Announcement - One Week 100 People is back!

Yes, a year ago when I started the blog I found out about this event. I took part and I'm glad to say it's happening again this year! Here's the official announcement : -

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For the third year in a row, artists Marc Taro Holmes, Suhita Shirodkar and Liz Steel bring you #OneWeek100People2019.

The simple goal is: Draw 100 people in one week.

The real goal is PRACTICE. Not perfection. Every artist needs to sketch as much as possible, but we want to have fun and just stretch a little. To get 100 people in a 5-day week (we don’t like working weekends) you’ll need to draw about 20 people a day. But they don’t have to be more than a one-minute gesture drawing.

We just want everyone to see what it feels like to follow through on that advice ‘practice every day’. It’s a big commitment. But it’s possible to do without completely disrupting your life. Or at least you can choose how disruptive you want it to be.

Here’s how to participate:
– You can do it any way you want – just have fun with it!
– Sketch from life, or from any reference material. Use any media or size, as draw as fast or slow as you like. Whatever you’d like to practice most.
– Post your work during the week of April 8-12, to the dedicated facebook group.
– Please don’t post on other Urban Sketchers groups. We don’t want to flood the regularly scheduled activities. In previous years, there was a lot of art!
– You can also post on your personal social media of choice, (Instagram, Twitter) using the hashtag #OneWeek100People2019. That way everyone can find your work.

Some suggestions on reaching that goal:
– Aim to get to a 100 sketches. But don’t skip the challenge just because you feel you won’t get there- hey, 25 people sketches that week is better than zero
– Maybe plan to swap out any ‘free time’ for drawing. Tivo your shows, skip the gym or video gaming night – just for one week.
– Be prepared! Make a list of crowded places to draw people. Visit a park, the public library, go shopping, or to a sporting event. Maybe search out public performances. Live music at a pub, a lecture, or reading.
– Go drawing in groups! If it looks like you’re a club or a class, people give you the benefit of the doubt.
– If you don’t want to do it live-on-location, cue up a YouTube play list, sign up for Flickr, or download the iOS app SKTCHY.
– Give yourself permission to succeed. Don’t overthink the results – just draw! I promise you’ll see results at the end of the week. No matter how fast you sketch, over a whole week, at least ONE will be amazing 

One Sketch #176) Port Talbot's Finest Actors

From one town
To the appreciative eyes and ears
Of the world.




O is for . . . Oscar Nominations. Yes, there cannot be that many towns in the UK that can boast as many Oscar nominations for acting as Port Talbot, my home for the last 32 years. The great Richard Burton, born in the Port Talbot village of Pontrhydyfen, was nominated no fewer than 7 times, although he never actually won, which must be a source of shame to the Academy. Sir Anthony Hopkins, born about a mile away from where I’m typing this now, in Margam, has thus far been nominated 4 times, winning for his unforgettable performance as Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs”. Now, okay, Michael Sheen, may not have been born in Port Talbot – he was born in Monmouth, South Wales, and he may not have been nominated for an Oscar – yet – but he’s a great actor who is proud to give his home town as Baglan, Port Talbot, where he grew up. If that’s not enough or you, then maybe I should mention Reginald Truscott Jones – not from Port Talbot itself, but just a few miles away in Neath, which is part of the same county borough of Neath and Port Talbot. Never heard of him? Well, maybe you know him better as Ray Milland, who won his Oscar for The Lost Weekend.

One Sketch #126) Jimi Hendrix

It's never much of a chore
To gaze
On the guy who gave us
Purple Haze

Okay, so it works like this. Facebook, as it does, when it sees you belong to a specific group or groups - in this case South Wales Urban Sketchers and also the global Urban Sketchers group - likes to suggest other related groups that you might like to join. I've taken them up on it, and one of them I've joined is called Sketching Every Day. For me the huge attraction is that, as the name would suggest, every day the group is given a prompt for a sketch. Which is fantastic because there are days, like today, when inspiration totally fails me. I've used various internet sites from time to time, but I have to say that I generally find their suggestions pretty unsatisfying.

Anyway, to cut a long story slightly shorter, I just noticed today that my application to join the group has been approved, and so I checked out today's prompt. It's rock icon. Well, I tend to take prompts pretty literally, and so when I see the words rock icon, the first person to pop into my head is Jimi Hendrix. As it happens I have made a quick sketch of Jimi Hendrix before, as part of the 100 people One week challenge - he's number 80, in half silhouette, just behind my own ugly mug.

#oneweek100people2018 Day Five - Reflections on the whole experience

I am a cynical old so and so at times. So when I see even great sketchers whom I totally respect making claims such as – try the 100 People One Week Challenge and you’ll find that you really improve as the week goes on – then I tend to take it with a pinch of salt. Well, a pinch of salt will be handy for seasoning the slice of humble pie I’m going to be eating, because, well, because looking over the week, I have to say that I think it’s true.  

In terms of statistics, on the 5^th, day one, I sketched 27 figures. On day two, I misnumbered my sketches. I thought that I’d sketched 23 to take it up to 50, but on a recount I found I’d actually sketched 24 to take it to 51. On day 3 I sketched 20 to take it up to 71. Then on day four I sketched 30 to take me past the target. Today I took it a little easier as this is just for fun, and added another 13 figures. 

So how have I improved? Well, actually, I’d say that it’s not for me to say that I’ve improved as such. That’s for other people to judge. But things have happened. I feel I’ve loosened up with my sketching. I also feel that I can work a lot more quickly than I could at the start of the week. For example, let me compare my two self portraits. This one I made on Monday: -  

Now, it’s in biro, which is not my favourite medium, but was what I had to hand at the time. It was also based on a photograph I took with my work computer. It took about 20 minutes. Compare it with this self portrait I made on Thursday: - 

Now, you’ll have to take my word that this is actually far more like me. Again, admittedly I was using a sketching pen which I prefer. This time however I used the camera on the computer so that the computer was like a mirror, and I was therefore far closer to sketching myself from life than from a photograph. Look, I’d had a hard day. This one took no more than 10 minutes, though, and to me , is a better sketch.

Here's today's figures

#oneweek100people2018 Day Three

A harder day this one. For one thing I decided not to make any sketches in school today. I didn't have time apart from anything else. Still, it did put a bit of pressure on otherwise. I decided to do more full length figures, and try a couple of watercolours sketches as well. This is where I am: -

I was rushing deliberately, but I'm quite pleased about how the two queues turned out. This one I really like: -

#oneweek100people2018 : Day Two

As yesterday - so again today. The problem with working in a school is that if you do sketches in the school they can often be a bit samey. I made the cricketer and the boxer before I went to bed yesterday - then managed to do ten figures on lined paper in biro in work. A visit to Tesco after work provide me with a few more figures at the ATM and the self service checkouts. The last few were based on photos.

This brings me up to 50 - halfway there and three days to go. This one sketched at the checkouts in Tescos is my favourite of today's sketches from life as opposed to photo

#oneweek100people2018 : Day One

OK - it works like this. If you divide the 100 people between 5 days, that means that you need to aim for an average of 20 each day. Well, I knew that I wasn't going to get 20 figures done in school - I'm amazed that I managed the 12 that I did. The others were all sketches I've made at home today, based on photos, magazines etc.

Now, strictly speaking, only the first 12 are really urban sketches, but nonetheless, I think 27 is a good start, especially if I do a few more this evening. You never know, at this rate I may even be able to take Friday off.