Bronze lion, Trafalgar Square, London by Peter Gander

Comments

This is so simple but so effective. I love using Khadi paper and it certainly lends itself very well to Quink ink as you have proved.

Posted by Christine Davies on Thu 08 Apr 20:05:18

i really enjoyed looking at this sketch, it`s fresh, economical and successful. what more can we ask of a lunch break? well done.

Posted by tommy givnan on Thu 08 Apr 20:55:38

Hi Christine and Tommy, thanks for your insightful comments. Yes, Christine, I used to just use a simple, thin, non-watercolour paper sketchbook lunchtimes but really there's no point if I am to get the best effects from both the ink and the paper. I love the way the Khadi paper keeps a hold of the water pigment long enough to play with properly ;) And cheers Tommy, will be going back for more later to Trafalgar Square - the fountains and crowds are waiting! Fingers crossed the sun stays out.

Posted by Peter Gander on Fri 09 Apr 10:01:37

You are very brave to venture out in the metropolis to paint/draw. Don't the rubber-neckers put you off? Whenever our art class goes outside we get hassled by people looking over our shoulders and wanting to engage in conversation. It is most annoying and you lose concentration, especially if you want to work quickly. Anyway, I love this take on Trafalgar Square. What's Khadi paper? From the photo it looks like it is quite heavy.

Posted by Janet Haken on Tue 18 May 16:13:09

Hi Janet, Thanks for your message. Yes, it can definitely be off-putting, I have to be in the mood. I'm also a fisherman and hate people talking to me when I'm doing that. I read in the fishing papers that someone recently designed a tee-shirt with 'Here to fish, not to talk' emblazoned on the back of it. I may follow his example! It's not at all sociable, but I don't sketch and fish to socialise! My other tack is to pretend I'm mute and just smile. And Khadi is hand-made Indian paper. Got mine at Paperchase (ifyou're in the UK). This particular pad is 210 gsm, so not particularly heavy.

Posted by Peter Gander on Tue 18 May 16:24:02

Hang on Studio Wall

31/03/2015

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I am fortunate enough to work within a brisk ten-minute walk of Londonâ€™s Trafalgar Square and todayâ€™s sunshine drew me out (forgive the pun) into the madding crowd. I had been invited to the pub, but now at least I have a new piece of art to talk about. (Iâ€™ll do the pub tomorrow). Painted â€˜alla primaâ€™, i.e executed on the spot, with no drawing construct or underpainting involved and started and finished while wet, in one session. Instead of using a pencil to sketch out the image first, I use a watery mix of the blue, which is easy to build over later or ignore if not quite in the right place. After all, I only usually have around half hour out of my lunchbreak by the time I set up and allow for a return journey, so I have happily reduced the stages of constructing required for these sessions. Speaking of simplicity, I also used only a swordliner brush (size 9), perfect for both fine detail (not really my style) and broad strokes. The drier strokes on the rough Khadi paper around the lionâ€˜s mane aptly reflected the texture of the bronze carving in the sunlight. Painted in blue Quink Ink on 210gsm rough Khadi (Indian) paper (sketchbook). petergander.blogspot.com/