West-End Sketchbook in Progress (more)

Here is the watercolour version of yesterdays sketch for the Vancouver West-end Sketchbook.

"Babylon Cafe and Others"

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Back To West-end Book Sketches

Hola!
It was about time to get the Vancouver West-End Sketches book moving again. So I have braved the wet and grey weather and sketched a section of Denman Street. At the moment I have been able to do most of the black and white ink sketch and have not got around to dabbing on the fall colours or those of the storefront awnings. In previous sketches that were panoramic (double page) I had drawn right through the fold where the pages join. In this case I wanted to avoid that and so I decided to sketch this as a diptych (two separate frames forming one scene). This took a little more planning and forced me to sketch from the inside fold part of each page outwards.

Sketching has been a bit of a strain as early last week I picked up a virus in the left eye. This has resulted in my left eyelid staying open and watering a lot and forcing my right eye to keep refocusing and blinking. Passers-by must think I am winking at them... I better watch out or I will have some guys following me home :-(  Anyway this is leading to eye strain and I cannot sketch long periods without a lot of breaks. The Doctor says wait a week and see it it clears up. Easy for him, he'll not be the guy with the broken nose if I wink at a girl with her boyfriend in tow :-)

Here it is unfinished, but gives me some proof I have made some progress again towards the book. :-)

"Babylon Cafe and Others"

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Great book on texture with pen/ink and watercolour

"Truck Model"

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"Claudia Nice Book"

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"Tractor"

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"Old Shed"

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October 24, 2011

From a photo taken earlier.

"Tugboat and Logs on the Fraser River"

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October 22, 2011

This was sketched with pen and ink with watercolour of "The Coach Inn" in Lesbury, Northumberland, UK as gift for a birthday gift. The Sketch page forms a birthday card when the facing page is folded back.

"The Coach Inn" - Lesbury, Northumberland, UK.

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Something A Little Different

I decided to try sketching something in high contrast. These were the last of the local poppies before the rain washed them away.

"Last of This Years Poppies"

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Granville Island Photo's

Photo's from my Sketchcrawl#33 trip to Granville Island Public Market.

Girls and Pidgeons - three young ladies feeding the pidgeons right in her hand. Les Finnigan (busker) in the foreground providing the musical entertainment.

Kids and Pidgeons - Kids fascinated by the masses of pidgeons on the dock behind the Granville Island Public Market. See the False Creek skyline in the background.

Miss Pied Piper#1 and #2 - Little girl was very popular with the all the birds (pidgeons, seagulls and sparrows) as she dragged a bad of bird feed around the dock area behind the market.

Les Finnigan #1 - Solo Acoustic Guitar player busks behind the market.  I felt sorry for him trying to play while the kids were running past, the pidgeons kept taking of in flocks around him and the kids dripped ice cream into his open guitar case. There is a constant stream of buskers performing in this spot. As I understand it they pay for a 3 hour time slot. There is also another busker spot in the "Triangle" in front of the market.

Les Finnigan #2 - Les performs while you can see the gradual build up of pidgeons and gulls, with little miss Pied Piper loading up with bird feed.

Girls and Pidgeons

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Kids and Pidgeons - False Creek Skyline

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Miss Pied Piper #1

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Miss Pied Piper #2

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Les Finnigan #1

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Les Finnigan #2 Solo Acoustic Guitar

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Sketchcrawl#33 - More

On Saturday October 15, 2011 I had been sketching at Granville Island Public Market for my contributions to the World Wide Sketchcrawl #33. After starting at 8:00am in the cold damp I was not feeling very well by 1:30 in the afternoon. I had already done three pencil and watercolour sketches. To get warm I had gone inside the market to do one last sketch. Unlike the other sketch locations, there was nowhere to sit and so I changed my sketch style to suit the situation. I had to work quickly and therefore decided to use a drawing pen instead of pencil. The sketch led itself to a splash of simple watercolours.  I did not get completely finished before I felt so ill I had to leave. The sketch was finished after being home for a while and resting up, but I did not make many changes. The delay in finishing allowed me to consider the sketch and allowed me to make the decision not to colour all the scene. I think this was the correct decision.

"Market Inside" - Granville Island Public Market

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Sketchcrawl#33 - Granville Island Market

Sketches done for the World Wide Sketchcrawl #33 - Vancouver Granville Island Public Market.

"Granville Island Public Market"

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"Early Morning Produce Delivery"

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"Chase the Seagulls"

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Sketchcrawl #33 - Musketeer Statues

The following sketches were done from photos's supplied by Christine (Tatie) Raban. They are sketches of the famous Four Musketeers Statues located in the city of Condom, France. Christine and others were sketching these "live" today in the city as part of the World Wide Sketchcrawl #33. Condom is the home of the Musketeers that were included in the various stories, and as I understand it there is still a Squadron of real Musketeers in the city. The first sketch was a quick one done using a sharpened chopstick and Mont Blanc fountain pen ink only. The second sketch is done in pencil with watercolour applied.

"Musketeer Statue" - Condom, France

From supplied photo

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"Four Musketeers Statues" - Condom France

From supplied photo

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Granville Island Pre-Sketchcrawl

This sketch was done at the end of September on one of my visits to the Granville Island Public Market. I finally finished adding the colour last night while watching a movie.


Lego Boy's Mom tells me you can't just buy plain Lego blocks anymore. Apparently all Lego is sold in specialty kits with this one being the Firetruck and gear. All done to ensure the parent has to keep buying the latest kit and spending more hard-earned cash... Aaah Marketing, what a wonderful process. :-)


[edit] Oh! after publishing this post... I see that the photography work of mine was pretty bad. The original is a nice pencil and watercolour sketch, but my photo makes it a bit edgy. :-(

"Lego Boy & His Mom"

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Sam Kee Building

Sketch done as a birthday gift to a friend I have known for 26 years. This was done on September 16, 2011 as a black and white ink and pencil sketch. The significance of the building is that it is only 4.5 ft wide at the street level and 6.5ft wide at the second level. There are stores under the sidewalk such as the barber shop. The building was pushed back when West Pender Street was widened.

"Sam Kee Building - Vancouver Chinatown"

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October 02, 2011

On a pre-Sketchcrawl #33 trip to Granville Island Public Market on Sunday October 2nd, I noticed this little boy with his juice box. While all the other kids were running around chasing the seagulls and pigeons, this fella was just standing there enjoying his juice box and ignoring the ruckus around him. Sketch was done quickly in Pencil and watercolour splashed on after he had moved away.

"Juicebox Boy"

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Sketchcrawl 33 Prep - Granville Island

Right after I had done the first sketch of "Lindsay May at Granville Island", I had started a second sketch. Although this is not IMHO as good a view of Lindsay, I decided to finish it. On a recommendation from a (fellow sketcher from Ottawa, Ontario) John Wright I decided to add a splash of colour to hi-light Lindsay in the sketch. The sketch is attached below.

For those that are not familiar with singer/songwriter Lindsay May, I suggest you watch out for her once her CD is released. This young lady has a fantastic voice and creates meaningful lyrics for her songs. Two of her songs "Lie To You" and "Star in the Sky" have been stuck in my head all week. I suggest you check out Lindsay's Website for her songs and current activities.

"Lindsay May #2 - at the Granville Island Market"

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