One Week 100 People challenge

This year I participated in OneWeek100People, a challenge organised by urban sketchers Liz Steel and Marc Taro Holmes for the first week of every March. The idea is to sketch roughly 20 people a day for 5 days, or to at least sketch more people than you would otherwise. I don't usually sketch many people, so this low bar option felt achievable.

sketchbook 6 21.jpeg|pen sketches of 20 different people spotted at Cottesloe beach

The weekend before I went to Sculptures by the Sea at Cottesloe Beach, and whilst sketching people from life is a bit beyond me, I took enough photos of the crowds to have plenty of subjects to draw 100 people from. Drawing teeny tiny people off in the distance was its own challenge, but a useful skill to learn.

sketchbook 6 22.jpeg|Pen sketches of a crowd at the beach, self-portrait in magenta ink

For most of my people I used my new favourite fountain pen, a Sailor Fude de Mannen, which has a strangely bent nib that gives amazing line variation. I used my fountain pens with coloured ink to fill in the space with closer sketches of myself and the kids.

sketchbook 6 23.jpeg|Pen sketches of a crowd at the beach, sketches of two kids at the beach in blue ink

During the week I also did some Life drawing in different media which I feel counts, even if all the drawings were of one person in different poses. I'm not sure I hit 100 people in total, but it's certainly far more than I'd usually draw.

sketchbook 5 6.jpeg|watercolour sketch of the building and crowd at Cottesloe Beach
This last painting was done after #OneWeek100People, and I definitely felt a difference drawing a scene with lots of people in it. Usually I'll omit people in my paintings of buildings or landscapes, and even feel a bit annoyed that they're blocking a clear view. But here I feel like the vague figures give a sense of scale to the architecture, and more accurately capture the memory of the busy day.