JOIN THE
NEWSLETTER
GET NEW POSTS SENT STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX
YOU JUST RELAX AND SIT THERE!
+
GET A BUTT LOAD OF TEXTURES I USE IN
MY OWN WORK FOR FREE WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE.
It's free. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime you like.
25 Drawings for Your Pleasure/Displeasure…
I realised I’ve got a lot of drawings hidden away in various sketch books so I thought I’d compile a few of my favourites and share them with you, along with a few words about them i.e, what was going through my head, what I like/don’t like about them. FYI I also have a lot of crap drawings in my sketchbooks but no one needs to see those.
—
I’ve simply taken photos of them to show them in their raw, untouched state. A lot were done in cafes, simply because I love coffee and I love to draw in the warm ambience of a nice cafe: the sounds, the various conversations you overhear, the weird characters you notice – they all have stories.
A couple of these you may have already seen if you follow my instagram, but you can probably see more detail with these larger versions:
I was on a Saturday mission to have coffee and get supplies all within two hours so I wouldn’t have to pay an extra tram fare (hey, we’re all on a budget sometimes). The top image is what I completed in that time, I later filled in the rest at home, as I already got the basics I needed. I was really inspired by the lighting in the cafe and wanted to focus on pretty much using large areas of black.
Another cafe doodle. My view consisted of furniture that appeared to be in love, I went with this theme and thought it’s be cool to make the leaves into heart shapes.
A lot of drawings I decide to do are driven by good shadows I see or interesting shapes. I’ve drawn many cups and saucers in my time and I still hate trying to get saucers to look right, they’re so awkward to draw and really make me mad sometimes.
A drawing of my brother. If you haven’t noticed already I generally like to add a twist to my drawings, either with a caption or some sort of visual element added in. This is to make them more than just sketches and more like illustrations, I like to create a theme or give them some kind of story.
With some of my drawings and illustrations I like to incorporate an element of humour or weirdness in them, other times I like to convey some kind of message to provoke thought. Here is a couple in a cafe which I noticed were spending more time on their phones than sharing quality time with each other.
I’m not trying to take a dig at this couple specifically (I don’t know what their back story is) but I wanted to make a point that often we don’t offer the ones that are closest to us the real attention that we should be giving them.
She didn’t have this tattoo but everybody character that I see has something about them. For some reason I was drawn to her really big arms, which she confidently showed off in this short sleeve tshirt.
Visiting a friend in London I caught this guy asleep on the Underground tube. I wondered if he had already missed his stop.
A man I drew with a super 0.05(nought point nought five) fine-liner pen. One thing I really love is going back over half finished sketches in my sketch book and smoothing up all the linework. It’s just something I find really satisfying and relaxing.
Sometimes I worry about the chairs when I see this.
A frame on a wall that had some awesome lighting/shadow on it. I left the frame blank for ages because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to have in the frame, then this idea came to me.
A small person chase happening in an empty cafe.
Nothing much going on here but I just loved the shadows I saw on the back wall of this cafe. You still learn a lot just by going through the process of drawing something.
The sketchbook I used here has thin paper, I recently started sticking in interesting papers to thicken in order to use pen heavily on it. I started drawing that car and a minute later the owners returned to drive away. I really had to work fast to get the shape of it finished before they drove off. The owner wasn’t a gorilla.
iPad. My creative friend introduced me to the concept of “pushing it”. That means to take key features of a character and push them to the extreme; in this example pushing the size of the arm and shrinking the head. It’s a really good way to help make your character designs more captivating.
A game I introduced to the drink n draw social night I do with a friend, and others. The idea is to take a famous person or icon and try to draw them within a limited time frame. Here we used Superman; each one is marked with how long the time limit was to draw him. This is a really fun creative game and teaches you to focus on finding the key features of a character.
A two minute warm up drawing of a lady. I was quite happy with what I managed to get done in that time.
I was way too early meeting a friend in the city and decided to get out my sketch book and draw the local civilians. I touched this up and added the shape much later on. Adding shapes to the background of a figure can create a sense of depth and also make it more visually interesting.
