It’s nice to get back to these hot shots. I’m so sorry for the massive long wait!

This is Hot shot 21 and it’s all about being able to sketch things when they move and not get frustrated!

Towards the end I’ll be updating you with somethings that  I have been up to and  involved in,  during the long wait and where I’ll be demonstrating before the year ends. Also if you are based in London and want a free ticket to take part the open Studio at Heatherley’s, please let me know and I’ll send you a half day free session to either draw or paint from the model in the open studio at Heatherley’s School of Fine Art, starting off in September.

Let’s start with the Hot Shot first!

 

21. Get the hang of getting a page filled up. If you are sketching a moving object and it keeps moving like a horse or a human being. Don’t get discouraged by its constant moving, sketch every move. If it moves again, them sketch it again, keep sketching every single change. Most likely you may want to number each movement as you go along. I do this when sketching on public transport and it helps to keep sketching even though the person keeps taking different positions as I am constantly working on two, three or four drawings at the same time, filling up the whole page with them.

Sketches on Public Transport IX

Sketches on Public Transport IX- This is the sketch I was trying to show you in my video above. Here I started from the right to the left. She was awake then went into sleeping gears. The way to make sure you do this is to be patient to record each sleeping pose she falls into. With careful observation you would be able to have a few poses, maybe 2 or 3 that work and you can continue with each one once she falls back into that position. It is a great way to record movement and I can tell you, IT WORKS!!!

This blogpost is purely to encourage the discouraged sketcher out there who gets frustrated when the person, animal or subject they are trying to sketch, moves.

There is no need to despair. My technique of conquering this is by working on several positions at the same time.

Make sure you are patient, never be in a hurry, just keep a cool head and observe!

The key to this is, is the ART OF SEEING! you must be  able TO SEE! I know this sounds weird since we are not blind, but most people, especially beginners, just LOOK without SEEING the movements, the changes and what needs to be recorded.

But meanwhile, try this out, the next time you are sketching and the thing you are sketching or the person you are sketching moves. Have more than one going on at the same time.

This is not how to record FAST and HIGH SPEED movement that you get in busy urban places like stations and streets. that will be another HOT SHOT.

This is just for those subtle simple movements that occur when we are sketching in Public places or even our kids at home.

Hope you enjoy all the examples I have shared below with some descriptions too.

 

12 sketches of a moving sleeping man

12 sketches of a moving sleeping man- This was really interesting, just capturing this man moving like a whirlwind all over the place, once he moved, I just started a new one…I ended up with 12 and a very interesting composition.

 

Sketches of a man sleeping in 2 poses

Sketches of a man sleeping in 2 poses- An excellent example of what I call Sleeping in motion! I finished one, then started on another.

 

2 sketches of a man in shirt and jumper

2 sketches of a man in shirt and jumper-This was another pretty straight forward one. The guy moved and kept mostly, two main poses  One, a three-quarter view and the other, a total profile.

Sketches of a lady during making up

Sketches of a lady during making up- Ladies putting on make up are really hard but I had to keep 6 going on, at the same time. This is a really good way to improve gesture drawing when it comes to Life Drawing.

Sketches od a man in coat, sleeping in 2 poses

Sketches of a man in coat, sleeping in 2 poses- This is a classical pose of two and they were fairly straight forward because he only changed twice. He seemed to dream about something pleasant as seen in his face to the right.

Assorted sketches of hands in different positions

 Sketches of hands in different positions– Never has any part of the body been very difficult to draw for me than the hands and people move them a lot, so it is also good to keep many going on at the same time.

 

5 attempts at sketching a baby with a dummy

5 attempts at sketching a baby with a dummy- Babies or kids are the hardest to capture, they have tons of energy and move very quickly. That’s why I had 5 takes on the same subject.

 3 sketches of the same man

3 sketches of the same man- These sketches were done over long journey of about 30 minutes but the commuter moving all over, I could hardly get my details down on any of them.

3 sketches of the same man on the train, one where he wears a hat

3 sketches of the same man on the train, one where he wears a hat-This scenario was interesting  because it was a long journey, the commuter started off without a cap and after two attempts, he wore his cap, which really makes this sketch interesting to behold, a kind of really slow animation.

 3 sketches of lady in profile

3 sketches of lady in profile- These almost look similar, I’m sure you’ll notice this, but there are still some differences, subtle, but there, and I was out to record that.

