

Sans titre
It is getting old but it is still very comfortable

Friday 11 April 2014

Last homework for the first klass

Here are my last sketches for Danny Gregory's klass in Sketchbook Skool.

This Ikea chair is one of my favourite pieces in my apartment and the one I have sketched the most so far.

Sans titre
I don't know what I like most about this chair: the vintage design or the colour
Yesterday I managed to sketch my breakfast. I'm quite satisfied with how the croissant came out (unfortunately the colour on this scan is not very good), much less with the cup.

Between the lovely smells and my demanding stomach, I lost some focus, which is quite obvious here, I think, haha.

Sans titre
These two kept enticing me to leave my sketch for them. Bunch of seducers!

Tuesday 8 April 2014

Homework

I'm documenting my week for Danny Gregory's klass for Sketchbook Skool.

So far, I'm trying to focus more on composition, so I guess that is partly why I pick single objects for my subjects.

I actually wanted to sketch my breakfast as an extra assignment, but I was really too hungry to wait and focus on a drawing. So I just drew the empty bowl.

I don't know how people manage to sketch their food. Unless I'm not hungry or I'm sick, I can't resist the temptation. Plus I prefer my food when it is nice and warm.

This bowl is a bit wobbly and not straight, but I think I managed the shading quite well, so I'm happy with it.

Sans titre
Seriously, how do people do it?!

In the next one I made a few silly mistakes, both in the drawing and in the text.

I had already learned to be more patient with my use of watercolour, now I need to do the same for my writing.

Lesson hopefully learned. I'll do better next time.

Sans titre
Now I don't dare eating more, because that would mean there won't be any left... Dilemmas...

Monday 7 April 2014

Back to school!

In my quest to be productive and sketch and learn more, I signed up for Sketchbook Skool. It's a 6-week online course to "help you develop a creative habit".

I like this idea: not to teach you how to draw but to help you find your inner artist, whatever your skill level and whatever your style.

The first class started on Friday and is held by Danny Gregory. He is an artist whose work I already know and admire. His warm personality just shines through his sketches and his videos.

Our first assignment is to document our week. And we are not allowed to rip any pages from our sketchbooks!

I didn't like any of the sketchbooks I had at home, so I folded my own, following a tutorial by Kathy Johnson I found on Youtube. It's super easy to make and I love that I can choose the paper I want.

Here is the first entry for the assignment.

Sans titre
A piece of domestic life