People who sketch People

After creatures at the zoo, I've been back looking at and sketching people, wherever I've been, sometimes making the effort going out specially to find some  - brush people, pen people, pen and wash people, water-soluble people.

I often seriously doubt my ability to render them while I'm at it, but usually at some stage after the sketch is done, I'll recognise something of what I was trying to capture, and forgive myself my shortcomings.

I often wonder while I'm sketching, if I am in fact enjoying myself - that only seems to happen after the session is over and I look at the sketches, and think... that was fun... wasn't it? It can be a bit of a panic, thinking its just not happening at all. And then it has, I (sometimes) realise later.

But not always, then I fiddle and faddle and add more colour or thicker lines until its thoroughly overworked and I'm fed up with it like this one...


Occasionally I'll see someone who really appeals to me, because of their clothes, or posture or attitude and rush down a few mad strokes and something good just happens - that woman in the red dress and white hat (top right) for instance - and I think finally I'm getting somewhere, that's how I want to sketch.

Then the next time I try, and am disappointed again but leave it just as it is and much later perhaps, oh well, maybe not as bad as I thought...

...it's a roller-coaster isn't it?!

Liebermann's Pottery

Joburg Sketchers is growing! On Saturday we had a great sketch-out at Liebermann's Pottery, which is on the grounds of the Old Gasworks which I've sketched before, from a distance.

What a rich treasure house of sketching material - the ugly/beautiful old brick and corrugated-iron buildings of the abandoned gasworks, with networks of chutes and pylons, and machinery whose purpose is now a mystery. We were strictly forbidden to enter the demolition site, as they called it - sincerely hope nobody is planning to demolish this amazing part of our history - as there were reportedly pools of acid and a 'trigger-happy security guard' on the premises...okayyy! And of course there were pots and ceramics galore with various oddities and knick-knacks interspersed. I spent most of the time on the top sketch of the back of the pottery. As I was about to leave I spotted Cathy Giordano still working away in the front, so I joined her for another quick sketch of statues and pots. Suddenly a furious looking raggedy head popped out from between the pots, on the end of a skinny bare red neck. My first thought was "hey, I know you, guy!", then remembered I'd seen him on the 2summers blog I mentioned in my last post.

Sketchbooks of the other participants of the sketching trip - one was missing
amongst the pots.

He and his little hen-friend obviously spend their days foraging among the pots and I think belong to the night watchman who lives there. Their diet must be a bit lacking in feather-producing nutrients, unless they express their affection for each other by plucking each other - a new spin on the word necking! Catching his quick outline made my day.

Sketches on the Move

You may have read by now this post on Katherine Tyrrell's Making a Mark about the new blog A Postcard From My Walk, where a group of us sketching, exercising people a.k.a. Sketchercisers are going to be showing the postcards we'll be sending each other every month over the next year or so. Hand-made, sketched postcards of course. These samples are just me experimenting on different types of card and paper, and trying to sketch smaller - I tend to overflow my boundaries and this small format is quite a challenge. The postcards themselves will remain a secret until we spot an exciting little rectangle in our letterboxes. Let's hope they all get here, and there, safely! I was quite concerned about them staying clean and pristine, but Albrecht Rissler (see his mailart section!) showed us some of his postcard collection, and the stamps, postmarks, wear and tear just add to them, and show the journey they've been on. Watercolours probably need an envelope for protection from rain and snow, but otherwise, anything goes. I'm so looking forward to checking my post box over the next months, I'll probably be getting quite a bit of exercise just doing that!

Sketchcrawl #29

Yesterday our fledgling Joburg Sketchers group went to the Museum of Military History (aka the War Museum) for the 29th International Sketchcrawl. A boy sketcher's paradise, but a challenge for the less mechanically minded. First I tried the actual War Memorial from a close-up angle - hence stiff neck muscles today and proof that my perspective skills need serious work, then the angel on the top - somebody said it's called a 'nike', which I must look up when I have time. I have no time! At last I realised I couldn't escape, I had to draw a mechanical thing - a big gun - interesting how all the bits fit together when you start drawing at one end and work your way to the other. You can see the other Joburg sketchers work here on the Sketchcrawl site.
I spent Thursday and Friday at a wonderful drawing workshop, but the reporting of it and photographing the results is going to take a while, and life has got hectic again - hope to get to it soon.

