Urban Sketching:
Boats & Harbour

Boat introduction

A boat that hasn’t been anywhere recently, propped up on the Brighton promenade. The challenge is the planks, which curve round the hull but all have to run in the same direction.

Boat sketch

With the N79 and fine liners from 0.05 to 0.3, I sketch the outline of an isolated boat, then the planks, with wooden supports to ground it. Light grey tone goes across the hull, with a heavy black shadow at the base.

Boat in a scene

The finished Brighton demonstration shows how the isolated exercise informs the whole. In the study I went heavy on the ground shadow. In the finished sketch there is too much going on for that, so I kept everything lighter and fresher.

Chain introduction

Previously we looked at ropes. Chain is similar in some ways but a different challenge: big, rusty interlocking links.

Chain sketch

This starts with brush pen, the opposite of my usual approach, because the thickness lets me grab the link shapes quickly. Light N89 and N79 differentiate the links, line work then gives a guide, and a second coat darkens areas.

Chain in a scene

Two real sketches from the Albert Dock in Liverpool. In the first, a chain runs along the quayside and gets smaller into the distance, the links thinning until they’re just straight lines.