Lunch Lines: Get a Pencil!

Here’s a building that I was sketching in the historic Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC. I was sketching this the way I’d been doing all of my lunchtime sketches up to this point; straight from pen to paper; no pencils and no erasers, just skill and visual analyzation. Of course, Georgetown has some pretty complex structures, and this one got the better of me. After rendering the window on the left much larger than the one on the right, I had just gotten it too wrong to continue. Not a big loss; it’s only a four dollar sketchbook, and I wasn’t too excited about the building to begin with. Yet, it was a sign that I needed to up my “urban sketching” game, and start bringing in some quick pre-pencil sketching prior to laying down ink.

Lot’s of client and project work coming up in the next two weeks; see you all in February, and don’t forget to start following the 2015 pro cycling season, which begins at the end of January at the Santos Tour Down Under in Australia and the Tour de San Luis in Argentina.

IndustrialScape Drawing Progress

Here’s the progress of an imagined industrial cityscape drawing that I’ve been working on in my spare time. Of course, as a family guy, working stiff, erstwhile cyclist, and somebody whom does a whole lot of laundry and housework, my spare time usually translates to something like “maybe I’ll have an hour this week…” This drawing is taking shape in a 5″ x 8″ sketchbook, and will be done…well…eventually.

Ugly Sketchbook

Earlier this week, I posted a somewhat refined “urban sketch” of a Vespa scooter. As I had been taking increasing note of all of the scooters on the sidewalks of Washington, DC, I decided to grab my “Ugly Sketchbook”, and spend some time during a lunchtime stroll letting my pen run loose and free as I studied what the details of a scooter really are, and what it would take to sketch one.

Ugly Sketchbook

Here’s an interesting doodle from my small, cheap “ugly sketchbook”, which I use for general, no-holds-barred sketching. I had just finished up seven hours of intense digital production work; seven hours of face-to-the-screen, fingers going manic over the keyboard and mouse, and concentration pegged to the red zone. I walked out of the office with a blown-out expression on my face, feeling somewhere between a zombie and a monster, which is what inspired this doodle.

I’m going to make this the last post for 2014. Thanks to everybody whom has visited, followed, liked, and commented on Sketchbook Warrior over the past year. I’ve enjoyed the interactions, and look forward to more in 2015. Hanaka Sameach to my fellow Yisra’elim, Merry Christmas to those celebrating, and happy new year to all of you.

– Jason

Cityscape Drawing Progress

Here are some progress shots of a drawing I’m working on; an industrial area/cityscape in a 5″ x 8″ sketchbook. There are no photo references for this drawing; everything is out of my head, and based on different industrial scenes from the Washington, DC region. It’s a little-by-little project, slow going indeed, but a fun and challenging project none the less.

This is my one post for the week, as I’ll be busy exploring this “going to sleep early” thing I keep hearing about. In the meantime, welcome to all of the new followers here on Sketchbook Warrior, and thank you everybody for taking the time to check out my work, comment and/or liking the posts, and making me part of your online communities.

Retro Sketch

At a certain point back in 2010, I decided that I wanted to get back into drawing and illustration. As the studio manager for a design firm, I spent a good amount of time looking at the work of different illustrators to add to my freelance stable, and one thought that lurked in the back of my head was that none of that work was mine. I dusted off my sketchbook, which I had for almost two years at that point, inked up a fountain pen, and started to scrawl away with my stiff and rusty hand. I pulled out a doodle from many years earlier, and decided to elaborate on it, which is what this drawing is. The focus was simple: have fun, spill ink, color in a big dark area, and merely create something to get me started on the long road back to drawing proficiency.

Ugly Sketchbook: Two Washingtonians

Two more pages from my “Ugly Sketchbook”, a cheap 3″x5″ cheap scratchpad used to quickly capture or doodle just about anything. These two pages were inspired by some of the interesting people I see while making the long walk from the Metro station to my office here in Washington, DC. The top image was a hipster I saw longboarding along the street, while the second image was inspired by some guy I spotted sitting outside at a cafe, seemingly relying on his coffee for more than just an alertly-awake state.

 

 

The Things Kids Say!

Whenever you’re in a creative rut, just engage a six year old in conversation. We were at a friend’s house for lunch, and one of the kids was playing on the host’s exercise equipment. We told the child that he would have really big muscles from playing around as he was, to which he replied “so big, that they’ll reach to the sky!” How could I not draw that! The thought manifested itself as some old-timey Coney Island boardwalk muscleman, and the details just grew as I sketched out the concept. Here’s the pencil comp, and the final sketchbook drawing, which I used as practice in drawing without black outlines.

 

Ugly Sketchbook: the Sickies and Nasties!

A few more pages from my “Ugly Sketchbook”, a cheap 3″ x 5″ sketchbook for anything-goes kind of sketching, drawing, doodling, and defacing. These three pages embody pretty much that, and just happened to run on a bit of a sick and nasty theme.

Retro Sketch

Back in 2009, doodling hipster bike messengers into my sketchbook (or even just hipsters styling themselves as bike messengers – can you really tell the difference?) No photo reference for these; just working it out of my cycling-saturated head. Did a loose freehand sketch, then developed the theme over the next two pages of a 4″ x 6″ sketchbook.