Kretzulescu Church, Bucharest (August 2019)

Muse watercolor paper (A5, 300 gsm), Royal Talens watercolors, Winsor and Newton India ink, Gelly Roll white pen

Kretzulescu Church, Bucharest (August 2019)

This  urban sketch was done on location in Bucharest in August 2019. The observation point chosen was from the stairs behind the Kretzulescu Church. Being very close to the sketched subject it offered a point of view with a steep perspective. During that time I was looking for locations to urban sketch in the central Bucharest and found this Eastern Orthodox church. The initial outline of the drawing was done with a 3B pencil. Then the line work was done with a sharp stick dipped in India ink (Winsor and Newton). There were many decorative architectural elements that were fun to draw. You can see places where drops of ink fell by mistake off the stick. I tried to incorporate them into a pattern that was suggesting the texture of the cobblestones. I drew this sketch three days in a row every evening for one or two hours after leaving work. At one point a couple of tourists approached me and asked me if the sketch was for sale. But at that moment it was not finished and I told them it was not for sale. Also every evening a girl passed by walking her dog there and looked at the sketch. She asked me how it was progressing. After the line work was done, I applied the watercolor washes in two or three layers. The watercolor set I was using at that time was Royal Talens, an economical choice and with fairly good quality. The paper that was sketched on was  Muse watercolor paper, 300 gsm, made of cellulose which stands for good amounts of water. It doesn not buckle and makes it suitable for wet on wet technique. After completing the watercolor painting, I added other details and depths with ink. For the final highlights and white lines I used a Gelly Roll white pen.

Urban sketching is a relaxing activity, a way of observing the things that surround us daily and a way of learning the fundamentals of drawing.

 

Motorbike and rock festival – Ruda, Magureni, Prahova, Romania

Taking a stroll through the woods, spoting the wildflowers growing beneath the shade of the trees and puffy clouds. Colored pencils on recycled paper.
Outdoor stage lined with motorbikes of every make and models. People wearing black and leather. Motorbike and rock festival, “Rock la Foc” (“Rock at campfire”)
View on the camping side. Motorbike and rock festival, “Rock la Foc” (“Rock at campfire”)

Near Lujerului Street, Bucharest

Drawing on a random street of Bucharest. These new buildings and other under construction seem to have been raised on the sides of a former industrial railway. Today there have been many types of clouds in the sky, puffy white clouds in some parts or dark storm clouds in other.
For this sketch I used mixed media: coloured pencils, watercolor markers, acrylic markers on kraft paper.
June 2019

Casa Visoiu, Bucharest. Jun 2019

20 minutes sketch with a brushpen. This building on the corner of this cross streets, I pass everyday, dates back to 1927 as it can be seen on the front wall. Above the year number it is also written “Casa Visoiu”. This house seems to not be inhabited. All the windows have bars and shutters pulled down all the time.

Life drawing. Jan 2019

Life drawing with two models. When only one model poses the other one is also drawing. 15 minutes each pose. Attended by mostly art students and some experienced artists to keep their skill in shape, this is an informal life drawing class organised by an artist in her studio in Bucharest. For this sketches I used charcoal and pencils on paper 60×40 cm, mounted on an easel