Vineyard Afternoon

Another long absence from this space, but I've been having a wonderful break in the most beautiful Cape in all the world - a fairly impulsive trip to help celebrate a birthday, as it's a long way to drive - but well worthwhile on all fronts. A happy family gathering, a party, spring seeping into all the mountains and valleys, sea and veld, wonderful stays in towns and villages that we have whizzed through before and longed to spend a little longer Sometime... well the Sometime arrived and all we wanted to do was spend a lot longer, so next Sometime...

This pen and watercolour sketch was done from a kitchen window on a farm in Elgin, a valley rippling with apple and pear orchards, vineyards and olive groves - on an afternoon where a gale was whipping the trees and vines and threatening to sabotage the birthday party - but at 4 o'clock it dropped as if exhausted and all was calm for the celebrations, to everyone's relief.

If any of our friends and family see these holiday posts and wonder why they didn't see us... I'm sorry! It was a whistle-stop week long tour, and we were being mostly tourists this time. Hope to be back soon for a more sociable visit! Other sketches I did were so rushed and scribbly, I need to work on them a bit to make them presentable, but hope to be sharing a bit more of our lovely week away with you soon.

SketchCrawl - with company!

Yesterday was a great day!... the 28th World Wide SketchCrawl and, at last, there was a group of us instead of just me! I'd heard from John Philip through this blog, and he being of an age and mind to know how to do these things, started a Facebook Event to invite interested people to come along to the Emmarentia botanical gardens to meet and sketch. We had about ten sketchers and a couple more to provide encouragement and model material, and we had a lovely afternoon, in spite of rather chilly weather and dry, sparse wintry gardens to inspire us. When there are more resulting sketches posted, I'll put a link here to the others that were done on the day. I tried to record the occasion by putting as many of my fellow sketchers in mine as possible. We are planning to make it a regular gathering, with many others who couldn't make it keen to join in when they can. Another reason to celebrate, the third anniversary of A Sketch in Time was also yesterday - who would have thought I'd keep anything going that long!?

Walking not sketching

Yesterday, at last, after watching and sketching from the sidelines in previous years, my husband and I took part in the annual Walk the Talk, now the biggest sporting event in the world with 50 000 participants. We only did the 5km route, which was so easy and pleasant, we wished we'd registered for the 8, or even the 15km one - we're fitter than we thought! This is the third time I'm blogging about this event, which means A Sketch in Time is almost three years old! I sketched at the starting line, thinking I might try along the way as well, but it was hard enough staying with my husband, so I only took out my sketchbook again at the end, where a band was entertaining the crowd, and there was a climbing castle for the children. I added colour to these afterwards - the original line-only ones are on Urban Sketchers.

I painted a little watercolour study later of the lady in red and yellow -  she was having a great time dancing to the 'Golden Oldies' music the band was playing, but then a man who was watching over my shoulder asked if he could show his friends, and proceeded to show everybody who I'd sketched, including her, which I'm afraid inhibited her for a bit after that.

Back to the Birds

After all the visitors, colour and excitement of the football, back to normal life, whatever that is - and some quiet time in my studio. I've been sticking fruit in the bare branches of the plum tree right outside my window, and birds have very quickly become expectant about finding more there every morning. I set up sketchbook, watercolours and pen-and-ink ready to sketch them yesterday - the movement of my hand dipping pen into the ink chased the crested barbet (middle) away so I had to do that slo-o-ow motion the next time he arrived. They are comical little birds and sometimes chase each other around on the ground, tumbling and chattering with their feathers fluffed out, like clowns with mad, bad hair. But this one was shy - so in between visits I sketched the blackeyed barbets (oops, I meant bulbuls!), who aren't as bothered by me staring at them through the window - nor by our sluggish old dog trying to catch some feeble winter sun under the branches!

Thanks to everyone who has been so encouraging about my World Cup sketching! I think I took a little leap in sketching fast and wildly in public and it was great to have your support :o)

Viva vuvuzela viva!

Yesterday the United We Shall Stand parade swamped the streets of Sandton - tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of people came to show their support for our team, but also to celebrate the fact that the World Cup is here, and demonstrate just how incredibly happy we are that it is. A sea of yellow jerseys interspersed with the South African flag colours, bouncing, throbbing, swaying - accompanied by the deafening, but sometimes reasonably melodious when played well, sound of vuvuzelas, and the odd kudu horn. Groups burst into song and dance, gathering new fans eager to learn the words and steps. The buses eventually made their way past, carrying the press and Bafana Bafana to rapturous greeting. What a wonderful day and spirit of everyone pulling together for this once in a lifetime event.

