Category: Other

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Sketchbook Memories of Sketchy Saner Days


I came across this while fumbling through some older sketchbooks. It was sketched during a small outing with a few urban sketcher friends of mine at Cafe Lucerna in Prague. There was a lot of wild arabesque art nouveau architecture to sketch both in the cafe and outside the window onto the Lucerna Passage. For some reason, I ignored all that and just did a quick sketch of my friends, sketching. I gotta say I’m grateful I now have this image of who and how we were back in the new age of innocence.

On the one hand that feels like yesterday. On the other hand, thinking about all that’s changed since February 2018 makes my whole being even wobblier than it might already be. How cloistered and naively safe we were. There was no Covid. The Make America Grate Again nightmare we are surrounded by still seemed like it could believably have been a fluke. Mango Mussolini was widely thought to be manageable. His idol, Vladimir Putin, had not further invaded Ukraine. Artificial intelligence was something comfortably somewhere in the future. It was before Kyle Rittenhouse. Before January 6th. Before mass shootings became a weekly if not daily occurrence back in the States. Elected officials hadn’t been talking about civil war since right before the Civil War. It was before there was a war in Israel. This was even two years before I had the faintest notion that I was epileptic, and … before the outcome of whatever it is that’s going to happen in 2024 happens. Who knows?

Urban Sketchers Sketching at Cafe Lucerna, Prague
-Watercolor & Ink

So much for being younger and out of touch. Back then I never would have spent the better part of my waking hours doomscrolling through issues that I have no control over anyway — accomplishing nothing more than reinforcing the fact that things are even more horrific than I have the capacity to imagine.

Our Cat Learns to Read the News, 2017 – Watercolor 21*30 cm

Hmm 🤔

What to do? I’d like to believe that this chasm of good and bad shit has got to be teaching someone some kind of lessons. Regardless, one’s got to be able to auger some kind of wisdom facing forward. Gotta work on making things good so these days might be good ones to look back on.

“A society must assume that it is stable, but the artist must know, and he must let us know, that there is nothing stable under heaven.”

James Baldwin

Definitely I’ve got to keep on contributing to my sketchbook journals. The more I sketch truly, the clearer and richer the aesthetic reality of “now” will be rendered for my future eyes to happen on like my eyes happened on this one. Hopefully I’ll figure out the rest in the meantime. Please feel free to let me know if any of my work resonates with you too. Getting feedback from people really helps.

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Poking Out in the World

Taking a Balloon For a Walk

Trying to be clear when 
the day sometimes can’t manage

Days trying to be even while 
It’s sometimes not.

and might say grackle like
These all could be

are a decent compromise
Let’s say,
A compromise.

I just recently got hold of some Roher & Klingner fast drying SketchInk™ . That, combined with a few Faber-Castell Polychromous™ colored pencils, has made revisiting some ink line sketches a lot of fun and full of surprises.

Taking a balloon out for a walk

Full Disclosure: For whatever it’s worth, I’m not supported by either of these companies and am certain that neither one knows that I exist.

Now …where was I?

I’ve got oodles of pocket A6 sketchbooks I keep in almost every pocket of my clothing and book bags … not to mention strewn around my nightstand. These are so liberating to just throw down quick sketches while waiting in line somewhere or sitting on a rickety tram or just scribbling out thumbnail ideas or just scribbling for the hell of it in bed or almost anywhere else.

This format lets me sketch without being distracted or intimidated by the possibility of anything like a finished work resulting in the end.

I guess that should be the idea with all of my sketchbooks regardless of size. They’re sketchbooks dedicated to sketching. I’ll just have to agree that I have trouble remembering that … and, that so many things in general would be better if I didn’t*.

So …

… the ink handles really well in both dip pen and brush. The colors are bold expressions of mostly unsaturated pigments — think assertive earth tones? 🤔.

They do seem to handle differently The fact that they dry much more quickly than any other drawing ink I’m used to makes them great for working on some of my sketchbooks that are not designed for wet applications. This fast drying process also leads to a variety of outcomes for subsequent layers. Like watercolor, it’s fun and thrilling trying to control — or at least interact with — it.

I’ve also heard that the SketchInk™ family of drawing inks mix quite well with each other which doesn’t surprise me. The muted nature of these colors makes me guess that they’re unlikely to overpower one another. I only have two of them (Frieda and Thea) so … **

* English teacher’s note to self: gotta love the flexibility of those auxiliary verbs

** I’ve got to take a break mid sentence here. I’ll finish that thought and this post sometime soon, I hope 🤞

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February 2022 With Love Life Drawing Starting Tomorrow!

Woohoo 🎉

Lots of us have been waiting for this; I sure know I have. The now month of Figuary — a month devoted to exploring figure drawing in an online community setting has been one of the most resourceful and rewarding annual markers since it’s inception and development over the past 3 (I think) years. The challenges figure drawing are brilliantly complemented with insightful tips and insights from Kenzo and his impishly brilliant mom and mentor, Mayko — plus and occasional cameo from a lovely dog named Maggie.

