Al's Blog

Conference Speakers

2010-05-24T04:07:00.001-07:00

I went to a Philosophy Conference on Saturday (one I helped organise in fact; put on by a Philosophical Society I help run). It was a sweltering day, but we had some lively discussion. As usual, I should have been paying more attention to the papers and less time to the features of the speakers. The last fellow had a great face and posture but moved a lot so I couldn't get him. Quentin Blake would have done him justice.

Doodle

2009-12-03T12:39:00.001-08:00

Philosophy Speaker

2009-10-12T07:20:00.001-07:00

I went to a philosophy talk in September, in London. This was the speaker. The fact that I ended up drawing rather than listening possibly says a lot.

The philosopher

2009-06-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

Quick one of a speaker at a philosophy conference I helped organise. In biro on my notes sheet.

More queuer quickies

2009-06-23T03:48:00.000-07:00

Starbucks, Oxford. Done in a few seconds with a fine marker and a brushpen in an A6 pad.

The Queuers

2009-06-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Threw these down in 15-20 seconds or so, while people were in the queue at Starbucks.

Done in sixty seconds or less (or should that be fewer)

2009-06-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

The last two were done really quickly. Again I'm trying to emulate some of the bloggers I admire. The portrait took longer, obviously. It went well to begin with and there was a likeness; then I fiddled with it, lost it, then did some reworking from memory. Not what I'd call a success.

The magazine browser

2009-06-11T11:20:00.000-07:00

Borders, Starbucks, Oxford. Brushpens in A6 pad. As usual she left. Sometimes I don't plan these right. I start directly with the lightest grey brushpen then lay in darker ones. Often though I get confused about the relative tonal values and keep having to go back and forth between the lighter and darker elements; sometimes it gets muddy

The sketcher

2009-06-10T11:15:00.001-07:00

Starbucks, Oxford. Brushpen in an A6 pad. I was looking around for people to sketch and spotted this guy sketching someone else. That's never happened before. He looked as furtive as I probably do when I'm looking at my subject and trying not to be noticed.

The studiers

2009-06-09T02:43:00.000-07:00

Starbucks, Borders, Oxford. Brushpens in A6 pad. I start directly with the lightest grey brushpen, and then add darker areas, trying hard to simplify. As usual, not finished (one really not finished).

The reader

2009-06-03T10:54:00.001-07:00

Starbucks, Borders, Oxford. Brushpens in A6 pad. The guy left before I could work more on his shirt.

Starbucks, Oxford

2009-06-03T05:38:00.001-07:00

Starbucks, Borders. The second drawing wasn't finished, obviously. I was trying to achieve some of the simplicity I see in another talented blogger, Martin: http://martin-dessin.blogspot.com/

A quick sketch

2009-06-02T03:26:00.001-07:00

Far From the Madding Crowd pub, Oxford

We're gonna need a bigger brush

2009-05-28T11:05:00.001-07:00

Starbucks, Oxford. Brushpens in an A6 pad. I was trying to get looser with this batch, all done very quickly in one sitting. As suggested by a commenter (the author of this splendid blog: http://mattjonezanimation.blogspot.com/), I tried a fatter brushpen tip for some of them, to force me to ignore details.

Biro on the back of a manuscript

2009-05-14T05:42:00.000-07:00

Starbucks, Oxford. Biro on the back of a manuscript I was reading. I got bogged down in fiddly details with the face and didn't get a chance to finish it, as usual. I envy some of the bloggers I visit who work fast and have that lovely immediacy to their sketches

Latest sketches

2009-05-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

Starbucks, Oxford. Several attempts made at a guy reading a book but he moved a lot. I had the big guy all sketched out, then he left. But he sits here all the time, in the same clothes, in the same position, so I might get to pick it up another day.

Quick sketch on a napkin

2009-04-30T03:41:00.001-07:00

Starbucks, Borders, Oxford. Started with biro on a napkin and finished it with brushpens. Probably spent barely 5 minutes.

Unfinished

2009-04-27T04:29:00.001-07:00

Starbucks, Borders, Oxford. I was disappointed I didn't get to finish this before the chap shuffled off; he had a great, sad face. A friend persuaded me to upload it anyway.

Brushpens

2009-04-26T07:14:00.001-07:00

Starbucks, Borders, Oxford. Another failure with the brushpens. It's never good when you feel you're just trying to save a drawing.