Standing up and sketching in a lively crowd like this was challenging to say the least, and I was squirmy as some came to peep over my shoulder, all I seemed able to make were illogical scribbles - and I do apologise to viewers and the architects for my buildings! I floundered with my pens, abandoning the fine Pitt pen halfway through the second sketch for the bolder Pentel brushpen and I gave up on colour until later at home, though I did it as fast and sparingly, with Pitt colour pens, as the quick sketches warranted. I'm feeling rather beholden to record as much of the World Cup activities as I can for Urban Sketchers, as there doesn't seem to be another sketcher attending. I'm not a huge soccer fan - though I'm certainly coming round - and I haven't even got tickets to any of the games. If anyone who draws anywhere in South Africa (Liz? Maree? Marie? Debbie? Cathy?) would like to attempt to capture some of the World Cup action, please do - you can share them on the USk Flickr site, or Facebook, or email them to me at catgat at mweb dot co dot za (small files) and I'll post them for you - bear in mind point #1 of the USk manifesto:

We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation. - not from photographs or memory.

Party Time!

Hooray! At last I've finished the illustration job that has taken a large chunk of my time over the last six or seven months. Here's a sketch of my friend Jill's lovely birthday party that happened back in November to celebrate. In fact, I didn't sketch at the lunch - I planned to, taking paper and pens - but, I just can't manage talking, eating, drinking, laughing and sketching at the same time, so I took photographs, and Jill's friend Jan took photographs and I drew from those.
It no longer is a sketch then, you start fiddling with arranging and moving elements around instead of composing on the spot. Some faces came out bigger than others, and some seriously didn't look like anybody there, so I had to scan and cut and paste, eventually printing out the manipulated line drawing on sketchbook paper and putting watercolour onto that. I'm aware that it resembles da Vinci's Last Supper arrangement of figures, especially since I had to stick my rather bemused face in, for the record, at the opposite end from where I was sitting. I suspect this is the only way you can fit so many people (13!) on one landscape format - so it was entirely unintentional and not meant to be sacrilegious, so don't start trying to work out who's who! But it was a GREAT party, so much fun - I put trees and windows in because soon after we'd sat down under the trees in the sunshine, clouds gathered and rain started bucketing down - we were herded under the roof and the tarpaulin sides were let down and the celebrations continued very happily.

Have I figured out how to post a larger size picture on here? I'll find out when I publish this! I hope it doesn't take too long to load. Let me know if it does and I'll make it the usual size.

Fashion School

Today I did something I've been wanting to do for ages - I went to the Design academy where my daughter Dominique works as a lecturer, and was kindly allowed to lurk around the edges as they prepared for a big fashion show. I started with shaky line drawings in a sketchpad, then bravely decided to bring out my lovely new A4 Moleskine watercolour notebook and full W&N wooden-box set. What a great place to sketch... I felt like I was just getting into the flamboyance, excitement and tension of it all, when I suddenly felt quite exhausted and had to call it a day - I hope to go back again sometime and go straight in with colours and confidence!

A Small Sketchcrawl

I didn't find anyone to go Sketchcrawling with me on Saturday, and I wasn't feeling very energetic after a week's sleep deprivation (neighbour's alarms and springtime sinuses taking turns to wrench me from my slumbers), so I just took a little sketchbook with me to breakfast at a little café nearby, and then to the delectable Cheese Shop next-door. I'm afraid they aren't very typical of Johannesburg, or South Africa, to represent this part of the world in my first contribution to this forum. By the time the next one comes along I'm determined to dig out some other sketchers in this city - there must be some!


I slept in the afternoon, to be ready to go to a performance of Cats at The Teatro at the Montecasino complex in the evening. It was a really fabulous production, I can't imagine that it was too much inferior to the original London one. I took just the black of my Elmer's Paintastics colour-changing markers (for kids really, but too cool for this grownup to resist), because it would be quick and easy to carry, then added more colours and the Magic Wand later.


We sat at the back, way up in the rafters, so the stage looked pretty tiny, but the performances, sets and lighting were BIG, so we enjoyed it nevertheless. It was pretty dark when I sketched the stage, and when I had a crazy attempt at the dancers, I couldn't see what I was doing on my page at all, so this is an - um - expressionist(?) rendition of a little bit of the movement.

