Brushpen sketches

[avram]

I’ve been trying to sketch with brushpens instead of my old, trusty super-fine-point Pigma Micron. It’s a different approach to line, one I’ve never been wholly comfortable with, which is a big part of why I’m concentrating on it. Last night I worked up this sketch of a fashion model, working from photo reference, using a black Staedtler-Mars Graphic.

Today I needed to head into Manhattan for a bit, and I’d forgotten to pack a book to read on the train, so I pulled out my hip-pocket sketchbook and a black Pitt brushpen and sketched a couple of women. The one with the glasses, her husband saw me sketching and started asking me questions. “Do you like her?” “Why do you choose to draw some people?” “Will you pay us money?” A bit of a pest; I’m not sure if he was actually trying to make trouble or if this was just his way of being social. Maybe the latter; he gave a friendly wave as I got off at 14th Street.

The rest were done in the Union Square West Starbucks, with the Staedtler-Mars Graphic. The model sketch up top is reduced from its original size; these others are about actual size. At first I thought I’d have to work way bigger than usual to accommodate the fat, flexible brushpen tip, but as I forced myself to work smaller, I started to get the hang of the new mark-making style. The leftmost guy here is imaginary, the other drawn from life. The drawn from life guy was talking business with a pretty young woman who had a very dramatic silhouette, I’d have loved to draw her, but she moved too much and was sitting close enough that looking right at her long enough to draw her would have been awkward. Anyway, she saw me sketching, and said I was very good, and asked if I’d be interested in a business proposition. I gave her my contact information, figuring she was talking about an art commission, but no, she and the guy are involved in some kind of insurance-selling pyramid scheme. Feh.

My favorite sketch of the day is the bearded guy in the backwards baseball cap, below. It’s got a bit of a William Messner-Loeb feel to it, I think. That’s when I really started to feel like I was getting the hang of this tool.

Comments

[kent-allard-jr.livejournal.com]

Looks good! You may not be comfortable with brush pens, but they seem to work well for you.