I have long been thinking about sketching some old cars around Midsommarkransen, since there are quite a few veteran enthusiasts around here. But you know how it is, I hurry by them on my way to and from work, and never seem to find the time to stop and sketch.
This evening, however, sunny and a bit windy and with not much else to do, I walked down to this Saab V4 that I have been keeping an eye on for a while. Kids were playing in the park nearby, birds singing, and not much traffic around. I had a perfect hour of calm, disturbed by nothing and noone (except a tiny dog that barked at me when walking by).
27 x 21 cm, Duke fude nib pen with Platinum Carbon ink, and watercolours, in Stillman & Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.
My book Drawing around Sagrada Família is now available for Europeans too, via Amazon.es. This is the Spanish Amazon site, which means it is in Spanish, but I´m sure you´ll manage. : )
(If not, open up amazon.co.uk, for example, in another browser window, and see how the buttons and links work.)
It is finally warm enough in Stockholm to head out on the bicycle in a t-shirt and jeans and sit down to draw just about anywhere. So wonderful – this is what I´m longing for all winter.
I pulled out my old trusted fountain pen and watercolours today, at Bastugatan in Stockholm, feeling a little rusty… I have been drawing a lot in greyscale lately, using all kinds of drawing tools except watercolours. But – it can only get better now, summer is almost here! : )
21 x 16 cm, Namiki Falcon with Platinum Carbon black ink and watercolours, on Lana 200 gsm cold press watercolour paper.
I got my book Drawing around Sagrada Família in my hand this weekend, so I can finally show you a few sample spreads from it. It is available now from Amazon.com. Also, check out the new Sketchguide site from Zahorí!
Another scroll sketch. I went drawing at Slussen again today, and had decided to do a number of quick sketches like the two on the left, drawn in Gula gången (Yellow walkway, with yellow tiles on the walls). But after a coffee break I found this super sunny spot in the empty square outside Blå bodarna (Blue booths/stalls, and you guessed it – blue tiles on the walls), and I couldn´t persuade myself to do a quick sketch. I stayed on there for a while, basking in the sun, drawing away.
Inside Blå bodarna there used to be a number of small shops and stalls, among others a big stationery shop that was still there when I came to Stockholm in -98. Now there are two small shops and a hair dresser left, and the rest have been taken over by a nightclub or simply shut down. A half scary place at night, and a dark, worn down corridor in daytime, still retaining some of it´s oldschool cool.
50 x 13 cm, ink fineliners, pencil and coloured pencil in Moleskine Japanese album.
I went to Slussen to sketch today, and brought some tools I haven´t used in a long time – bamboo pen and ink, grey paper and a white Uni Poska pen. Actually I have never used the Posca pen, it was a quite nice acquaintance to make.
The weather was nice and sunny, but unfortunately the wind tipped my ink bottle over, so it made a mess in the beginning stages of the drawing. I tried to mop up most of the ink with a tissue, and kept on drawing. It was a lucky thing I had decided to work with black and white, the Posca pen managed to cover most of the ink blob, but it wasn´t a pretty sight at first…
48 x 25 cm, bamboo pen with Noodler´s Bulletproof Black ink and Uni Posca pen on grey drawing paper.
I just got word (and images) from my publisher, Zahorí, that my book Drawing around Sagrada Família is printed! It is not for sale just yet, but soon will be. (I will let you know when it is.)
The sketches in it were drawn during ten days in August last summer, when I was invited by Zahorí to explore and draw the Sagrada Família and the streets around it. The sketches were made into a Sketch guide, the start of a new series of books that Zahori is producing. It was a fantastic experience, not just because the Sagrada Família is an amazing place, but also because I have never drawn so much and so intensely around one and the same subject before.
Released along with my book, there is also a Sketch guide called Explore Gaudí by Swasky. Check it out here.
I will post more images as soon as I get my hands on a copy!
