Sketching at a Bus Stop

I'm getting some ideas on how to sketch a dynamic scene so the first thing that came to mind is to observe the activity at a bus stop.  There always are people waiting for their bus to come and there are structures all around that support the scene.  The subject will still be the same - the people in motion and those at rest, plus the static structures all around.

A rainy evening scene at a Madison Ave bus stop.

A pleasant evening at the 5th Ave bus stop in front of the old Lord & Taylor Bldg.

The Meadows at Rockefeller State Park Preserve

On my practice hike last weekend, I did a small sketch (3" x 1") in pencil using a Pentel 8 Multi pen.  Aside from the HB pencil lead, it also has 3 ballpoint tips (black, blue, red) and 4 other colored pencil leads (yellow, red, blue, green).  This trial run was what I imagine I would be doing when I start walking the last 100 km of Via de la Plata/Sanabres Camino route at the end of this month.  I picture myself having more sketching time since I will be traveling solo and not with a group.  Overall, I like how this one turned out.  I think this pen will be very useful in my sketch adventure.

The finished sketch.

I tried sketching some equestrian but they were too fast for me to capture.  I eventually erased that lone rider on top of this page.

Core Drawing Class: Weeks 7 & 8

I decided to paint this pose in oil roughly two weeks ago.  On week seven, we mapped out the desired figure onto a new fresh sheet of drawing paper.  The plan was to transfer this finished drawing onto a tracing paper and use that to transfer the drawing to the canvas.  I didn't have the other materials needed so I finished week seven with this image. 

The finished drawing version to be painted in oil.

On week eight, I brought the necessary materials for the class.  I picked up where I left off last week.  A tracing paper was laid over the drawing and a red pen was used to trace over the lines.  Then on the reverse side of the tracing paper, we used the fine charcoal stick to go over the red line.  It's like making a carbon copy of the original drawing onto the canvas once we draw over on the red lines.  Next, we made the rough placement of dark and lights using one color paint only.  I think it's called "imprimatura".  Here's what the painting look like.  I thought painting in oil is easy but it is not!

My unfinished first oil painting.  

The carbon copy

Core Drawing Class: Week 6

I purchased another set of 4 evening classes at Goshen Art Academy.  Tonight's class was the start of an eight week long pose session with the sitter.  Our first task was to make several sketch studies in charcoal on newsprint paper.  This would serve as the roadmap of where we would like to take our painting in our medium of choice.  I would like to try oil painting for this next round.

I did a full figure outline sketch, followed by sections of body parts but I was having a hard time trying to get what I want.  Eventually I settled on this one pose.  Next, we were asked to only make a line sketch of the choice gesture on a fresh sheet of paper.  It would be interesting to see how this one will develop over the next seven weeks.  Stay tuned.

  

Hiking and Sketching at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve

I hiked at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve today with the weighted backpack I plan on taking with me on my next Camino walk.  I have about 6 weeks left before trying a new route to Santiago de Compostela.  Since I was by myself training today, I had the luxury of stopping and making a sketch whenever the opportunity comes like this equestrian I saw near David's Loop.  I understand they have the right of way so I moved over to one side of the path to let them through.  Then I remember picking up my A6 size sketchbook from my cargo pocket and doing a sketch before she got too far ahead of me on the graded trail.  

There's a clearing and a maintained dirt road overlooking a farmland.  I think this area belongs to the Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture.  I thought it would be a nice sketch souvenir of this walk.  

The last sketch I did was inside a greenhouse that's open to the public, I saw the amaryllis flowers in peak bloom.  It was so beautiful, I had to sketch it!

A Sketch-meet at the Essex Market

This week's sketch destination was at the Essex Market.  The place is still open; only the basement food area was closed off to the public permanently.  I have been here once before so I know the balcony dining area is the other best place to do some sketching.  I arrived a bit late but it wasn't a problem.  Once I settled in a spot, I stayed there the whole time.  This was the view looking down the food shop alley.

 

Core Drawing Class: Weeks 4 & 5

The long pose drawing class ended on my third week with the Goshen Art Academy.  I posted my work from that session.  The two weeks after that, we did the skills-building exercise where we draw with a white chalk pencil against a black drawing paper.  The focus was getting the main highlights and the subtle lighting of the sitter.  I moved to the opposite side of the room so that I have a side-lit view of the model this time.

The following week, value, chroma and hue in color theory were discussed.  A sepia chalk pencil was handed out in the class and we were given the task to use that for the limited color palette.  So back to the drawing board and we finished the drawing we did last week.  I'm proud of how this one came out.