A sculpture exhibition

I can't believe it's over a week since I posted - the year is galloping away and leaving me a bit dazed in its wake. Yesterday I somehow got dressed in clothes that were too smart to paint in (I'm working on an oil painting, but not at all sure that I'm ready to show it to anybody) so decided to go and look at the Dylan Lewis sculpture exhibition at the Everard Read Gallery and do a bit of necessary shopping. The sculptures are gigantic and roughly hewn - he leaves many of the marks of building, finger and hand prints, interspersed with carefully crafted details - they look as if they've been dragged, or dragged themselves, up from the earth. I sketched one of the massive figures, hoping someone would come along to show the scale in my drawing, but no one did - you can more or less tell by the size of the doorway. I photographed the explanatory piece on the right - I think its written by Laura Twiggs - that was up on the wall, as well as writing down a quotation that was displayed as part of the exhibit, on the sketchbook page.

I've just started reading Art of Sketching (Sterling Publishing) and trying to be more expressive with my marks - so far its a really helpful and informative, richly illustrated guide that promises to reveal many of the aspects of sketching that have eluded me up to now.

Steamroller printing

One of the good things about Urban Sketchers, is that it makes you get out there and partake in Life! It's so easy (or it is for me) to ensconce yourself in home and studio and just let the world go by.
I had an email about an art project happening at 44 Stanley, where a steamroller would be used for linocut printing. Which I thought sounded interesting, but it was at about the same time as SA playing the All Blacks in the Tri-Nations Cup... and parking is so hard to find at 44... and I should be spring-cleaning my house... but I hadn't done any urban sketching for quite a long while, so... all that went out the window. Except for the rugby, of course. If I wanted company and moral support on my sketching expedition, I had to wait for that to finish.
Directly after the match (Go Bokke!!!) BFG and me hurried off, found a parking space right next to the steamroller and spent a delightful hour watching, chatting (BFG) and sketching (me). Students of local art schools and print artist Fiona Pole laid out and inked their linocuts and used as their press, a cute little yellow steamroller! I did wish I too could be 20 again and just starting out on this whole art adventure, but also happy to be standing on the sidelines and recording the event. Two or three of the students were curious as to what I was up to, and I think - I hope - I may have found a couple more potential Joburg urban sketchers for the future. We'll see...
After that lunch amongst the wisteria and sunshine in a buzzy, trendy courtyard - table no. 13 lucky for us as the previous couple up and left just as we arrived.
Below one of the lino-prints and some of the students with their work...

How to Sketch Crowds

This post is in response to a couple of comments, asking that I reveal all on How to Sketch Crowds. It's been a novel and slightly daunting experience trying to formulate what has come about through years of trial and error, and the good old 3 P's - practice, practice, practice - in my case both voluntary and imposed (when I was required to draw anything, fast, on demand as a junior 'renderer' in the ad industry way back when...)
Katherine Tyrrell has also done comprehensive posts on drawing people and people while eating - forgive me if I repeat some of what she's said - it probably means that's a pretty good point to remember!

First I'll presume that you're very familiar with drawing single figures and faces before you get to the crowds... lots of life-drawing, your family or friends in front of the TV, etc. Figures and faces from the side, front, top, three-quarter, back, sitting, slouching, smiling, frowning... Observation is a lifelong exercise that never ends - I'll stare at someone's foot, taking mental notes of how it looks from the front, or how a mouth curves when facing up and laughing... it's why I sometimes don't hear what you're saying to me, but also why I think I've got better at drawing over the years!

OK. Crowds. I start with one figure - generally around the centre foreground. I might start with sketchy pencil lines like this --> to vaguely place the figures, especially if there's perspective involved, but not always. I've numbered them more or less as I'd start and finish. If there are structure/s around which people are arranged, like chairs, tables, pillars, indicate them to give you a point of reference for size and position. Not too much detail on those - you can add that later if you want to.

With these at the licensing department I sketched in pencil and added pen and watercolour afterwards at home, but keeping, as much as I could, the spontaneous feel - I wished soon after I started, that I had gone straight in with pen, but it was one of my first attempts at a crowded room, so I was a bit wary. And I didn't know I would have so much time to draw!I don't worry about getting the right people in the right places - who would know? - in this situation, every ten to fifteen minutes the queue of people got up and shifted 5 or 6 seats along, so the next person I drew would be relative to the first, but wasn't necessarily the person that was sitting next to them at the time.
I drew the head and shoulders of this guy (1), and the line got up and moved, so I left his lower half until a suitable body came along to complete the figure. The owner of the hands filling in his forms (2) actually had his head (with long, floppy hair if I remember correctly) bent right over them, but added onto my original head, they're just paused in their writing task.
A note on hands - don't stress over them, if they're the right size and vague shape, they'll register as 'hands' - don't get into counting fingers as I used to do!
I'll continue with figures to the left and right of my first one, front to back - I like to do two or three character sketches, just because I enjoy people's faces, especially if there are interesting expressions, hats (3), hairdo's (4) and so on. Then I fill in the gaps between the main players...whatever can provide some interest to a sea of heads and shoulders, I look out for and put in. A hand gesture to the face (5) a yawn, a stretch - anything to add mood or liveliness to a scene.

