scumble fish.........subway drawing....more OilSticks

[scumble fish]

Hi all, I'm gonna start posting a series of drawings all done while riding the New York City subway. Sketch times can very from 1 to 10 mins.... with the sitter almost always knowing they are being drawn, but usually never complaining. Its an ideal place to get quick poses from a variety of subjects, all for the cost of a token. I may mix in a few location drawings from time to time just to keep things interesting. So come along for the ride and for god sake stand clear of the closing doors!


oil Painting....http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=12818

For something different this is an earlier post
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10874

3d enviornment stuff.....http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11359


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/b_subway1_copy.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/face1a.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing12.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/ca_drawing61.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/l_drawing64.jpg
!!!

[Rusty]

the last one is by far my favorite,youve managed to capture the person as though he/she is in deep though or possibly taking a nap,which is much more powerfull than a posed sketch.....the contour like style also enhances that sketch...welldone

Rusty

[scumble fish]

Rusty......thanks for the look. Yea, It seems the faster the drawing, the stronger the impression. Although thats not always the case.

http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/a_group_again5a.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing68.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing6_copy.jpg
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[roger]

Very interesting sketeches, I like them a lot.

Do you ask them for permission or you just make sure they know you're drawing them with some visual clue? I've thought of doing the same thing before, but my travel on the subway to the workplace it's only 10 minutes, I don't think I would have enough time.

Waiting for more!

[scumble fish]

Some outdoor location drawing in oil stick on Strathmore Bristol 4ply....very smooth surface! You can really push the soft Sennelier stick around! Most of these works will be in Long Island City NY, which a friend of mine once jokingly referred to as "the armpit of NYC". But I thought it was a great place to draw. Very industrial and empty on weekends. The 7 train becomes elevated as it enters Queens and this offers some great views of the tracks.

roger........10 minutes!!!! That gives you 5 min to hop aboard, find a seat, and pull out your pad. Plus some extra time to hop off as the train pulls into the station. All in all you should have at least 5 min to do a drawing. What's great about it is you have to finish in those few min no matter what and that leads to some really spontaneous work....although I have rode a extra stop just to finish a drawing when time permitted. I rarely if ever ask for permission to start a drawing. People can see you take out your pad and look over at them. In NYC there's little interaction between others on trains. Very little eye contact. But people are passive and surprisingly friendly when engaged. So you pick your subjects accordingly. I'd like to see some subway drawings from Spain....Lets see a thread!!


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/134-3464_IMG.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/134-3465_IMG.jpg
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[scumble fish]

Some more drawings.....


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing52.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/comp2a.jpg
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[foster]

it is not easy to draw in public and on a train...wow, you have caught their character in these, or at least you gave them character in your drawing. either way you making some great drawings.

i also like your oil stick sketches. they have a quite beauty to their starkness. great contrast and not easy to do. it has allot to do with your sense of composition.

i look forward to seeing more.

jon

[roger]

Hey, I tried it but the travel is very short for me, I just could sketch a couple of faces: http://www.iespana.es/rogershared/daily/20030909_01metro.jpg

Oh, and there's quite a bit of eye contact here in Barcelona, everybody I tried to draw stared back, and the bastards didn't stop moving either! :D

After the experience, I appreciate even more your drawings, keep it up!

[scumble fish]

foster....... thanks for taking the time to stop by, I admire both your sketchbook and your painting skills quite a bit.

roger......... Sometimes wearing moderate sun glasses helps avoid that "what you looking at" stare. You'll need a well lit train though in order to see. Working in public inevitably creates attention, which you get used to. I've been doing some plein air painting lately and always try to pick a spot in which crowds can't gather behind me.

The painting is acrylic on wood.


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing49.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing65.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/208_133-3365_IMG.jpg
!!!

[scumble fish]

More drawing.........


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/comp3a_again1.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing25.jpg
!!!

[Fipse]

I like the energetic value of your linework. It reminds me a bit of George Grosz in a good way without his urge to caricature (sp?).

Fipse

[scumble fish]

More oilstick outdoors......

Fipse.......Thanks for the look, I've never been able to caricature others well, just draw what I see.



http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/oilstick_134-3449_IMG.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/oilstick_134-3457_IMG.jpg
!!!

[endregan]

that oil stick stuff rocks. what is it just like pastels?


i love your work ! :)

[scumble fish]

endregan.........Thanks for the comment, The oil stick is from Sennelier and is oil rather than wax based. Thus it remains soft and is capable of being pushed around on the smooth Strathmore Bristol 4ply coldpress. Its only caveat is it can take several months to fully dry hard if applied thick.

[Lunch_Box]

This is my first post, But i've been looking at the boards for weeks. And I have to say that Your subway studies are by far the best sketches I've seen. They show such raw emotion and humanity. It's just amazing.

