Excuse me Missus.

Was on the train, minding my own, sketching, going into town, when this Woman literally barrelled down in the seat next to me with a lot of grumping and sighing. As if she thought I should move and leave the seat to her. There were plenty of other empty seats and I had a good view of people where I was, and I was there first !!!!

Then she sees I am drawing and starts laughing and leaning in to see. Now I am pinned against the carriage wall and she is leaning against me trying to see over my shoulder ! I have had sex with less body contact that this. I smile, but don't engage. And it's like she thinks I haven't noticed her, and she leans EVEN MORE. Her head is almost in between me and the book ! I can smell her hair and the fact that she smokes. And she looks at me and then the drawing and then me and it's like she is screaming, TAKE NOTICE OF ME. And it is so weird. 

So I show her the sketch, and she laughs. but doesn't back away. It's like a child watching me, and all I can do is keep shading and wait for the next stop to get off.

This is the sketch.

It is of a woman in a scarf. Can you sense the weirdness in the shading ?

People are freaky.

Neat

Ha. look how the scanner chose to frame this one. Love it.

This was done without looking at the page, which has emphasised the trendy hair and wooly hat combo to some extreme. I have reduced him to a face with big scribbly lines top and bottom.

Which the framing only emphasises more.

Neat.

Round up

Three from the last few weeks.

Happy Easter.

It just occurs to me I should have found a rabbit to sketch and post. Oh well. Too late.

Instead, two girls with long hair. ( No pun intended )

This girl, her hair was such an undeniable red, and her skin was so pale, and enveloped in a big grey scarf, she was almost a tinted daguerreotype of a girl.

Limited colours, held in check.

Euuuurggh

This guy... I don't like to tell tales out of school and get others into trouble with their mums, but this guy...

...obviously had a head cold, and kept blowing his nose on his scarf !

There is nothing I can say that would make that right, or even funny.

Sketching, fast and slow*

Two sketches of the same girl.

One done fast.

One done slow.

Liked her hair.

* with apologies to Daniel Kahneman.

2 scarves 317 - 318

For to keep out the cold.

Sunday Colour experiment - 209

So, had time to think a bit, and saw what Laure wrote, so back to the tablet.

Not convinced, not convinced. I think I am just putting colour where I think it should be, rather than looking at the subject and SEEING where it really is. So the whole idea of adding colour to sketches after the event is a bit null and void here. And those rich dark depths are nigh on impossible digitally. Well, for me, at the moment, they are.

But picked up a few interesting bits here, stuff to carry forward. Not letting it go just yet, still things to discover.

Light is, as always, the key. Maybe if I can sneak a photo of the subject after sketching them... Hmmmm. Asbo's here I come.

scarfgirl

Loved the way her scarf and coat collar sort of hold her face like something of great value you are privileged to see. They were both black which made her winter pale skin seem even more the centre of focus.

Should have shaded them heavier, might try paint later.

Her hand was superb, just enough peeking out of a huge fur sleeve to hold a book steady, but I bungled the drawing of it.

She was reading one of those massive medical books, this one thankfully free of illustrating photos. I've seen in some of those books, you slam them shut convinced you have seen the exact same life threatening pustule on your body just this morning, or worse, you end up addicted to meaningless words like cardiac infarction that go round and round in your head for days after.

Palliative care, that was the one that was stuck in my brain last week. Palliative care. Palliative care.

You really didn't need to know that, did you ?

sketch 6

This woman sat on the train next to me yesterday. Brilliant headscarf, black and white zebra stripes, edged with Greek scroll. So strong her face was almost an afterthought, tucked away in the middle of all this pattern. Didn't sketch in all the stripes, don't know why. Coat is a bit crude, on reflection should have spent a bit more time on it, after she got off the train, but probably turned the page and moved on to someone else.

That is always the challenge in something like this, the inside voice of the self censor that thinks that a sketch isn't good enough. You are inclined to only scan and post what you think will suit, that you want to show off ( because that is what this is at the end of the day - showing off ). Will post stuff I am not pleased with as well. See how that feels.