Yesterday I had a lunch appointment and as I walked home from it I passed a bright yellow pizza place. Have you ever done anything goofy for a goofy reason? Maybe I’m alone in that combination. It occurred to me that it was 12/12/12, a rather unique date and that I should sketch something. But, this was one of the odd times when I didn’t have my sketching stuff with me. Besides it was cold. Still, as I continued walking I couldn’t get the pizza parlor out of my mind.
By the time I got home, all sense of rationality had left me. “It’s only 10 minutes back to that place,” I said to myself. “I’ll work fast and it’s not really that cold.” I grabbed my sketching bag, threw half a dozen Tombow markers that I thought would I’d need into the bag along with a waterbrush. Off I went.
It was nuts and I’ve never sketched a building so fast. It’s certainly not my best sketch and somewhat wonky. I used the Tombow pens to color it at lightning speed. and then got out the waterbrush to add some sky color by wicking color from a Tombow pen onto the waterbrush. I made a mistake and swiped some red from the sign into my sky. I liked this little “happy mistake” so I did it some more. This adds to the wonkiness of my 12/12/12 sketch but I liked it.
I liked it better, though, when I got home and got a cup of hot tea in my hands. It’s definitely too cold for me to sketch outdoors anymore this year. Have you done anything this crazy in the name of sketching?
The sketch was done in a Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7) sketchbooks, using a Kaweco Classic Sport (fine) and Noodler’s Lexington Gray ink. As mentioned, Tombow pens were used for color.
Larry, this is wonderful! That happy mistake in the sky is interesting – I like how the red, red bleeds into a magenta. If I sketch street scenes, I’ll do it from my car. I’m a wimp: I’m six hours south of you and it’s too cold for me to brave the bare hands and freezing water brush.
I’m with you on the ‘in the car’ thing. We have a great bus system in Quebec City and a bunch of years ago decided we could get by with one car, that my wife has most of the time. My new world of sketching is the first time since that decision that I’ve wanted a car of my own – just to sit in 🙂
Cheers — Larry
Great sketch, Larry! Who knows — maybe the sky turns that color as the world ends! I sketched something pretty silly on 12/12/12, too — a date too good to pass up: http://www.tina-koyama.blogspot.com/2012/12/121212.html
Thanks for stopping by Tina. I can’t imagine doing a contour drawing of a clock as you did. I’d be lost immediately 🙂 The world doesn’t end til next week, though, so we still have more time to sketch 🙂
Cheers — Larry