Fun with Pen and Ink

New Sketches of Random Skytrain People

I've started to get a lot more gesturely! Hope you enjoy it.

Sketches

From Last Sunday

Here are my sketches from last Sunday, a bit of a cartoony day.

This is pretty photo realistic, I'd say.

Last Sunday

I like to focus on one thing at a time when I'm sketching like learning anything else. 

I remember when my brothers and I were younger, our swimming instructor would teach us to improve on this at a time when swimming. I think the same can be said about sketching, whether you want to work on line, shape, form, hands, hands, eyes or whatever - I think we learn much faster if we focus on one thing at a time. This week for me, it was about cross-hatching.

Someone commented that my faces capture the "character" of a face very quickly. I have to give credit to Jason Seiler for that one in finding shape and "weight" in someone's face. Is the person's face heavier on the bottom or the top?

On the upper right hand side, we can see that the "weight" is moreso on the bottom on this particular person's face, and that really captures someone's character a lot faster. 

There were a few new people as well as regular sketchers last Sunday.

Drawing and sharing, that's what it's all about.

Fun with a Ball-Point Pen

 I did these a bic ball point pen, I like those ones. They have just enough flow so that you can make very light construction lines, but not enough so you can get a lot of different line variety. If only I knew the wonders of the average everyday bic pen in highschool!

 

Here I am focusing on line work and cross-hatching. Bic pens are great for cross-hatching.

I've gotten pretty confident in my shape and line work. The more you practice, the better and faster you can see things and thus draw them.

I'm currently reading "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards and I've found that her use of modern psychological research and empirical methods of teaching drawing have really helped how I tackle my own drawings.

For one thing, Edwards talks about how the logical side of the brain and the creative-right side often conflict. The right side knows no language, so when you hear yourself criticizing your own work, it's usually the left-mode which is doing it. Ironically, the left-mode cannot draw worth anything.

Thus, according to Edwards, it is very important to quiet the left-mode of the brain and use the right side, which is responsible for visual-spatial perception. You can tell you are in "right-mode," the artistic mode, when you: lose track of time, since right-mode has no concept of time, no use of language, a keen focus, and energy. In sports, they often call this "being in the zone."

We can always go back to our work later on to see what we like and dislike about it.

Anyway, I do recommend the book if you have the money or burrow it from the library! It is full of useful exercises and tidbits of knowledge on how to switch over to the artistic mode of thinking.

Happy drawing!

The Regulars!

Sorry, not everyone could fit into the actual banner due to my noob-ness with sizing.

From Last last Sunday

Here's a sketch from Cory Goodwin, 

Nice having you out with us Cory!

Urban Sketching

I was given this link about urban sketching, it's very similar to what we're doing here! To check it out click here.

Sketches from last Sunday April 29th

It was the last sketch session of April, not too many people showed up. But I kind of like the intimate groups.

Here's some sketches from Allison, check out her blog here

Update - FanExpo No Skytrain last Sunday

So for anyone who came out last Sunday and found no one there - my deepest apologies, we were all at FanExpo Vancouver, which was crazy! I spent an embarrassing amount of money. But it's OK, nowadays, art and food are really the only two things I spend money on.

Skytrain Sketch Group will happen next Sunday @ 4pm - we'll wait for 15 minutes like always and go onto some sketching fun.

PS. Greg Rucka is an intense dude.

Business Cards!

I'm pretty stoked! And I don't get stoked that often, if you don't believe me, just ask my ex-girlfriend. But I am pretty giddy, cause the Skytrain Sketch Group business cards have arrived!

Just in time for Fan Expo! 

Someone from Vancouver Comic Jams gave me the idea to make the card the same as a skytrain ticket when she wrote it on a real bus ticket. I forgot your name, but if you are reading. Thanks!

The back has all the information about the group.

It's a great feeling when you think about something, make it, and see it come to fruition. The feeling is something like being stoked, I think. Seeya at Fan Expo (smiley face).

April 15th Sketches Part 2

I had to make due with pictures of my pages this week. I still need to buy a scanner. I did some work with ballpoint pen this week, which is pretty fun. You get more of a sketchy feel with it, which I like. Although, it takes a bit more time than just plain inking.

The quality suffers a bit from non-scanner quality. Although, I really like the old woman sketch.

Ballpoint pen is a great way to practice cross-hatching.

It's Brian!

Back to brush pen after this one.

Another Vancouverite wearing sunglasses on the skytrain on a partly cloudy day. Cool.

Exchanging Ideas and Technique

Local Vancouver web designer/artist, Allison Koberstein was cool enough to let me post up her sketches. Check out her blog and facebook page. We talked a lot about sketching, art, our processes, etc - to the point where I had to apologize for talking shop so much. The second most fun thing to do other than draw is talk about drawing, exchange techniques, different perspectives. Allison turned me onto http://www.ctrlpaint.com for digital art, since I just purchased a 21 inch Wacom Cintiq UX. Oooh yah, nerd boner.

Speaking of nerd boners. Don't forget to check out Fan Expo Vancouver April 21st and 22nd. I'm excited. Adam West is going to be there and a gang of awesome artists working in the industry. I'm going to be like a sponge and try to go rub onto some of those artists... no, not creepy at all, that's what sponges do.

April 1st Sketches

April 1st, 2012 was a partly cloudy, partly sunny day. And I got a load of pages done. I added ink and colour on the Skytrain ride home. Drawing on the Skytrain has become something of an addiction, it's like entering a time capsule, the next thing you know, you look up and realize you've missed your stop. Super fun, try it sometime even if it isn't Sunday or in a group. But being with a group is fun too, you get to share a lot of knowledge and techniques. Here's the sketches I did last last week's sketch session.

bitch! this is happening

Sketching regularly is like exercising. When you first start, there's a part of you that wants to quit. Steven Pressfield calls this part "resistance." Whatever it is, you need to tell it to shut up - say, "Bitch, this is happening. Deal with it." Eventually your body/mind will realize that this is just going to become a part of regular life... and it'll adapt.

Face Observations Vancouver VS Toronto

I've been focussing on thickness of line-work lately, form and value. These were mostly done with a portable brush-pen. 

So, I've notice that Vancouverites have softer features than Torontonians. I have a theory about that.

I was thinking about why there are regional looks. Is it something in the water? I'm specifically talking about people of Caucasian decent who have rounder features, more Eastern European, Polish, and Ukrainian descendent. I've mentioned this theory to a few people, and in politically correct Vancouver, you instantly feel a vibe when talking about racial matters. Sigh, a lot of people cannot distinguish people racial with being racist.

 The thing is, a lot of people can tell different Asian people apart, and it makes sense that you can differentiate different white faces too. British, Scottish, and western European descendent often have more squarish features.

 I remembered in grade 10 social studies class, we learned that more Eastern European descendent settled west because they were the best farmers and could cultivate the land better.

 So yah, Vancourites seem to have softer features. Torontonians, more squarish, kinda like that guy on the bottom right looking at the girl in the hoodie, kinda like that. British descendants also often have higher ridges at the top of their nose, it's very attractive.

Oh yah, I love people who wear unusual clothes and hats and accessories - the girl has horns on her head, I had to draw her.

I do apologize if any of these observations are taken as stereotypes and of course you can't just lump everyone into such broad strokes. No, you can't, but generally speaking, most people have two eyes, a nose, a mouth... We all have a basic structure to our faces. It is the job of a serious drawer to know what makes a person, a group or a city unique. So, chill out PC-Vancouver. 

deez just jokes, I'm very tired and dunno what I'm talking about, you know I love ya