Unfinished failure

2009-04-23T04:02:00.000-07:00

Borders Starbucks, Oxford. Pencil and brush-pens. I pretty much aborted it as the work with the brush-pens wasn't going very well; didn't really know what I was doing with them.

Biro on the back of a manuscript

2009-04-17T05:31:00.001-07:00

I was reading a book manuscript for a friend in Borders, Oxford and liked the look of the guy at the top, so turned a page over and sketched with a Biro. I was less happy with the young women I attempted afterwards.

Sketch on a napkin

2009-04-14T03:50:00.000-07:00

Quickly done with a biro on a napkin. Starbucks, Borders, Oxford

On a Napkin, Starbucks, Oxford

2009-04-03T04:37:00.000-07:00

Starbucks, Borders, Oxford. First sketch for a while. Someone made a nice comment on this in passing as I was doing it.

Sketching the punters

2008-12-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

Done just now in 'Far From the Madding Crowd' in Oxford. After a nice plate of Gammon 'n' Eggs. Glasses are a challenge.

Yet more pub/cafe sketching

2008-11-26T12:05:00.000-08:00

Maybe I should secretly snap the models so my success at getting a likeness can be assessed. The latest one is the lowest, done earlier today at the Borders Starbucks, Oxford, on one of their napkins. Then the other woman was in Far From the Madding Crowd pub (not a great likeness); the other two in Blackwells cafe on Broad Street, Oxford.

Sketching in the pub. Again.

2008-11-21T06:07:00.000-08:00

Drawn in 'Far From the Madding Crowd' as I was writing and uploading the last post. You can see the sketch is perched on my laptop. It came very qickly and easily, such as it is. I have a real problem with hair, though.

More sketches in pubs and cafes

2008-11-20T10:17:00.000-08:00

Thankfully, it doesn't take long for the fluency to return (see last post). These likenesses are a lot better. And at this very moment, as I write, I'm in the middle of drawing another one, waiting for the guy to return to the position I started drawing him in.

These were drawn in 'Far From the Madding Crowd', an Oxford pub (with free wi-fi, woo-hoo), and the last one in the Starbucks in Borders, Oxford; in, I think, an A6 moleskine booklet, which makes it easy to stay discreet. Except now, instead of looking like I'm quietly sketching, I look like I'm just staring intensely at people and doing something in my lap with my wrist... Mmm

Sketches in pubs and cafes

2008-11-20T09:59:00.000-08:00

I did these after a significant gap in drawing. As a result I didn't feel particularly fluent. I must practice regularly. The last drawing, I don't feel is a good likeness of the model. I find I have a tendency to 'blandify' the features of the people I draw; somehow they resemble the model, but seem less pronounced; like I'm over-compensating for the risk of caricature.

Sketches during a lecture

2008-10-15T05:02:00.001-07:00

Two sketches I did of participants at a philosophy meeting I attended at the weekend. As usual, I was glancing surreptitiously and drawing discreetly, which cramped my style somewhat. The second model had a fascinating face and frail body, over which hung a baggy suit. I found out later he was called Weedy.

More sketches

2008-09-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

A portrait done of a friend for her birthday - from a photo. And some doodles done during work downtime.

Cafe sketches

2008-05-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Two sketches done at Waterstone's cafe, Oxford, and one of the speaker at a philosophy talk in London. The latter looks nothing like the subject, and as a consequence I hadn't paid enough attention to ask an interesting question about his paper (on why torture is always wrong). Next week I will be attending a life drawing class, where my drawing will be rubbish because I spend the time discoursing on aesthetics. That would make as much sense anyway.

Beautiful woman, not done justice to

2008-05-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

This young woman was in front of me at the local S'bucks, studying. I couldn't take my eyes off her beautiful arms. Unfortunately, my drawing makes her look like a rugby player in drag.

Cafe sketches.

2008-05-03T13:20:00.001-07:00

Waterstones and Starbucks, Oxford. Finally found a couple of reasonably immobile punters. The second one was with a ball-point on a Starbucks napkin. They're reasonable likenesses but the first was an effort and seemed like an extended exercise in hiding its flaws as a drawing. You see such fascinating characters out and about; I wish I could capture them quickly on the hoof.

Cafe sketch

2008-04-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

Biro on a napkin.

