To Color Or Not To Color

Trying background colors for sketches by MeeraRao 

'Sketching is a continuous source of learning 

rather than a string of performances'

~Paul Laseau~

I wanted to jazz-up the sketches I did a few days ago and decided to just color-in the background with a single color to give it a more finished look.  Below are 'before' sketches.  I still am not sure what to think of this experiment ! 

'Before'  sketches 

'Drawing is putting a line around an idea.'

~Henri Matisse~

Sketching on the Go

Unisphere, Queens NY watercolor and pen sketch 5x7" by Meera Rao 

It was a beautiful sunny day after the snowfall from the first day of spring Nor'easter.  But it was too cold  for me to sketch outside so I resorted to taking photos with my phone and did this much later.  I plan to paint another larger one that has big vast  sky and smaller Unisphere because thats what I was attracted to in the first place. 

I recently bought Escoda Versatil #8  and a set of unknown brand #4,8,12 synthetic sable (this is a set that also came with a bamboo brush holder that was a surprise! ) watercolor travel brushes that I am very happy with.  I have ruined a couple of brushes that were in my travel kit when I lost the plastic brush protectors very early on and wanted these brushes whose caps act as long handles when screwed on :)  I still like my waterbrushes best for sketching away from home - no water containers to juggle!

Coffee Shop  Queens NY watercolor sketch 4x6"by Meera Rao 

I think this is my first sketch in a coffee shop with pen and ink and watercolor --the whole deal with no pencil sketches at all!! I realized too late the gel pen is not waterproof. It took me about 30 minutes or so to finish the sketch. I also sketched the barista on my Sketchclub app - will have to pull it out of the app one of these days :) 

Subway Commute  NY,  Gelpen 4x6" sketch by Meera Rao 

On our way to the Unisphere and the Queen's museum I sketched these two fellow passengers. This was a breakthrough for me to sketch in pen, in public and complete it before my stop came - about 15 mins or so.  I always hesitate to sketch people openly in public as I am not sure how I would feel about being sketched by someone ! But I think I am seeing the benefits of those #oneweek100people challenge - I am a bit more faster and confident in committing to mark making.  Working on more polished look of the pages is my next goal.

I have been doing more sketching these days because all the traveling means not been much studio painting time.  Hoping all this practice will show up when I take up my regular brushes again! 

Fingers At Play

Sitar Artist sketch by Meera Rao 3.5x5.5

Tabla Artist sketch by Meera Rao 3.5x5.5

A milestone for me yesterday. I loved watching, listening and sketching the two artists live at a concert.  I am really pleased with the results. I used just pencil and no eraser- I knew I had two hours to practice my sketching! The lighting was a bit of a challenge- but I did not mind. These two are the last and the best of 2-3 sketches I tried of each musician. The hands were the hardest as they were flying ! I tried multiple sketches of hands only before I could get them somewhat ok. I wanted to capture the joy and intensity I saw in the artists -I think I managed that along with the likeness :) The wonderful concert by Kushal Das and Ramdas Pulsule so nourished my soul! They really played their heart out. 

Sitar Artist sketch by Meera Rao 3.5x5.5 graphite

Tabla Artist sketch by Meera Rao 3.5x5.5 graphite