Project 5 - Exercise 2 - Groups of figures 

Sketch book pages: 

The bus stop: Pencil, black line and watercolour...

Gentleman in street with bicycle. Charcoal on brown paper...

Reflection

I decided to use a bus stop in my local town as a focal point. I observed the bus stop from the opposite side of the road. 

I had with me a limited watercolour palette - 'Payne's Grey', 'Indigo' and 'Yellow Ochre'. A charcoal stick and a few sheets of paper. 

On the whole I am pleased with the sketches. They are a good record of what I could see ahead of me. The most challenging aspect of working in this way in a street were 1. There was no room or place in this Covid world of social distancing for me to sit or get comfortable. I had to sketch whilst standing and moving. 2. The people in the bus stop, of course, did not stop moving. However, I did what I could in very quick fashion. 

The ink and watercolour sketches are the most visually pleasing. The people are not badly placed and I can see the different postures and direction of people that I could see.  I had a very limited colour selection, however the addition of indigo blue does help read the sketch as the majority of people there were wearing jeans. the added colour was a good option here. 

The charcoal sketch is far messier, however on a rapidly changing street I was keen to capture a gentleman with a bike, and this medium was perfect in making a few lines of sketch. I could take in as much as possible and incredibly quickly with a charcoal stick. 

I am unsure if I placed the lines correctly, however I have realised that such a lot of movement comes from the limbs and this is where I focused my thoughts. 

How successful were your attempts to retain an image of a scene to draw later? 

I chose to draw my sketches on the spot. However looking at the sketches as if there are notes, I feel I captured a lot of information of the figures that were in my scene. Their clothes, positioning, posture and movement are elements I think to a basic extent I captured. They are a good foundation for a more detailed drawing. 

How might you tackle this in the future? 

I feel that my sketches lack information of the surroundings. As much as I captured the bus stop itself, the drawings are missing a landscape beyond that. Where is the bus stop and what is surrounding it? This is information I need to record next time. I am also missing light and weather conditions. Again, information I could capture the next time I am on location. 

The next time I do this, I will ensure I take photos and perhaps stick with a simple charcoal sketch to focus on the energy of the scene. 

LS Lowry - The Mill Pendlebury 

Here I see how Lowry has captured a full and busy scene of bustling people. All are moving in different directions with the odd static figure too. The figures get smaller and smaller as the eye travels into the distance. This is an energetic and detailed scene, with elements of movement and physical detail such as clothing, accessories and pets, children have all been carefully placed within the painting. 

I have chosen to make a note of this painting as Lowry successfully recreated a group of people, with many, many figures and he also captured the energy of the scene and the atmosphere. What I noted to improve my sketches, were to record information of the landscape, light and weather conditions - Just as Lowry has expertly achieved here. This is a complete scene. I recorded elements, however on reflection, there were many elements and important details that I missed.