DEMO

SKETCHER DEMO

Sketching architecture – ‘backwards’

MURRAY DEWHURST – A STALWART OF USK AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND AND SYMPOSIUM 2023 COMMITTEE MEMBER – SHARES HOW YOU CAN QUICKLY AND BOLDLY SKETCH ARCHITECTURE.

This is a technique I’ve been working on for four or five years. I’ve spent almost all of my sketching life sketching in pencil, inking over and then adding water colour – it was so time consuming! I have very limited time to sketch so was looking for a process to supercharge my work. I had stumbled upon the Hahnemühle Grey Book and had a few Posca pens left over from a mural commission so I started experimenting with them on those smooth grey pages.

I discovered that pushing and pulling images out of a coloured ground is a lot of fun. In this example I’m sketching a beautifully delapidated old Victorian villa – these wooden houses make up most of my neighbourhood here in Auckland.…

LEFT: PHOTO BY DIANE JOHNSON

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1. Load your waterbrush with diluted colour – I’m using the slurry left over in my palette to quickly scope out shapes. No pencil needed! 2. Add some diluted colour here and there. You are not only colouring your subject but also plotting your subject a bit more accurately. I’ve added the veranda shape and fence structure. Keep it really loose – this will add to the character of your final sketch. 3. Think about the negative and positive spaces in the image. In this case the bright sky cuts a simple shape around my subject. I use an 8mm chisel tip Posca to block out the sky quickly. Posca pens are opaque so cover anything unwanted beneath.

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4. Pick out the basic white shapes – these will push forward in the final piece. In the case of this old house the bargeboard, spouting, decorative fretwork and fence pickets. The sketch is still very loose – but don’t panic. It will come together eventually! 5. Start adding some detail with your fineliner. I use a Pilot 3mm calligraphy pen as it allows variation in line width from fine to wide.

6. This is the stage where it all comes together. Use shadow to push things back. Use the full width of the pen to add deep window shadows. Work backwards and forwards, adding watercolour and fine line where needed to pick out the detail. This is your chance to sharpen up the details. The trick is to only add enough detail to pull it all together.

BLOCKING IN THE SKY WITH AN OPAQUE POSCA PEN

MURRAY’S MATERIALS:

• HAHNEMÜHLE ‘THE GREY BOOK’ • COTMAN WATERCOLOUR KIT • WATERBRUSH • POSCA AND MOLOTOW 8 AND 1.8-2.5MM OPAQUE ACRYLIC PENS • JELLIROLL WHITE FINELINER FOR

HIGHLIGHTS

MURRAY’S TIPS:

• LEAVE THE PENCIL BEHIND AND

WORK ‘BACKWARDS’ WITH BLOCKS

OF COLOUR, ADDING DETAIL LAST • TINTED PAGES CAN BE LESS

INTIMIDATING THAN WHITE PAGES. • KEEP IT LOOSE, FAST AND FUN • LET THE WATERCOLOUR DRIP, AND

GET YOUR FINGERS IN THERE TO

SMUDGE AND SPREAD COLOUR

AROUND • TRY TO IDENTIFY ‘POSITIVE’ OR

‘NEGATIVE SPACE’ TO PUSH YOUR

SUBJECT FORWARD.

STRUGGLING WITH

PERSPECTIVE?

Isabel Santos from USk Toronto and the USk Membership Committee, has created a simple tool that can help sketchers who are having trouble with drawing perspective. “People who are not architects do not like the words ‘vanishing point’’ – it makes them want to VANISH from the scene!” she laughs. “I call it the ‘Non-Architect Clock’. This little tool, that any sketcher can create themselves at home, can help you find the angles of buildings.”

To make your Clock, you will need:

• Ruler • Protractor (optional) • Permanent marker • Sheet of Perspex • Circle form such as masking tape for tracing

Click on the image above then Watch Full Video. The portion of the Non-Architect Clock is at 16:35 - 22:22. Find out how to make the clock here.

