Cyclists’ Drawing Discussion Gallery

[Randomnerd]

Never had an artistic bone in my body, but by some fluke a video ended up in my YouTube recommendations of someone doing a pen and watercolour of a house in Edinburgh. I (naively!) thought that I might be able to manage something similar ... albeit not with the same artistic eye, finesse, nor as quickly. But I'm always up for trying something new, so I picked up some cheap (and not so cheerful!) materials, found a photo I thought I might be able to use as a subject, and here we are:

A terraced house in Walkley, Sheffield

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Learning so much by doing, and consequently finding out how much I don't know and what skills I need to develop.

These are great! All three.
Might I suggest you find a way to make two attempts at a subject; one from a photo, and one "en plein air", in real life? You may find the results and differences interesting. You may not.
Watercolour is much harder to get right outdoors, but the effects of being outside are great benefits to enhancing your eye: having to deal with the change in light on the subject; working quickly if you are doing wet in wet; or making a series of preparatory sketches and taking that back inside as a resource for the final work with colour.
Your illustrative style has a good eye for line and form, and your colour choices for the tone and shade are observant.
Great to see your contribution. Looking forward to more!

 

[IaninSheffield]

Thanks for the feedback.

Watercolour is much harder to get right outdoors, but the effects of being outside are great benefits to enhancing your eye: having to deal with the change in light on the subject; working quickly if you are doing wet in wet; or making a series of preparatory sketches and taking that back inside as a resource for the final work with colour.

Working outdoors is something I really do want to work towards; the idea of hopping on the bike and stopping to capture something that takes my eye has much appeal. I clearly need to develop my repertoire of techniques, especially sketching, but the thought of being outdoors and someone stopping by to look over my shoulder ... ! I'll get there though.

 

[Randomnerd]

A few watercolours of lowland trees from a recent sunny day on heathland.

 

[Randomnerd]

And a pair of birch stems…

 

[Randomnerd]

And how a Scot’s pine appears…

The place is very redolent of time spent working as a forestry contractor, so the drawings are less about what the thing looks like and more about how I feel being there. Artistic statements, properly wrought, can be a great defence for the over-the-shoulder brigade.
For a good few years, I trailed about outside on the hills and beaches of Ireland in the wake of a very talented partner who was a professional landscape and portrait artist. And I bumbled about with a few pencils while she painted and made a real likeness. People would be confused when they looked over my shoulder, if they had first peered over hers.
”I’m looking at what isn’t there” is an enigmatic one. Or something along those lines. Or “It’s not figurative, dude. It’s modern.”