I do a lot of scumble work my self.
I can't wait to get a scanner and some web space to post on this site.

here's somthing i did in the 10th grade.
http://venturaarts.org/exhibits/artists/ACF1169.jpg

Love your sketches.

-Lunch

[scumble fish]

Lunch_Box........well thank you, That's the nicest comment I've had since posting my work. NY is a pool of humanity, and hopping on board a train is like diving, head first, into the deep end. I can't believe there are so few people down there.....drawing. Your piece has a lot of energy in the mark. Get a scanner and start posting!
I'll be on the lookout for your work.


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing50.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing26.jpg
!!!

[Hunger_Artist]

http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/oilstick_134-3457_IMG.jpg


so freaking awesome. You work on a double-front of both capturing life and making it into somthing uniqe, and I have much respect for that! Ive found drawing a fully clothed stranger is much more awkward than drawing a professional model but it looks like your efforts here are paying off.. keep posting!!!

[Rusty]

your works r so truthfull,its great thing to see...that last one of that person reading a newspaper is great,youve really captured that person through your lines,i cant not look at that drawing and not feel him thinking.

Rusty

[TARGETE]

scumble fish, my aplogies for not commenting on your fantastic drawings. I must agree with may here your drawings have so much personality and truthfulness, the line work is as pure as it gets. The drawings in the train reminds of when I was in college in ny and sketching on the subway..brings back memories.

J.P.

[van]

Your linework is amazing. I enjoy looking at your sketches. Keep drawing!

[scumble fish]

Hunger_Artist.........Thanks for taking the time to look. In many respects drawing the clothed figure can involve a few more issues than a studio life model. With the anatomy hidden it can be more difficult to see the figures posture and thus give it weight and stance .....characteristics that make a life drawing so successful. But in many ways its easier.....Not having to be anatomically correct you can use the clothing to emphasize the subjects character. But for me the most difficult aspect of this type of drawing is the conditions and time constraints. Although you may do speed drawings of one to two minutes in a life drawing class those are intended as gesture drawings an thus no attempt is made to locate detail. drawing on the subway has to be very fast at times...often under two min. At the same time detail is essential to capture the ch. of the sitter.
But I must say...subway or on site figure drawing is more fun. You really never know who's going to sit down across from you next and in a city like NY that can lead to some interesting drawing.....

Rusty....Thanks again for the comments. I watch your work with eager anticipation.

TARGETE.......Thanks, I'm glad you found my book. Two of my biggest influences have been Robert Weaver at SVA...School of Visual Arts NYC. I really have latched on to his ideas about Visual journalism. and Dick Oden of Cal State University Long Beach, an exceptional draftsman bar none.

van.......I appreciate your time. I'll keep posting if you'll keep looking!


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/133-3374_IMG.jpg
acrylic on wood


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/comp1a_again1.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing24.jpg
!!!

[scumble fish]

Something different.....not a subway drawing on top. I guess I'll start mixing it up a bit with work from my other books.


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/101_fighters1a.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing37.jpg
!!!

[xia]

Pretty damn nice rendering and great composition on the top. Your continuous line work is also pretty interesting.
:chug:

[scumble fish]

xia........Thanks for dropping by. My other books give me a little more freedom in linework and composition then the subway drawings. I'll throw some more up soon.


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/comp7a_again.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing21.jpg
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[scumble fish]

Just some more stuff.....again something from my other skecthbooks....and a subway drawing.



http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing70.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/jet1b2c.jpg
!!!

[Marko Djurdjevic]

Hey scumble fish,

this is the first time I rate a thread 5 stars, but you really deserve it. There is much more going on in your sketchbook, than simple learning or gathering of studies. Something really honest and unique lies in here between the lines.

Let it grow!
Marko

[scumble fish]

Marko......Thanks again for dropping by. Its sketchbooks like yours that make me re-evaluate my approach to my own drawing. You definitely have a knack with graphite and seeing your linework is just plain inspirational!!!!

Another subway drawing and an on site location drawing at the Wahi'Awa Botanical Gardens in Oahu Hawaii.


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/hawaii1a_copy.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/drawing67.jpg
!!!

[roger]

Damn, that's nice! I love the tree and the airplane. What technique is that? Looks like pencils or graphite, but the colour's got me curious, is it just coloured paper?

[scumble fish]

roger.........Yeah they're graphite. I typically work in a Strathmore 400 series pad which is acid free but has a slight yellow tint to the page which I pull up in the scan. Saturation tends to also go up whenever contrast is increased.
Some more Oil Sticks.......


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/134-3461_IMG.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/~michaelaceves/sketchbook1/134-3456_IMG.jpg
!!!