MONROVIAN LANDSCAPE MONROVIA

DOE COMMUNITY

STOCKTON CREEK

sketcher spotlight

SHAFIC AL TIMANI: Architect by Day, Painter by Night

“ART IS A TOOL TO SPREAD HAPPINESS AND PEACE,” SAYS SHAFIC AL TIMANI, THE FOUNDER OF ONE OF OUR NEWEST OFFICIAL CHAPTERS – USK MONROVIA. HE LIVES IN THE CAPITAL OF THE MATERIALLY POOR BUT PEACEFUL COUNTRY OF LIBERIA, WEST AFRICA. BY CATHY GUTTERMAN

Shafic was born and raised in Aitat, a village in the Lebanese governorate of Mount Lebanon. As the firstborn boy in his family, he is named after his grandfather, who was the chief of Aitat for 51 years. The president of Lebanon awarded his grandfather a certificate saying that he was the oldest chief ever to serve in the history of Lebanon. Growing up, Shafic’s grandfather was his hero and best friend. Currently, Shafic resides in Monrovia, Liberia with his wife Sally and their children Salah (age 7) and Dany (age 4). He returns to Lebanon to vacation.

While Monrovia is highly populated, Liberia is a raw country with most of its areas untouched by man. If other sketchers were to visit Monrovia, Shafic would show them both the richness of the surrounding landscapes and the poor living conditions of the ghettos. Life in Liberia can be materially very difficult, but it is very peaceful. What Shafic most loves about Liberia is the kindness of its people. Shafic received a degree in Architectural Studies from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (Académie libanaise des Beaux-Arts). He began urban sketching in 2016 with classmate Judy J. Abi Roustrom, one of the founders of USk Lebanon. While finishing his Master’s project, Shafic was offered an opportunity to start a construction company in Liberia. Now with 10 years of experience in the field, Shafic has designed, consulted on, and constructed over 200 projects in Liberia. He is very proud to have contributed to the modernization of Liberia through these various architectural projects. As Head Architect for the American International School of Monrovia, Shafic designed and constructed a new director’s house, a new high school, and a new library.

For the past three years, Shafic has worked as a freelance architect, which has afforded him more time to draw and paint. Depending on where he is and the projects he is working on, his daily routine varies but he always stops working at 5 PM in order to begin drawing and painting — often until 3 AM.

About Monrovia

Home to 29% of Liberia’s total population, Monrovia is the country’s most populous city and its economic, financial, and cultural center. It lies along the Cape Mesurado Peninsula, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mesurado River, whose mouth forms a large natural harbor.

The city’s economy is primarily centered on its harbor and its role as the seat of Liberia’s government. Currently, Shafic is working on a personal project to create 61 artworks expressing the Lebanese-Liberian relationship through trees. Thirty pieces will depict the majestic cotton tree, which represents Liberia, and 30 pieces will depict the old pine trees planted by the Lebanese people who lived and worked in Liberia over 100 years ago. Number 61 will be the only artwork to depict both trees in the same painting. It will symbolize the deep historical connection between Liberia and Lebanon.

Shafic has many interests, beginning with his training in the ‘Art of the Samurai’ at age 15. In his younger years, he also dabbled in bodybuilding and theater. He now enjoys snowboarding, writing art quotes, and playing a daily game of chess. Of course, he also draws or paints every day.

It was Shafic’s grandfather who encouraged him to draw when he was a child. He taught himself how to draw and paint by observing the world around him, and by copying paintings and drawings of master artists. He was most inspired by the work of Jan Vermeer and Leonardo DaVinci. At age 15, he made a copy of Vincent Rudolph Ernst’s oil painting titled Smoking the Hookah from a book called Ottomans and Orientalists. Owning only a Cotman watercolor kit, Shafic had to apply so many layers to resemble the original oil painting that it took him an entire school year to finish. While Shafic prefers not to sell any of his work, he did agree to sell his graphite copy of a painting by Persian realist artist Iman Maleki to the wife of the mayor of Bchamoun. He felt very bad after selling this piece, and it has affected him to this day.