3 sketches of an old man

3 sketches of an old man- Old faces are a delight to behold! One is able to really get into the form and structure of the face. It can also be a trap, because the face is so interesting we might not want to start on a new one and just wait till the model moves back to the preferred position. But it’s always good to keep two or three going on at the same time.

3 sketches of a woman day dreaming

3 sketches of a woman day dreaming- It was a shame I didn’t start this one earlier. It’s one of those things that happen when we are undecided as sketchers. So I ended up rushing these. Can you notice the slight tilts of the head? It’s so subtle, but the movement is there!

 3 sketches of a black woman with brazillian hair

3 sketches of a black woman with Brazilian hair-These are all of the same lady, she was sleeping and sometimes she’ll woke up too. As you can see from these sketches, the third sketch has her eyes opened. try doing this when people move, it’s fun, because you have planned ahead of time, you are ready to continue sketching in the new position. Here, I focused on three positions.

 

2 sketches of the same woman in two sleeping modes

3 sketches of the same woman in 3  sleeping modes-This woman was really tired, she was swinging all over the place. At a point I really thought shew was going to bang her head on the window or just drop on the floor. She was really having a great time sleeping! I was really in full concentration when it came to this sketch! But I decided to focus on only two poses, the third one was never really finished (as seen on the far right)

2 sketches of the same man sleepi

2 sketches of the same man asleep- Sleeping people are the best to sketch! Sketching them is a total delight. They move too, as you can see from this sketch, but they tend to always go back to the same positions. It is then useful to wait and watch how many positions you want to focus on and then just keep sketching as they move into those positions.

2 sketches of a womans legs

2 sketches of a woman’s legs-This sketch says a lot about the world we live in today. This woman was right in front of me and FULLY engaged on her Smart phone. This made the sketching an easy process, while all other commuters looking on, were surprised at the sketching and her not knowing at all.

 2 sketches of a lady standing

2 sketches of a lady standing-Standing people are very hard to draw and they move a lot, these are just two that I managed to sketch in a short period of time while waiting at Woolwich Arsenal Station. If you look clearly you’ll notice that there is a third attempt too.

 

2 profile sketches of a man.

2 profile sketches of a man. -These were done on the Bus. In this circumstance we are positioned side by side, facing one direction. It’s hard but I still want to sketch. So I have to keep moving my head to the side, and each time I look back, he seems to have changed. I don’t let this bother me, I just keep 3 running at the same time. The pose in the middle is the one he kept in most of the time.

 

3 Skethes of a Somalian man

3 Sketches of a Somalian man- These sketches all took 25 minutes and I noticed the man was moving in three different positions. It was a longer journey, so I had more time to finish the sketches.

 

2 new sketches of lady standing on the tube

2  sketches of lady standing on the tube-This was sketched while I was standing on the tube. This lady took two different poses and I managed to switch from one to the other.

 

 SOME INTERESTING NEWS

  • I was featured on the community channel in a short film on my life as An addictive Sketcher in August. A repeat of the film will be  Broadcasting 24-hours on Freeview HD 63 , Sky 539, Virgin Media 233 and Freesat 651 on Friday 21st August (today) at 23:00 and Tuesday 25th August 2015 at 21:00
  • I had articles in The Artist Magazine (Summer Issue) on developing a sketching habit, click HERE and one on Plein Air Painting in The Artist and Illustrators Magazine (Current Issue) September 2015 click HERE.
  • I was featured on the One Show on 11th of July, when Chris Evans made last appearance, I was to complete a FAST painting in 30 minutes….it was great! Click HERE for a snap shot.
  • I was featured on Arise TV in an interview just before I took part in an Exhibition with 34 other Nigerian Artists in April May this year, click HERE for video.
  • I currently have a Self Portrait selected from open submission in the RUTH BORCHARD SELF PORTRAIT PRIZE at Piano & Noble, it runs from 1oth of July- 9 October. Click HERE to see the works
  • I started teaching at Heatherley’s School of Fine Art, the  College I finished from around 11 years ago. I started by teaching in the open studio in May/June.
  • I am going to be covering a wedding tomorrow at Cirnester as a SKETCHOGRAPHER, I’ll update you with the progress….
  • I’ll also be demonstrating  Plein Air painting at “A brush with the Broads” to find out click HERE

OFFER FOR A FREE SESSION AT THE OPEN STUDIO at Heatherley School of Fine Art, Chelsea

I have a few invitations for free sessions at the Open Studio at Heatherley’s. If you are based in London, just contact me at blazeandshade@aol.com and I’ll send it to you.

 

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