Face

2008-04-16T13:46:00.001-07:00

This face just emerged while I was doodling at work. It started to look nice so I took more care with it. Then I could see it was willing me to overwork it, so I quit while I was ahead.

Another sketch

2008-04-15T11:24:00.001-07:00

Cafe drawings, or "Stay still, you bastards!"

2008-04-14T11:31:00.001-07:00

Either I have to home in on those sedentary patrons of a cafe, whose habit it is not to move at all when they read (and drink their latte by telekinesis), or I have to learn to draw faster, more economically and from immediate memory.

The most promising effort seemed to be the one started with a biro on a napkin. But what happened? The little git moved, that's what.

Running Man

2008-04-11T14:13:00.000-07:00

At least he's slightly clothed this time.

Sketches from life

2008-04-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

First foray for a long long time into sketching from life, in the works canteen (Bodleian Library) and at one of my cafe haunts.

Poets

2008-04-11T14:02:00.000-07:00

The Guardian recently did a series of giveaway booklets about poets, so I copied the pics of Seamus Heaney and Walt Whitman over coffee.

Day out in London

2008-04-05T09:08:00.001-07:00

Spent a great day in London yesterday. I got, for me, an amazing amount done. I saw three exhibitions (usually I have the stamina for one, then I'm tired). After the customary mooch along the South Bank near the BFI, I visited the the Hayward, where there was an Alexander Rodchenko exhibition - a Russian designer and photographer. Then on to the Tate Britain to see the Peter Doig show in the evening. That was fantastic - really fresh. His paintings are layered with all sorts of curious effects and textures. While there, I saw they were showing some of the Tate's amazing collection of drawings: Reynolds, Turner, Spencer, Hockney, Epstein, Freud....

On top of that, I finally conquered my fear of drawing in public and made a sketch near Westminster, in an outdoor cafe. The sketch was demoralisingly poor; I had to stop before it was finished, before I screwed it up even more. I need to practice! It was a very complex subject: a maze of branches and windows. But I'll get better fast if I keep at it. I need to learn how to capture impressions quickly and effectively, and make aesthetic choices, like about what to leave out in the interests of a good composition. I managed to position myself so as to prevent people looking over my shoulder and only one or two people seemed to notice me staring in their direction, so the embarrassment of that was minimal.

All in all, a good day out.

Another sketch

2008-04-03T04:34:00.000-07:00

I did this at work last night with the brush-pens. I'm not sure lighting and modelling are that great. I was trying to draw a pose that would be tough in terms of getting the parts to relate properly. The proportions are probably fudged a bit.

Is he suffering the existential angst of being thrown into a meaningless universe? Or is he just really cold 'cause he's butt-naked? It's whatever you want it to mean.

California trip 2007

2008-04-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Couldn't resist putting these up. Last year I got a great chance to visit California. It was my first major flight and first time out of the country in nearly twenty years. The flight was free, as a good friend of mine, Kristin, a Californian who had been living in Oxford then moved back home, gave me a ticket with her air-miles, so I could visit her and let her show me her State. It was an amazing trip. I went just after Southern California suffered all those fires.

In the first pic: Kristin and me in front of (though a long way away from) the Hollywood sign. In the next pic, I'm outside The Hotel Coronado, where they filmed the Florida scenes in the sublime Some Like it Hot. In the pic I'm wittily pretending to play the double bass ala Jack Lemmon in the film; there was no time to drag up. In the third pic, I'm outside the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, near the Kodak Theatre where they film the Oscars, effectively high-fiving Cary Grant! Third pic, Kristin and me in front (though a long way away from) the Hollywood sign.

More teenage drawings

2008-03-31T08:32:00.000-07:00

More comic book stuff from my teens: just character designs, I guess. I think it's clear that I wasn't a very good inker.

Juvenilia

2008-03-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some of what I will pretentiously call my juvenilia: comic book stuff I was doing in my teens when I should've been revising for my O-Levels. The Judge Dredd drawings are obviously channelling Brian Bolland; and by 'channelling' I mean 'shamelessly swiping the style of'. I wanted to draw comics when I was that age (and kind of still do to be honest) but never thought I was good enough. I was too slow; never really mastered sequential 'story-telling'; tended to focus on the figure to the exclusion of learning to draw 'anything and everything' - the usual problems with half-arsed wannabes.

