Nowadays, I sketch at least one in a day. Whenever i'm outdoor, especially when the weather is cooperatve, I do live sketching. At home, I usually go to my photos' album. The color and atmospher would not be the same as the original image necessarily. In other word, I change it as I like.
We have all passed through the moments like to be just by ourself and experience sorrow or some other feelings deep inside. This quick sketch reminds me of this glorious moments.
I did this sketch from a photo taken in a city bus in Puerto Vallarta during my recent visit to this city.The basic lines are in watercolor penci, highlighted by watercolor ink and fountain pen. Waterbrush filled in with light w/c ink was added in last stage. 
I met Louis and his younger brother in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico wandering around a beach while their mother was selling mexican hand crafts to tourist. while I was sketching some scenary, I asked him and his brother to come and sit by me. Though they did not know English at all and neither me Spanish, we could communicate very easily. To get them attracted, I handed a paper and pencil to the younger boy to draw. And while he was busy with drawing, I made a sketch of Louis, the older boy.
For many people this marks the point when they know they are beginning to think like an artist. You’ll find you will start using your very own fingers and thumbs to construct a viewfinder to check out potential images to sketch. (Do try to avoid driving the car at the same time!) You will soon find yourself wanting to learn more about about the design and composition of your drawings and paintings. You will want to practice sketching to develop your skills in making choices in this area.
Today it was the last session of the 5 weeks drawing class I took with Erick Budovitch in Toronto. though before taking this class, I had done lots of drawing, sketches and paintings, he simply showed me that for a fundamental drawing, it is better to start from the very beginning. Through some hard and sometimes boring training he demontrated that for a good drawing I should forget the details for a while and just try to see the shapes in big masses and geometrically , eather in figures , lanscapes or still life . Seeing the values and contrast of lightness and darkness of the model come in the next stage.
This sketchy painting was done with watercolor pencil. The background is soft pastel.
These images show Lugano the city in Swiss, close to Milano. The Mountain in the background is Sansalvadora' seen from all angles in the city. You can walk along the lake in less than an hour. I've done some paintings, sketches and photography from the scenes of the city and surroundings on different occasions.
As a flavour to sketches, I thought why not post some sketchy paintings once in a while between the real sketches .
This sketch was done in a couple of minutes. While I was going to draw a bit more detail of this figure she changed her pose quickly and left the location where I spotted her. I had to stop .
You can find people from all walks of life in main libraries in Toronto. Libraries, as in book stores, in North America are very alive and active. The first thing that impressed me in the time of my studies in the States back in the 70's was the different large libraries you could find everywhere at campus or in the city. I usually spent a few hours a week in North York library and my favourite book store Chapters. I sketched this old serious gentleman in the same library. He was so mean that I hesitated to sketch him right away. So, after I was sure that he was busy looking at the paper I made this quick sketch of him.
this small size grave yard is on my way to everywhere. No matter where I go in the city, I have to pass by it. The night this pic was shot was a Sunday which luckilly the camara was in my pocket. Today I had a chance to take a more lighter one. I always envy the people who respect the culture and the past. According to the its profile, when there was no Yonge St, and more farm lands were around, this graveyard was part of the church right on the other side. It is good to have the dead not too far from us , isn't it ? There is a full moon and a reflection of the street lights on the standing tomb.
I'm testing the sketch papers I bought recently from the "Above the ground", art shop. The paper is good for sketches with dry and light washe . I changed the setting totally, From studio to a bright sea side. Also I tried the whole washes with no prior design. The shadows are emphezied by watercolor pencil. The hair is darkened with pen and ink for a better effects.
This is one of the first watercolor paintings I made in mid 90's with not much of technic knowledge . FirstI I soaked the paper in water and did a wet in wet brush work for most parts. Roses are done with dried brush. To paint loosely with not much overworks, is kind of ideal for me now.The joys of Sketching almost every other day, has made me lasy to work on more datailed paintings. May be this is one reason that I would not be able to put a show in contemporary commercial galleries. But, I 'm looking for a place to put up mainly the sketches and small paintings with no frames. I will do.
Sketching in position of face to face is much harder than from behind or from the sides. In libraries, bookstores or the coffee shops, when in mood of sketching, first i choose the location carefully. The safest position is when the model is not aware of, and you can study them a bit and make a relaxed sketch. In libraries you may find sitters in relaxed positions and not much conscious. i found these two ladies in the reading room where they were sitting apart toward the windows. I made them closer to each other to have both in one shot.
what a pic !!! I was browsing my photo albums that ran to this nostalgic pic. The time is 1971 . Yes, almost 35 years back and the location is in our back yard in Urbana, illinois, the city i did my M.S.studies in social work and privileged life studies in post Vietnam war. The chaps , besides me , are cool hippie yankees who all used to live together in a large house sort of commune kind of life. We shared the expences; rent, food and etc. that did not usually run more than 70-80 bucks in a month. The vegetables, like zuccinni, brucli, tomatoes and some sort of herbs was grown in the yard and had food enough to feed some uninviting quests who often walked to the house. The people lived togethernwere doing job in whatever they liked. Andy facing to us, worked in a bike repair shop. You can see the tiny mirror right in the corner of his left eye for not being hit by the cars. Ed. looking toward left was a math. instructor and boy friend of sue who is sitting in front side. There were three more in the house who used to do some other odd jobs. we all had a good time together and now i fell that I miss them all.
This is a typical scene in subways almost all around the world. I had few minutes to sketch the outer lines and later on, sketched the hair and shades with watercolor pencil.
Aug 23.06
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