A bit of Urban Sketching with my Fude Pen!

1 Jan

Doing those sketches for our walk got me into the sketching mode…

Using my Fude bent nib pen I set about doing some really quick, rough and ready sketches of some urban scenes that looked inviting. I have always used my Artists Pitt Pens for my line work in my sketchbooks which have always given a very precise, sharp line and its waterproof so I could lay a watercolour wash over it without any bleed.

So I thought I’d try some urban scenes using the Fude pen where I could vary the thickness and density of the strokes all with one pen... and these are the results! These exercises were all about speed so I really went for it using the pen to produce all these lovely lines and textures. I brushed in some tones into the shaded areas whilst the ink was still wet and then laid in the watercolour once it was dry.

Another quick sketch with the minimum amount of pen work.

This was quite a complicated scene so once again I went straight in with the pen to get the overall feel of the view without getting too bogged down with detail. I loved the elevated view looking down over the rooftops.

I will be featuring mu Fude Pen in my forthcoming new book as it is such a great tool to have if you’re out painting en plein air. Once again I put in all the line work and then the shadow areas with a tint of the ink. Then I overlaid the watercolours across the sunlit and shadow areas in one wash without having to change colour which helps speed up the process.

Seeing that the pubs in London are having an awful time of it at the moment I thought I’d have a go at one of the famous flatiron pubs that are dotted about our capital... while they’re still there!!!

I’ve left Prague and London now and am focussing on a view of Bruges. I have shot the drawing I have done just with the ink work so you can see where I have placed all the tonal washes.