In this Food Court sketch I think I started with the girl with the ponytail, as she was a 'safe' distance away not to notice. The woman on the right arrived and smiled and laughed continuously the whole time she was there, but by the time I got to her daughter, I think it was that she was talking to, they were moving off, so she's smiling and chatting to a total
stranger who sat down there next, and gulped his food so fast I only just got him down in time!

In this sketch of a moving, singing, dancing choir, I started with the central figure of the choir-leader - I went straight in with my fine pen (0.2 unipin) - don't worry if lines overlap or if you do some 'wrong' lines - it all adds to the impression of movement and action, and might help in developing your own special signature style. I picked out just one figure that I had a good view of and sketched them doing whatever it was at the time - the one to the right of the conductor dancing, the next clapping, then to the gaps in between, going back row by row and filling in - again, nobody will know or care if you left somebody out or put someone in a different place, as long as they are more or less in proportion to each other.

As for colour - I mostly add it later at home, unless I have unlimited time and space, don't mind who's watching and have all my equipment to hand, which isn't often - in fact it's usually from the shelter of my car that I occasionally paint people on the spot. Sometimes I'll pencil in colour notes to remind me, as in the second pencil sketch - sometimes one or two striking colours serve to highlight a figure or group. With the choir, they were all in black but I used blue to enliven the darks, and their spotted scarves to further convey their energy and sparkle.

I hope you find this helpful, Linda, and any other interested parties - it was Cathy of Cards and Stuff who commented "I'm amazed at how many people you can sketch !! And the sketches seem to have been done calmly... Are people sitting nicely still for you to sketch them or what? ;-) What's your magic trick?" No, I'm definitely not always calm Cathy, and they don't sit still, but hopefully this explains some of my process, which undergoes reviews constantly, so check back!

Talking of Walks

On Sunday was the annual Walk the Talk fundraising event where 50 000 people pound the pavements of Joburg, starting and ending about 500 metres from our house. Those who've been watching this blog since it's beginning (I know there are at least two of you ;-) will know that means that the second anniversary of A Sketch in Time is therefore coming around soon! I'm embarrassed to read on last year's post I did about the walk (this is the first one), I vowed that BFG and me would be partaking next year...ahem, coff, coff, we weren't quite feeling up to, er, registering in time, and when we were feeling fitter, well, um, it was just too late...darn! I'm ashamed that a declared Sketcherciser chickened out - again, but we went down to watch and encourage, with camera and sketchbook, and it was lots of fun. My sketch of the walkers isn't nearly as 'accomplished' as last year's - that's because I tried to do it live, on the spot, with no techno-aids... just impossible really, they all came at me so thick and fast.
So I gave up and we went to Mark's Park where the end-celebrations were taking place. I sat in front of the stage and started sketching a group, trying to get a view of the interesting looking befeathered and beskinned people sitting in it, and on the stage - Bongani who sang, and some wizard soccer-ball jugglers with drummers.

Then the people in skins jumped onto the stage and began some very high-energy, high-kicking, stomping and springing - they were a Zulu dance group, I don't know from where - perhaps Gold Reef City or some such tourist destination - we don't generally have Zulu warriors and maidens in full regalia strutting around the streets - I thought they'd dressed up for the walk, as many do.


After their spirited show a group of Tswana dancers went up - dressed in different skins, they did a much more restrained performance - it looked like a courting sort of dance with much flirting, pleading and spurning going on.

I sketched these in a very small A6 sketchbook - trying as always, to be inconspicuous, but a few people around noticed and came to have a look over my shoulder, making me feel embarrassed at the little squiggles I'd produced. They were improved after I'd added a bit of colour at home.


While I was busy trying to make a scribbled record of the day, my husband was having a whale of a time routing out some famous sportsmen who were donating their time and energy to the occasion and it's charities, and cajoling them to pose with him for his version of a brag book. Here he is with, from left to right, Michael Vaughan, the ex-England cricket Captain, 'Baby Jake' Matlala, our flyweight boxing champ, and Bafana Bafana soccer star/ex-Leeds United captain, Lucas Radebe. He already has pictures with many of the Springbok rugby team who he was overjoyed to find himself with, on a flight from Cape Town some time ago, and with whom he now identifies so strongly that the green-and-gold Springbok jersey is donned at every opportunity.