Use your sketchbooks to produce a series of drawings and notes that documents an event of your choice. Try and produce a body of work that depicts the event over a period of time.
An event can be defined as something happening within a limited time slot, but you can also choose to interpret the term ‘event’ more loosely. It can be a private celebration or your local football match, a Saturday market or the arrival of workmen to dig the road. Choose something that offers you the opportunity to explore your particular style of drawing, so think about the dynamic of the event and how this relates to how you draw.
This drawing builds on the ‘Drawing the Familiar’ exercise, extending it to encourage you to draw and document something new. Before you begin, reflect on your experience of that exercise. Did your choice of sketchbook, materials and approach to your drawings work to capture your chosen location? How might you amend your approach for this exercise? You may want to undertake this exercise with other people. If you’re working on your own, remember to think about the issues raised in the ‘Working on location’ section.
Reflecting on ‘Drawing the Familiar’ Exercise
I used pencils and a standard sketchbook for the earlier exercise as I felt most comfortable with these. The pencils were easy to have to hand, for example when compared to paints. My approach was simply to sit in the room and sketch at what I considered appropriate moments during the day. On reflection I realise I opted for mainly static positions of the subjects being observed.
My intentions for this exercise are to attempt to draw the movement of subjects, which will require me to make quick observations on the paper, focusing more on capturing the moment. I also plan to use ink in some format as this will force me to be more positive and decisive with my mark-making.
Choosing the Event
After some contemplation I chose a local rugby practice session for young people as my event. This would take me completely out of my comfort zone in terms of drawing as there is non-stop movement and numerous individuals grouped together throughout the session. There would also be an opportunity to observe some of the spectators as they stand and watch the practice session.
Please note some of the drawings have been slightly enlarged to make it easier to see them.
I warmed up with some pencil sketches, using a 4B pencil. I tried to work as decisively as possible, focusing on the overall subject and not worrying too much about details. When a person moved, I attempted to ‘finish’ off the sketch using my memory.
I think the drawing below is probably the weakest of these initial drawings. The subject looks really stiff and awkward.
I quite liked the drawing below as I felt it showed the character and posture of the subject as he inserted his mouthguard and strutted onto the pitch.
I also thought that although the drawing below is quite stiff in posture, I did manage to capture a sense of movement. I quite liked the method of shading in areas rather than drawing outlines.
I then moved onto using fineliners. I did not really enjoy using these for this type of exercise in which I needed to work quickly. I think these drawings are the weakest of all of the sketches and there are not any particular positives to be found in them.
For the next set of drawings I used a brush pen and I was quite surprised how much easier I found it using this! I just went for it with the pen and as the marks it makes are so bold and definitive, I found I could focus more on the subject rather than what was happening on the paper. I also tried using the brush pen to capture some group scenes, which was a real challenge as there were many bodies to try and put on the paper before they move again. Some of the subjects were therefore reduced to minimal lines to just suggest their presence.
I think the drawing below is the weakest of the brush pen ones, which is interesting as it is the one with the least amount of movement in it. This suggests that when given the opportunity to start focusing on making the drawing look ‘right’ it results in being the exact opposite.
The above comment can be demonstrated when compared with the following two drawings, which I feel is much more successful than the previous one.
The final two brush pen sketches are the previously mentioned attempts at depicting group action. These were the most challenging of the exercise to undertake, but using the brush pen made it less intimidating.
I think the drawing below is the more successful of the two as the people look less stiff and angular. I focused on the group in the middle first as they were more likely to move first compared to those on the peripherals. I quite liked how I drew the spectators in the background as stick figures, which perhaps shows an attempt at creating depth.
Throughout the event I found myself most drawn to observing the spectators who were mainly the parents of the young people playing. They are standing there for a long time so was quite entertaining watching them as they all moved in unison as the ball moved back and forth across the pitch, trying to keep warm. I am also not sure that all of them were 100% mentally present for quite a large portion of the weekly session – there was frequent looking at phones and chatting taking place!
I decided to finish this exercise by drawing a selection of the the spectators using fineliners, which I found much better suited to these subjects as they did not move very much. I think I did manage to successfully capture some of the postures fairly well and draw a range of different people.
I was particularly pleased with the drawing below as it genuinely reflects the couple as they were in that moment.
My final sketch was of a selection of the spectators depicting them standing as groups in rows along the edge of the pitch. I reverted back to pencil in this one. I feel they are again slightly stiff, but that I did manage to show a range of different characters and their body positions are shown fairly well.
Final Thoughts
I considered putting off attempting this exercise as I really was not looking forward to it at all. The thought of being on location spooked me for quite some time – I could not imagine myself drawing in public with other people around. I did initially consider attending either an Urban Sketchers event in London or another such organised group event, but I got too apprehensive so I ended up not pursuing this.
Eventually I decided to make the decision to get on with the exercise (I did not have much choice!) in my local park where I could sit on the edges of the pitch and make myself more or less invisible. I think the benefits I took from the experience outweighed my prior misgivings regarding it.
I learnt that the brush pen is well suited to capturing spontaneous movement and sometime simple strokes are all that is required to suggest a figure.
Some key issues that I should look to addressing include:
- ATTEND LIFE DRAWING SESSIONS!! This would help to improve my figure drawing and hopefully reduce the stiffness.
- One obvious omission for all the people in this exercise is facial details. I think it would be preferable to try and add at least an indication of these rather than leaving the faces blank or with a cross.
- I also realised after the event that I had not drawn any of the background or location details (similar to the Drawing the Familiar exercise), which is something I really need to attempt as I move forward.
- I will try to make the effort to attend at least one group drawing event in the future.