I wish I took time to learn to draw. I used to do cartoons when I was younger but nothing more adept than a few squiggles.
Several years ago I was at the London Graphics Centre and saw a special offer on Daler-Rowney A4 notebooks. Couldn’t resist the idea of carrying a snazzy book around and making the odd drawing when I felt like it.
This weekend I touched its virgin paper for the first time.
I needed to be somewhere inspirational if I was to dig out any form of talent. So, we made for the Tate Modern on the South Bank. It’s free, full of art and has plenty of space to sit inconspicuously. Perfect.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
I chose my victim. A guy sat just ahead of me, waiting for a friend to finish with one of the exhibitions no doubt. He didn’t seem to move much so this would be the perfect opportunity.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
And this would be the end result. I admit I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing with my extensive range of Derwent pencils but I think I covered at least 4 different techniques for shading: using different weights of pencil, sketching harder in certain places, smudging and doing lines instead of filling in blocks.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Mildly happy with my result. Most significantly, I actually really enjoyed doing it. This could be the start of more drawing of random people…
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
