More #0neweek100people

Day 5 #oneweek100people by Meera Rao

Day 5 #oneweek100people by Meera Rao

So, I did it :) Sketched 100 people in one week - rather 7days!  On day 5 I had time to pull out my watercolors and paint the people freehand without pencil sketching them. I had done 50 by day 5 but had to put it aside and wait a couple of days before I could finish the rest. The ones below were done mostly in airports during a trip this past weekend.  I am especially tickled with them as they were all done in pen in my little (5x3") sketchbook - except the last batch of ten. No safety net of going for the eraser and I could not toss the ones that did not cut the mustard.  I learned to sketch fast, remember features or poses as my subjects were not always sitting or still :) Now I want to experiment with more color, brushes  and not just fine line pens. 

Day 6 #oneweek100people by Meera Rao

Day 6 #oneweek100people by Meera Rao

Day6 #oneweek100people by Meera Rao

Day6 #oneweek100people by Meera Rao

Day 7 #oneweek100people by Meera Rao

Day 6 #oneweek100people by Meera Rao

Day 7 #oneweek100people by Meera Rao

Day 7 #oneweek100people by Meera Rao 

#OneWeek100People

Lady Water Bugs  #oneweek100people Day 3  3-7-2018

I am trying to squeeze in time to sketch people this week.  Yesterday was day 3.  I returned from helping out with the water testing and did a quick sketch of my fellow volunteers :) 

International Women's Day #oneweek100people Day 4  3-8-2018

As today is International Women's day I decided to do a quick sketch of some notable women for day 4.  Hoping I will get some time later today to do more. 

At a Book Talk #oneweek100people Day 2  3-6-2018

At a Book Talk #oneweek100people Day 2  3-6-2018

On Day 2, I was at a Book Talk and sketched a few people from the audience.  The room was quite dark and it was challenge to see what I was sketching! 

At the Dentist Office  #oneweek100people Day 2  3-6-2018

At the Dentist's I tried to memorize the scene as I my teeth were being cleaned :) I surreptitiously took a photo in the waiting room and did the sketches at home from blurry pic -- and took my liberties with the colors ! 

  

At the Gym  #oneweek100people Day 1  3-6-2018

  

At the Gym  #oneweek100people Day 1  3-6-2018

As I worked out at the gym on day 1, I watched intensly and tried to commit to memory the scene before me. Again, I had a blurry photo to help out with some details as I sketched later at home. 

Watching Oscars -warm up for #oneweek100people   3-6-2018

So far I only have 29 sketches plus five I did as warm up watching the Oscars for an hour or so.  So this year it has been slow and I might have to take a few extra days to sketch 100 people! Anyway, I am sketching something every day :) 

#OneWeek100sketches2017

Day 1-sketches 1-7/100 by Meera Rao

I took up the challenge #Oneweek100sketches2017 organized by Marc Taro Holmes  who blogs as 'citizensketcher' and Liz Steel.  Sketches 1-32 were from my own photographs - photos that I wanted to paint and saw this as an opportunity to practice sketching before I attempted to paint them.  I could not go out and sketch people live because of lots of other things I was busy with.  These sketches were breaks I was taking from doing those other things - mostly unpacking and getting things in order after a long trip to India.  The sketching also was an opportunity for me to put my feet up and rest the slowly healing ankles from a bad fall back in October of last year!!! I also felt safe working in the privacy of my home while working on improving people sketching skills. 

Day 1-sketches 8-14/100 by Meera Rao

Day 2-sketches 15-23/100 by Meera Rao

These 9 sketches were of scenes that I had seen during my trips to India begging to be sketched! I encountered them during my daily errands and had not yet sketched them out.  

Day 2-sketches 24-32/100 by Meera Rao

Lots of people in India take public transportation --buses mainly and can be seen waiting at the bus-stand. Bus stops are like airports these days where passengers are mostly waiting, some people watching or chatting or on their digital devices :)  

Day 3-sketches 33-63/100 by Meera Rao

On this day, I received a poster in the mail from the UN Refugee agency. I was reminded of the devastation facing so many families around the world and the chances they take for a chance at safer, better life. This particular boat load had only men filled to capacity. I know for sure there are other boats filled with women and children making similar perilous journeys. Sketching them was emotionally draining making me wonder what it was like to be fleeing like that! And I stopped at 100 unable to sketch the rest of the people in the boat.

Day 4&5-sketches 64-100/100 by Meera Rao

Boat People 2-Page spread by Meera Rao

I only sketched using a #4B pencil.  I had planned on using watercolor but liked the sketches as they were. I did not time myself but did not spend more than 45 minutes at a time each day. My sketch book was 12x16" and the two page spread was 12x33" .  I am pleased with the sketches and felt sure of my lines and marks the more I drew.  I quickly learned less is more! My goal was to draw 100 people, draw without overthinking every line like I seem to do while I sketch people. I wanted to work on getting the proportions and perspectives correct, and draw people in all different angles, sitting, standing, walking, crawling, front, back and sides :) 

This was a challenge I really relished by the time I was done with 100 people! 

A Rare Special Opportunity

Admitted to US Supreme Court Bar May 2015 9x13.5"  watercolor by Meera Rao 

"Photography is an immediate reaction, drawing is a meditation"

~Henry Cartier-Bresson~

No cameras or cell phones are allowed in the United States Supreme Court and I was really grateful to my sketching ability to capture the exciting moment when our son was admitted to the Supreme Court Bar earlier in the year. I was happy the security let me take my sketch book as practically nothing was allowed into the courtroom. I desperately hoped to do a decent sketch of the event. 

As we had to wait in the courtroom for about half an hour before the court session began, I quickly and roughly sketched the columns, the big table, the nine chairs, the drapes, the flags, backs of lawyers and others connected with a couple of cases whose decisions would be announced, and the dozen or so inductees waiting in the courtroom to be sworn in.  Once all the justices came in and sat down, I got to work to get a quick likeness of each of them -- and yes, Justice Thomas really did lean back on his chair and spent the entire time looking up at the ceiling.  As I am short and was sitting up-close towards the front,  I could barely see Justice Ginsberg over the big wide table! Below is the sketch at the end of the ceremony:

US Supreme Court Ceremony sketch 5x12" by Meera Rao

Later, there was a reception and a meeting with Justice Ginsberg -who was eloquent and passionate about gender equality in the talk she gave to the attorneys newly admitted to the SC Bar.  She also generously answered all the questions from the inductees. During our tour of the building, I took a photograph of the model of the court room to help me complete the sketch. 

The final painting was done on handmade watercolor paper (rough, 270gsm) from India. I drew directly on the paper and outlined it in ink to capture the excitement I felt when I first sketched it on my little sketchbook.  

A work of art is a world in itself reflecting senses and emotions of the artist's world. (Hans Hofmann)