I think I sent samples off once, to the publishers (I think it was D.C.Thompson) of little comic booklets, like Commando. I got a rejection and didn't persevere. It always seemed like an unrealistic ambition. Soon after I went into Graphic Design, which I guess was the more realistic alternative; and it did give me the chance to cartoon every once in a while, if the brief warranted it.

A commision!

2008-03-28T06:26:00.000-07:00

I drew these at work for my boss, to use on invitations for a children's party. Not too bad for 20/30 minutes work.

Sketches out of my head

2008-03-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

When I doodle, my tendency is to draw the male nude form. I call them my male floozies because they usually don't have a stitch on. I'm fascinated by drapery and admire people who render it well (even have a go myself sometimes), but when I don't want to tear my remaining hair out, I resort to what is for me the more easily achievable challenge of rendering anatomy well. Partly because I have some source material nearby; partly because I was raised on superhero comics; partly because when my co-workers spot my doodles, it's slightly less creepy than if I were drawing nekkid ladies - less threat of some kind of indirect harrassment charge! These were exercises in anatomy, lighting and foreshortening; the seated male tries to capture from memory the lighting of a photograph I saw. Varying degrees of success...

Copying from Movie Stills

2008-03-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, sitting in a cafe or pub, I end up doodling, or copying from postcards, or book-jackets, or photos in the paper. It's my way of trying to break down my inhibitions about drawing in public, with a view to eventually sketching the surrounding company of strangers (I've seen so many inspiring examples in other proper artists' blogs). I worry that once they see my beady eyes on them, they'll be a little unsettled. But then, I think I already unnerve people in the pub, sitting on my own drawing nude men - even if it is Michelangelo's David.

Recently I was inspired to copy some movie stills from an article in the paper that day. The same day, I visited the very talented Mike Cho's blog (I recommend it) and found a post showing the drawings he did while watching dvds of old b/w movies. There are some differences: He didn't even pause the dvd, so drew from fleeting images, and they were still better than mine; and his was an exercise in handling light and shade in a composition. I just liked the look of Robert Donat in a great coat.

More life drawings

2008-03-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

More from the life class. The two head portraits are drawings I did of a friend, a Spanish post-grad who was a reader at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, where I work: Sitting by the river, drawing a beautiful woman - that's my idea of recreation! Both drawings captured her likeness to a degree, even though they look quite different as drawings - make of that paradox what you will.

Life Drawings

2008-03-26T08:49:00.000-07:00

These are some life drawings, most of which are from a class I last attended about 18 months ago. Other commitments caused me to let it slide. But I have no excuse not to get back into it. I loved it. More to come: the blogger doesn't let me upload more than five evidently.

Cartoon Portraits

2008-03-26T08:13:00.001-07:00

There might be a flurry of posts as I attempt to upload a bit of content to get things started: some recent cartoons, less recent life-drawings and some 'juvenilia' that I have some nostaligic fondness for. First up, a couple of cartoon portraits I did recently for friends' birthdays. One is of my good friend Kristin, whom I depicted with Anthony LaPaglia, because she has the hots for him, or maybe his character in Without a Trace (which is why she's kinda feeling him up). The other is an ex-girlfriend from my teens, and possible first love, Sally; she's being the domestic goddess she is with her family (including her taller, handsomer husband, grr) .

There have been disputes about the likenesses of Sally and her brood: I thought I got her and the hubbie but that the kids were too generic; her sister thinks I got everyone but her. The source material for the children was limited in terms of angle and expression and extrapolating different expressions was hard. With Kristin, I think I captured the photo I used, but the photo didn't really look like her in the first place (doh!). (As far as LaPaglia goes, mm not sure. ). Maybe I should post photos too (they're not on my current computer; maybe later).

I used brush-pens, which every blogging cartoonist had been raving about - and they're right to.

One last thing. I don't have a scanner. Most of the things I'll upload right now are from my mobile phone camera (puny, less than 2 megapixel). The quality is therefore pretty poor. I'll try to improve on that as I go on.

Why?

2008-03-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

Having spontaneously decided to create this blog, I find my mind's a blank as to what to post on it. It was the same whenever I decided to start writing a diary. For now, here're some of the modest sketches I do in a little pad during coffee breaks, to pass the time. From these puny beginnings will blossom the go-to site for great art and arrestingly deep thoughts on mind, body, culture, life, the universe and everything. Maybe. Mm, haven't found my 'voice' yet.