Quick sketch of a man on his phone. This was from the second ever drink & draw social. I find it difficult to get drawings of people facing me, I guess I don’t want to spook them out by staring directly at them for minutes at a time. Hence why I have a lot of drawings of the side and back of people.
The shape game is another creative game that we do at the drink & draw socials. You get somebody else to draw a random shape or squiggle for you and then you have to come up with an image based around that shape. Here I was given a big curvy looking zigzag shape, I created a ghost character from it. It really stretches your imagination and gets you thinking in different ways.
Trying out a new white pencil my friend gave me, really helps highlight things.
Sometimes it doesn’t always go well. So many times I start drawing someone and then they decide to leave the joint. I’ve got into the habit of completing half finished poses with tenticles if I miss their arms, or submerging them in water if I don’t get their legs in time. This guy looked nothing like this. And I’m talking about his face not his beautiful arm.
I really liked the look of the bike I saw. I remember being really paranoid that as soon as I started drawing it the owner would come and unlock it. Luck was on my side this time. Also, I’ve been drawing for years and sometimes I still can’t draw straight lines. Pobody’s nerfect.
One I did of my brother. We used to go to cafes together when we lived in the same place; he liked to take photos and I liked to draw. They were good times.
I like a good tree, and I like dramatic lighting. When I see both, it’s on!
The leaded weapons I choose: One thing I couldn’t do without is the click eraser pen – it’s so good for really accurate erasing. The click pencil in the middle is the one I do most of my outline work with because I can get really accurate details with it.
The inked weopons I choose: the pen on the very right is a thick brush pen my friend introduced me to recently and I use it to fill in big areas of black. I also started using the white Copic correction pen (on the very left) – helps correct mistakes but also can create interesting effects on darker paper (see the ghost drawing above.)
—
I hope you enjoyed these. If you know of any one else that might enjoy them or could learn something from these then please share it about. If you have any questions, want to know more, or fancy sharing some of your stuff then feel free to leave a word in the comments!
Previous post: Novak “The Djoker” Djokovic • Next post: Improving Your Artwork with the right Questions…
8 Comments
Usha
5th August, 2015Ainsley,
Your sketches are great. I can sketch well too but not formally trained in an art school. I still chose to take up graphic design and illustration as a self employment option.
I have a question. I can see a photograph and sketch it as it is. But if I have to sketch based on my memory, I have no clear idea as to how to get perspective of an focused object.
Can you write a blog on perspective drawing based on a photograph showing horizon line and vanishing points.
Thanks
Usha
Ains
6th August, 2015Hi Usha
Yeah I’ll be able to share what I know on perspective, or the principles which I apply in my own sketches. Will probably be a short post. But I’ll put other recommendations and resources that have helped me improve.
I don’t tend to use horizon lines or vanishing points when sketching because (though I probably should.) I think, for me, it makes the process a lot more systematic (I think I’m a little too impatient when it comes to sketching!) Though if it’s an important job that I’m actually getting paid for, like background designs, then yes I would use those perspective guides.
Brian Keeth
29th July, 2015I thoroughly enjoyed this sketchbook segment. It’s nice learning about different processes. As a fellow sketchbook enthusiast, cheers!
And thanks for the PS textures!
Ains
30th July, 2015Hey Brian, no problemo. glad you can take something from it.
Also thank you for subscribing, hope you put the textures to good use.
Laura
29th July, 2015Ah you are so inspiring! I really don’t do a lot of off-the-cuff sketching, but I should. I have worked a lot on my digital skills but I think my patience for detailed sketching has suffered for it. Thanks for sharing, it really has inspired me!
Ains
29th July, 2015Thanks Laura. Yeah I know, sometimes when I make a mistake while sketching I go to press UNDO and then realise that doesn’t exist.
Sketching “for reals” has so many benefits for your creativity and I think ultimate improves your digital work. One big one as you mentioned is patience, but I also think there’s something quite therapeutic about putting pencil to paper.
Enrique Knoxl
26th July, 2015Incredible stuff, sir. Thanks for sharing
Ains
28th July, 2015Thanks Enrique! Appreciate the support.