Although oil is his favorite, Shafic has acquired expertise in many mediums. He has developed his own drawing methods, such as sketching on sandpaper using oil, oil pastel, and colored pencils. In addition, he has developed a method he calls ‘extraction’ which he does by dusting graphite over the paper, then pressing the dust down with another piece of paper to reveal the final image. Using this technique, Shafic created his Beirut Explosion Extraction series. The strokes reflect the fragmentation of the city caused by the 2020 explosion that devastated the city. What he loves about this method is the little to no control he has over the final outcome. Effortlessly creating expressive and vigorous strokes, he can also create the same type of strokes with oil paint on different surfaces. Shafic relies on his feeling for the subject to determine the medium and technique, rather than following the same process over and over again.

ABOVE: CHESS TOURNAMENT BELOW: PAYSVILLE PARK

Rescuing chimps

As Head Architect for the Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection Project, which aims to protect chimpanzees in Liberia from being traded as bush meat, Shafic was interviewed and featured by BBC for a three-part documentary on the project. Above is his drawing of Jack, one of the chimps saved by the organization, is featured on a widely circulated brochure.

RAOUCHE ROCK, LEBANON

SHAFIC’S TIP:

IN THE INFINITE WORLD OF ART, WHERE RULES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN, SHAFIC’S ADVICE TO HIS FELLOW SKETCHERS IS “BE YOURSELF!”

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SIDON SEA CASTLE, LEBANON CHEVRON PARK

SHAFIC WORKING. LEFT: A WORK SHOWING SHAFIC’S EXTRACTION TECHNIQUE

‘ART IS A TOOL TO SPREAD HAPPINESS & PEACE’ - USK MONROVIA

While bicycling around Liberia with his watercolors, Shafic met several Liberian artists who showed interest in his work. The first was Cyrus Cooper. Shafic shared his idea to start an urban sketchers group in Monrovia with Cyrus, who was excited to invite others. Shafic created the Urban Sketchers Monrovia Facebook group on 30 January 2021. He led the group’s first meeting at Bernard Beach on 6 February 2021, sketching with Cyrus, Teddy Jackson, Sanoe Karamo, Brima Wolobah, and Goerah Zorbah. They remain friends to this day.

Urban Sketchers Monrovia became an official chapter in April 2022. Delighted for Liberia to become part of an international art movement, members believe that art is a tool to spread happiness and peace. They hold weekly outdoor sketching events, and ‘Sketch where you are’ events to give artists who can’t make it to the events a chance to show their artworks, as some Liberian artists can’t afford transportation or don’t have enough free time. However, favorite sketching sites have been the Ducor Hotel, Providence Island, Chevron Park, ELWA Junction, and West Point.

ABOVE: BRIMA WOLOBAH AND HIS SKETCH AT PROVIDENCE ISLAND Brima (above right) is an artist and graphic designer who does many exhibitions with various organizations and embassies.

LEFT: CYRUS COOPER AND HIS SKETCH AT DOE COMMUNITY. Cyrus is coadmin for USk Monrovia, is a full-time artist whose work is mainly contemporary and abstract acrylic paintings. He also paints with acrylic on clothes and his pieces are being sold in Liberia and the United States.

ABOVE: SKETCH BY GOERAH ZORBAH Goerah (left) is an artist and an architect who works in a design and construction company.

SKETCHES BY TEDDY JACKSON Teddy (left) is an artist who has an art gallery in Monrovia. For one of its events, USk Monrovia visited Teddy’s studio and art gallery. He is also a master karate coach and runs a Karate school.

SKETCHES AT OLD ROAD MARKETPLACE BY SANOE KARAMO Sanoe Karamo, co-admin for USk Monrovia, is an artist who mainly focuses on the art of portraiture for which he gets many commissions.

CONNECT WITH USK MONROVIA 30 drawing attention

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