Exercise: Drawing on location

For this exercise, I decided to go to Greenwich Market in London. It is a vibrant and colourful market that includes both a food market and an area where local artists sell their work.

Sketching a busy area such as a market can be challenging and before I started, I revisited the work of illustrators such as Suhita Shirodkar (http://www.suhitasketch.com/busy-places), Veronika Lawlor (http://www.veronicalawlorgallery.com/location-drawings#/essex-market-nyc/) and Lucinda Rogers (http://www.lucindarogers.co.uk/ridleyroadmarket/fruit-mountain-entrance-to-Ridley-Road.php). Their sketches convey the buoyant and colourful life around them very successfully.

When I went to the market, I took some pictures so that I could use them as reference.

First, I went to the market on a weekday, when it tends to be quieter and did some sketches in my A5 sketchbook. It was not easy to stop without being in the way and there was no convenient place to sit to sketch, which I found a bit challenging.

The second time I went to the market was a Saturday and I was not successful at all. It was extremely busy, I could not stop anywhere and felt a bit overwhelmed.

I wanted to use the photos I had taken to draw some sketches at home in my A4 Sketchbook. I first created a few drawings with a black fineliner pen and watercolour. I then decided to time myself and did a few sketches taking about 10 minutes per sketch to try to be more relaxed and spontaneous. On a second day, I did the same for a few sketches and then used watercolour for the final sketch.

What went well

I like using an A5 sketchbook to sketch on location. It is easy to take out, it is discreet and fit easily in a bag. When at home, I tend to prefer A4 sketchbooks and sometimes even larger sheets of paper as this gives me more flexibility with the size of the illustration.

I enjoyed creating sketches quickly using a timer. I spent less time wondering what would make a good sketch and managed to include more details than I thought I would in such a short time. I felt that I was improving as I kept repeating the exercise. Knowing that I could make mistakes and not trying to achieve any kind of perfection really helped me.

Again, I enjoyed using watercolour. The last sketch is probably my favourite and the use of watercolour is a good way to render the colourful display.

Challenges

I found sketching in a crowd very challenging and could not do it on my second visit. It might be a good idea to visit such a place at a different time, when it is still busy but maybe a bit less. Also, practice might help as part of it is due to a lack of confidence.

Sketching very fast while standing is also quite difficult but it might be that I expect too much from a quick sketch.

I still have some issues with highlights and shadows and my sketches lack depth. I can see that when I add stronger shadows, the drawing is immediately more interesting.

What to take forward

I will repeat the exercise where I timed myself to create some fast sketches more regularly. I was surprised by the result and my confidence increased. I think that if I had done that on location, it would have helped me.

Again, I enjoyed sketching on location. It is a good way to feel the atmosphere. I also found that it helped to take the pictures I needed to create more sketches later.

I will carry on working on adding depth and texture to my sketches. I have started adding the shadows first before colouring a sketch and that seems to help.