meldrum artLocation: Basis, Stockholm
Great model, the same girl as last weekend. I was not really in good shape physically but I managed to produce a few decent sketches. If you don’t feel good, it’s hard to be good!
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| 10 minutes |
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| 15 minutes |
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| 5 minutes |
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| 3 minutes |
Location: Konstnärshuset, Stockholm
These days I am very focused on capturing the contour of the figures I draw, I want to improve my ability to judge distance at speed, shading is secondary but enjoyable if time permits.
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| 10 minute sketch on A4 Fabriano paper |
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| 5 minute sketch on A4 Fabriano paper |
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| 5 minute sketch on A4 Fabriano paper |
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| 2 minute sketch on A4 Fabriano paper |
I keep reminding myself it’s a sketch and not a painting. So as a sketch, I’m happy with it. Setting the tonal values for a scene was more difficult than I thought it would be, something for me to practice – definitely.
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| A4 Moleskin watercolour notebook, 200g. |
I will finish this tomorrow morning. Today I focused on the light and mid-tones. One never knows if a watercolour will be a success or not. The foreground figures will be dark in tone, it will be exciting to see what develops …
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| Central Station – Work In Progress |
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Location: Basis, Stockholm
I just had an A4 block of Fabriano paper, a pencil and two CretaColor pencils. It means I am more relaxed when I draw, saying that, I would not mind doing some watercolour sketches at life drawing soon. I just wish there where more 15 minute poses, that is a good length of time to sketch and paint a nude.
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| 15 minute nude. |
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| 10 minute nude. |
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| 2 minute nude. |
The homeless, hopeful immigrants, tired commuters and friendly train station employees, all these interesting people I encountered during my first week at the Central Train Station. It was truly a wonderful experience and so I plan to continue getting up an hour earlier even next week and spend 60 minutes achieving something that I would normally only contemplate. Crazy stuff!
Today I spent time working out how to paint a watercolour which I will complete on Monday. I plan to paint the foreground figures quite dark and the background fairly light. The person walking through the arch being the focal point. It usually goes to hell after a brush stroke or two, but that is why watercolouring is so entertaining. The other sketch was a winding up exercise, I had 15 minutes before the train came, so I sketched, what else is there to do in a train station!
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| Pencil sketch at Central Station, Stockholm |
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| Uncompleted watercolour of Central Station |
If one cares to look at my drawings from a few years back one can see I used outlines as a rule. I think when one is unsure one uses an outline as a form of familiar security, like filling in the dots, a, b and c. I’ve been trying to break away from this for ages, it’s not easy when one has used it for a life time. That’s why I like watercolour so much, it does not like to stay within the any lines I put down. This morning I focused on tone and not line, I realize that if I’m ever going to be a good painter I’ll have to master tone and composition, both of which I’m studying at the moment.
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| Central Station |
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| Reading the sign |
Location: Konstnärshuset, Stockholm
A bit rusty, but I’m happy enough with my first figure sketches of 2014.
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| A4 nude 1 |
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| A4 nude 2 |
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| A4 nude 3 |
After a couple of days sketching at the Central Train Station here in Stockholm I felt ready to do my first watercolour sketch for 2014. I’m happy enough with the result, I spent two hours on it over a two day period. I used too much gouache for highlighting but as it’s just a sketch I really don’t mind, I’d prefer to use less of course.
I am getting up one hour earlier this week so that I have an hour to sketch before going to work. It is not as hard as I thought it would be. Now, I’ve found an extra hour each day to sketch and paint which makes me happy.
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| Under the Departure Sign at Central Station Stockholm. Moleskin A4 watercolour notebook. |
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| The first day, 20140113 |