Friday, January 30, 2009

The First Post!

It's been pouring with rain in Joburg the last week. The sketch above was done in light drizzle from my car, from a parking lot looking down one of the main roads leading into the city. Two women from this café are barbequeing - or braaiing as we call it - sausages out on the pavement, tempting passers by with hungry-making smells.
The rain came down harder over the next few days, so I took my moleskine into Cresta shopping mall and looked for a scene to sketch. That little old lady in the red jacket caught my eye - she was like a tiny bright bird amongst all the neutral colours, the tiles and mirrors.

My first posting to Urban Sketcher's - a bit nervously! I think that I'm not going to repeat posting all my USk sketches here, unless there's something more I want to say about them. Here I'll admit that I haven't quite worked out my mediums and methods - I'm hoping that will come with practice, hopefully not too much trial and error. The top sketch was done on one page of my moleskine, and I wished I'd used the double spread. I did on the next one a few days later, but got all uncertain and thought I'd use a pencil first, then pen and add colour at home. The pencil lines were fine, and I lost some of the spontaneity by going over them.
I had a good view of the escalators from my table too, and did a quick pencil sketch of some of the 'travellers' - but the scanned image was really faint and I had to pump up the lines a lot in Photopaint. I think I will just go straight in with pen next time.


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Cathy, I am a South African living far from home so was delighted to find your blog via the Urban Sketchers website! Love your pictures of what are to me familiar and much missed sights.
Thank you, Theresa.

jgr said...

HI Cathy,
I love your sketches! You are able to capture so much activity and turn it into a composition. My favorite is the mall scene. Maybe I'll try it someday, thank you for the inspiration!

--Jane

Fábio Cembranelli said...

Hi Cathy, what a wonderful sketches. Your blog is excellent.If you don't mind, I'll link it to mine. Great work!

Carol Feldman said...

These are great, Cathy! I think this will prove to be a very good motivator for you.

Ramblingroses said...

Hi Cath - your sketches so evocative of the Johannesburg vibe. We'll wander (and wonder at) this new blog with you

Teresa said...

Cathy, these are just wonderful! Love the soft yet rich colors, the activity and the overall warmth of the pieces. Great job!

Cathy Gatland said...

Hello Theresa - it's nice to know you are reminded of 'home' - I hope without the 'sickness' though.Thanks for the visit!

I hope you do try, Jane - sometimes I am surprised at what's landed on the paper while I've been looking and scribbling..

Fabio - you're welcome to link, thanks so much :-)

Hi Carol - it definitely will be a good motivator. I tend towards putting it off for another day!

Thanks Jill - always very nice to have roses rambling along with me!

Hi Teresa - thanks for all your encouragement - I'm enjoying these sketches

Helen Percy Lystra said...

You've done a beatiful job with these sketches Cathy. I'm popping over to check out the Urban Sketcher site.

Laura Frankstone said...

Cathy, I really look forward to learning more about life where you are. These sketches, especially the middle one, are great augurs of things to come!