Some New Drawing Videos

9th October, 2018 // 3 Comments

I made a couple of videos. One’s a tutorial video on warm up exercises for drawing, and the other is a speed drawing video. The quality of these will get better as I work out the technical stuff!

Have a watch and let me know what you think…

Drawing Warm Up Exercises

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Small Head

12th September, 2018 // No Comments

Small head

When: Aug, 2017
Duration: Can’t remember
What: A woman enjoying her lunch and phone
Where: Tumbalong Park, Sydney
Details: Here is another sketch from that one Sydney park at lunchtime. I gave no respect to proportions here whatsoever, and I love the result. Her head and body are really small compared to her legs! If I’m sketching for my own pleasure I like to not stress about that kind of thing because I usually find it adds a unique (and often amusing) element to the drawing.

Hands Up

3rd September, 2018 // No Comments

I’ve been working on some hands lately. I wouldn’t say I’m “fluent” in hands, meaning I can’t get always get them right off the top of my head. But I feel I’m getting there.

I’ve been working on different hand gestures that put the fingers into some interesting angles.

When it comes to drawing anatomy and making it look correct, the role of shading plays an important part. Continue reading…

Bench Reports

28th August, 2018 // No Comments

When: Aug, 2017
Duration: Can’t remember
What: Man needing to finish the reports by lunchtime
Where: Tumbalong Park, Sydney
Details: I had a lot of time to kill and it was a nice sunny day in this Sydney park. It was lunchtime and many office workers were taking a break in the sun.

My eyes were drawn to this chap with the hair. I wondered how he must be overworked or have some sort of deadline, because why else would he be sitting on a park bench with his laptop on such a lovely day? It seemed a little sad to me.

I decided to crack out the graphite pencil to really hit home the darkness of that hair.

 

Vietnam: Woman Waiting

27th August, 2018 // No Comments

When: Aug, 2018
Duration: 37 mins
What: A woman waiting in a cafe
Where: The Coffee House, Ho Chi Minh
Details: Sunday afternoon cafe sketch of a woman across the way. I used intermittent, stealth-glances to get the gist of her without blowing my cover.

After she left, the gentleman next to me, who was watching me draw this, leaned over and said “Oh no, she leave”, and I said “it’s okay, I finished her.” I guess he didn’t understand because he replied, “You should have take photo.” To which I replied “It might look a bit weird for me to take a photo of a stranger across the cafe.” I took his laughter as comprehension.

Baby Legs

24th August, 2018 // No Comments

When: Apr, 2018
Duration: Initial sketch – 20mins, post-sketch touch-ups – 90mins
What: A man with baby legs
Where: Another cafe in Melbourne.
Details: “Why the long face?” “I woke up this morning and I had baby legs.” “I’m sure it’ll pass.”

The results of another half finished sketch; this time I failed to get the legs in on time, and then this poor chap got given baby legs. Some would argue that I should learn to sketch faster but I’d say where would the fun in that be?

Next time I sketch someone I think I’ll start with the limbs and go from there. You can now look forward to sets of legs with ridiculous torsos.

You’re Next

24th August, 2018 // No Comments

When: Apr, 2018
Duration: 90mins
What: A man in spandex latin-dancing his way towards his next victim
Where: In my head
Details: It’s not his moves that will get you it’s his eyes.

Sometimes I like to have a go at doing my own silly drawings off the top of my head to exercise my imagination. I started with the head, and those eyes just evolved. And finally it needed a body to compliment this head, so I squeezed this pose out.

When I look at it, I get a sense that he’s looking towards his next victim and, with his eyes, is saying “you’re next.” He looks, unintentionally, a little like Brendan Fraser I think. Sorry Brendan, no actually, you’re welcome.

Good Fat Stores

24th August, 2018 // No Comments

When: Feb, 2018
Duration: Initial sketch – 30mins, post-touch-ups – 40mins
What: Another dude just chilling in a cafe
Where: Some cafe in Melbourne
Details: Arms are difficult. Well they’re not, they’re difficult if you’re trying to draw them and the inconsiderate person keeps moving or flailing about like a crazy idiot.

I can’t quite remember what happened when I initially drew this but I assume I left the arms till last, and the dude left before I got them in, leaving me to try and remember what his arms actually looked like. I think I did a pretty good job. Those anatomy study classes must be paying off!

Reading Man

21st August, 2018 // No Comments

When: March, 2018
Duration: Initial sketch + watercolour – 60mins, post-touch-ups – 15mins
What: A reading man
Where: Krimper cafe, Melbourne
Details: Here was a man reading in a cafe. I was grateful for him sitting in the same position for pretty much an hour, allowing me to go to town on that there shading. I even had time to try out the watercolour pen, which I think added a pretty cool effect.

This was drawn in a little pocket book I “took” from my last office job. The paper is not ideal for pencil but actually works pretty well with watercolour.

Sharp Lady

17th August, 2018 // No Comments


When: March, 2018
Duration: Inital sketch – 45mins, post-touch-ups –  70mins
What: Yeah, I don’t really know … spectral assassin lady?
Where: Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne
Details: ‘Twas a sunny Sunday afternoon which I spent sitting in the beautiful BotanGar (as I like to call them). I came across this lady sitting by the lake with her lover. They both looked fancy, wearing their Sunday best. I’m pretty sure he proposed to her while I was drawing this.

But why the blades? Why the floaty no-legs? Simple. As is usually the case when I start drawing someone, they up and go, leaving only a limbless “sketch victim” to be abused by the warped mind of their sketcher. I loved the thought of taking this elegantly dressed, unassuming woman and turning her into a deadly bladed assassin with a hot temper.

Feel free to add a backstory to her … 

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