
Instructor: James Richards
Workshop description
This workshop builds on many of
the key concepts of my approach to urban sketching, but with an emphasis on people and crowds that animate great
urban spaces. The most frequent
questions I receive from workshop participants involve incorporating people
into their sketches in a believable way.
Integrating people into your sketches can take a static scene of a
building, plaza or park and bring it to life with the movement, energy and
exuberance of life in the city. In this
workshop you will learn the foundational techniques that demystify drawing
figures in context, as well as cool tricks I’ve learned over decades of
incorporating people into bustling city scenes.
By workshop’s end you will be incorporating lively and convincing
figures and crowds into your sketches to give them new life and energy.
Workshop Schedule
Travel to workshop site
First hour: Focusing on people/crowds only
Speed exercise: Draw a crowd in 5 minutes
Sketchbook throwdown, review and comment
Second hour: The crowd in context
30-minute sketch exercise
Sketchbook throwdown, review and comment
Third hour: Bringing the scene to life
30-minute exercise to complete their scene
Sketchbook throwdown, review and comment
Group photo
Return from workshop site
Learning goals
- Understanding key human proportions: the basics and exceptions
- Using people to create an illusion of depth
- Foreground, middle and background and corresponding levels of detail
- Eye-level issues: Artist standing, artist sitting, people on slopes and steps
- Diminishing size
- Overlapping and grouping
- Capturing movement: gesture, walking
- When and how to incorporate features and details on figures
- How to begin a city scene incorporating lots of people
- Fleshing out the surrounding scene
- Using buildings as backdrop
- Adding signs, furnishings and trees
- Strategic use of darks and color for maximum effect
Supplies
Please bring:
- Watercolor sketchbook--size per personal preference
- Sketching pencils and waterproof ink pens (technical or fountain pens)
- Travel watercolor set
- Waterbrushes or traditional brushes, one large flat, one medium round
- Small rag
- Small leak-proof plastic container of water
- Small lightweight folding stool (optional)