A Drawing for the City of Surrey
A few weeks ago, I was approached by Surrey Parks and Community Enhancement, to make a drawing for the city of Surrey. I did that drawing this week!
This was a special piece for me for multiple reasons.
One, it is the first time I have been commissioned by a government body. It feels like upgrading to another level.
Two, the piece was larger than what I normally do, at 11x14”. I have scanned the drawing now, and it will become an even larger print. I am excited to see how it turns out!
Three, I love doing commissions that I can draw on location. A lot of commission work, especially since COVID, has become drawing out of reference photos. While I’m glad for the work, this is not where the true joy lies. I am finding that drawing out of references, having the leisure to do it at my desk, take my time with it, plan it in full detail, actually does not make my work better. In fact, I have to then work harder to make it look not labored or over-deliberated.
My real style shows in the scenes I draw on location, without pencils or planning, just chasing inspiration and the mood of the moment. It feels like riding a wave. I know I can do it, but I don’t know exactly how it will go. There is a thrill associated with the task. And I look forward to it with great excitement.
The brief was to draw at a community event outside the Surrey City Hall. That’s it. I love when clients give me a free rein. I feel it is a testament to my skills as an artist that they trust me to ‘work my magic’. And it is also a testament to my luck, that I have such supportive and hands-off clients. One day, I should write about all the lovely clients I have had - some who have given me complete creative freedom, some who paid me more than I asked for, some who became repeat customers. I am so grateful to all of them.
Anyway, let’s go to the drawing.
This was the scene, and the point of view that I picked.
I sat on the same comfortable red lawn chair as the one on the left. I had a beach umbrella to shield me from the sun. I started to draw when a lady came to sit on the chair in front of me. It was the right time to begin, and the right way to do it - with the human element in place.
After drawing the lady on the left of the image, and her chair and her beach umbrella, I moved to the background of the scene. In this way, I traveled from left to right, with a general sense that I would draw at least the front facade of the impressive building on the right. As I did this, children started to play among the fountains, right on cue.
Drawing the first person sitting had given me my horizon line and, if you notice, all the other people’s heads are on that same line. Makes things easy.
The most difficult part of this drawing for me was the angle and shape of the glass-fronts of the building on the right. I don’t enjoy those kind of architectural features. I know many urban sketchers for whom this would be the highlight of the day, but I absolutely do not share that joy. I like to draw things not in parallel, things that do not correspond to other lines, while connecting nonetheless in the same space. Chaos is more fun than this kind of structure.
A unique challenge of the 11x14” scale was that I had to ponder more over the details. There was simply more space for more details. I had to think more about hatching and shaded areas than I would in an 8x10” piece.
Also, I realized as I drew this that no single thing can dominate the scene at 11x14” the way it can on 8x10” scale. To me, it feels like the people, the buildings, the fountains, and the physical space, all occupy an equal amount of space in this scene. All of them command an equal amount of attention as well. I like that in some ways. It is a new kind of challenge then to pull focus towards one thing. And I’m excited to work on this challenge some more. Some of my other recent commissions are also going to be 11x14”, including one I plan to draw tomorrow morning!
Click below for details!