In addition, there are often guest mini lectures from some truly inspiring contemporary figure drawing greats like Richard Powell and Lane Brown … and almost everything is free for the standard broke a.f. artist like me.

I understand that this year’s iteration had to contend with a number of unforeseen logistical complications, which speak to why it’s starting in the middle of this already shortened month of February. It’s a shame that the word “figure” doesn’t aliterate with a 31 day month.

Postings from this site http://lovelifedrawing.com have indicated that this year’s difficulties have been used to present a particular slate of presentations for the upcoming weeks. I don’t know what they’ll be, but I do trust Kenzo et al’s creativity and devotion to come up with some great stuff.

In short, I encourage everyone of all levels of figure drawing to check it out at any level from being a fly on the wall to being a more active member of the community.

Free sign up is here https://community.lovelifedrawing.com

I copied the plan from lovelifedrawing’s page here:


Welcome and Schedule

Welcome to the Fresh Eyes Challenge. This challenge is all about transforming the way that you see the figure. Day 1 is on Tuesday 15th February. Over the next ten days, you’ll be accessing a variety of tutorials, live sessions, custom reference images, and a community platform where you can connect to other people who are also taking part in the challenge.

The exercises are designed to be suitable to all abilities, so it doesn’t matter whether you’re a complete beginner or an experienced artist: if you’re interested in improving your life drawing skills, you’re in the right place!

How does it work?

I’ll be sharing a new post on every morning of the challenge which will contain the exercises and reference images. You can log on each day to follow along with the practice for that day.

What will we work on each day?

Other (than) the 10 days, there will be 2 main YouTube tutorials, 3-4 extra mini-tutorials, 4 live sessions, and 5 references images to draw each day. As always, I will keep everything as concise and clear as possible. Here’s a summary of how the challenge will be structured:

Day 1 (Tues 15th Feb)

  • YouTube Tutorial: the Fresh Eyes 2D model, approx 15 mins
  • Extra explanation mini-tutorial: how to use the 2D model in practice
  • Exercise 1: recreating poses with the 2D model for 5 front poses

 Day 2 (Wed 16th Feb) 

  • Exercise 2: recreating and drawing 5 front view poses with the 2D model
  • 9pm (GMT) : LIVE session, 45  mins – how to see the major forms and ideas in the front poses and addressing common mistakes.

Day 3 (Thurs 17th Feb)

  • Extra explanation mini-tutorial: Introducing the side view. 
  • Exercise 3: Recreating and drawing 5 side view poses using the 2D model.

Day 4 (Fri 18th Feb)

  • Exercise 4: Further side view practice with 5 poses
  • 3pm (GMT) : LIVE session, 45 mins – understanding the forms in side view and addressing common mistakes.

Day 5 (Sat 19th Feb)

  • Exercise 5: drawing 6 poses in front and side views without the 2D model.

Day 6 (Sun 20th Feb)

  • YouTube Tutorial: Moving to 3D forms, approx 15 mins
  • Exercise 6 – drawing 5 simple poses with foreshortened limbs using simple forms and surface lines

Day 7 (Mon 21st Feb)

  • Exercise 7 – drawing rotated torsos using simple 3D forms for ribcage and pelvis
  • 9pm (GMT) : LIVE session, 45 mins – using observations to lay down 3D forms

Day 8 (Tues 22nd Feb)

  • Exercise 8 – drawing twisting torsos using simple 3D forms
  • Extra explanation mini-tutorial: how the pelvis, ribcage, shoulders and twist create different twists.

Day 9 (Wed 23rd Feb)

  • Exercise 9 – drawing complex ribcage and pelvis relationships with angle difference, tilt difference and rotation difference / twist. At this point, we start to understand the relationships between forms in 3 dimensions at once.

Day 10 (Thurs 24th Feb)

  • Drawing Exercise 9, accompanied with new reference poses
  • 9pm (GMT) : LIVE session, 45 mins – the finale live session, where we tackle all sorts of poses using our Fresh Eyes to understand the forms we see.

When will live sessions be and how do I join?

The live sessions (which you don’t have to attend live as there will be a recording) are a chance to gain extra clarity about the simplified forms we are studying, address common problems that are coming up in the community area and answer your questions. These sessions are optional and not required for you to complete the challenge, but they will be useful! Make sure you register if you’d like to join the live sessions!

Weds 16th Feb (Day 2)  –  9pm (GMT)

Fri 18th (Day 4) – 3pm (GMT)

Mon 21st Feb (Day 7)-  9pm (GMT)

Thurs 24th Feb (Day 10) 9pm (GMT)

You’ll need to register to join the live sessions here: https://my.demio.com/ref/02V2yH0wIGu1SS6r

The times above are UK (GMT). If you live in a different timezone, you can check the start time here

What if I miss a live session?

If you can’t make any of the live sessions, don’t worry! There will be a recording posted on the page for that day of the challenge.

How do I join the community?

You can join the community here: https://community2.lovelifedrawing.com/

One of the most fun things about this challenge will be to do it together, so whether you want to share your drawings, encourage others or just see whats going on, it would be great to have you join the community!

Thanks everyone, and hope you enjoy the challenge