- Hi and welcome to Pocket Sketching.

We're gonna have more fun today.

We're gonna do something that's very challenging for you, probably.

It's people, and they're not really scary.

Wait till you see how easy it is to do people.

But you need practice or you'll never include them.

And you're going to want to include them if you travel because they're in the scene.

So this is the chance to get started with doing people.

Come join us.

(upbeat music) Today, we are doing people.

It's not that I just want you to do people, it's that the time will come when you want to include them, and if you haven't practiced, you won't do it.

People are afraid to do people.

It's threatening.

So we're gonna do it.

We're gonna see how it works.

So let me start with people at a distance.

This is hardly threatening.

See the people?

Incidentally, the minute you put them in, they are likely to be the focal point because we are people and we relate to people.

So these are tiny.

Probably the only identifying feature is the bill on that person's hat.

It's, they're just tiny, that's all.

But as they get bigger, it gets more interesting.

Notice how few lines are involved.

Really, here, there's no neck.

The head can be tilted back, it can be tilted forward.

It is important.

The shoulders are generally bigger than the bottom.

And then what they're doing is the most important thing of all.

But you don't even have to stay in the lines.

Look at this one, kind of a pear shape.

The chair is important, it's a prop.

Nobody can do this, sit like this without a support under them.

And the head, look at the shape of that head.

You're gonna be afraid that you can't get it right.

This head is shaped like a chocolate kiss.

You know, go here, go up there.

Then the little, the place that's been wet to run the line is round.

It doesn't matter.

There's a lot of wiggle room in here where you don't have to be at all accurate.

This is supposed to be a running dog.

The point I was making with it is, you remember Charles Schulz's Charlie Brown.

When Charlie Brown ran away, there were lines that went behind him to indicate he was going that way.

Well I put the lines behind the dog.

Not supposed to be air escaping.

Anyway, this one, now we're getting bigger.

If you get a figure that is good.

Let's say you have a group and let's say you have five people, one of the five is good.

You want the audience to see the one.

So if you're going to color anything, you are going to color the one.

And you're also going to make sure it is in complimentary colors.

So let's try this.

Now this is a water soluble pen, so I have to be careful where I put this to not pick up too much of the black.

This color will stay, just go darker.

There we go, that's probably good enough.

Maybe a little bit down here.

What's the bottom going to be?

The bottom is going to be the opposite color on the color wheel.

Trying to make sure I get it pretty opposite.

I want just, I don't have to stay in the lines.

I do not have to stay in the lines.

This is pretty innovative for you.

Now you cannot miss this person.

As for the other person, dull blue jeans.

Because the other person, if I consider them less good, I didn't get enough blue in there.

Okay, that's enough.

You see, I want you to see this one.

Now if that's not brilliant enough, make it a little more so.

I'm gonna test it to be sure I'm okay.

I need a little more red in there.

Okay.

That's brilliant enough.

You cannot miss that person.

My idea is, if this is a better figure, I wanna make sure you see it.

So I'm going to color this one in opposite colors on the color wheel so that it jumps out.

That one will not jump out.

You look here, then you think they're both good.

I'm playing with your eye.

This is another one that was very interesting.

I take my sketching stuff with me most places.

And I went to a watercolor demonstration at a watercolor club.

It was done by Steve Griggs.

I've got to give him credit for this.

He was doing a demonstration where people were part of it and he started to do these figures.

I loved him.

I pulled out my paint set, and as he was doing them, I did them too.

So these are actually Steve's figures, but there's nothing here.

I mean, I'm not to trying to say anything against them.

They work beautifully.

But look at how little efforts involved.

You've got more or less a circle for a head, more or less a neck, a back line, a big belly, and a leg.

Not even a shoe, not a hand, not a face.

This is not all that hard.

And these are pretty good sized in proportion to the paper.

They're not little tiny.

Don't be so worried that your people won't turn out right.

It's one of our fears.

Here come a couple that are in color.

Both of these were demonstrations for classes outdoors.

The man wasn't sitting there when I started with this table arrangement.

He came and sat and I just included him.

But again, look how little it is.

Sort of a big body, legs.

You could see the pen lines in there.

There aren't any pen lines on that chair.

There are on this one and that one.

His head is basically his hat.

That makes it.

You think they have to be more perfect.

They don't have to be perfect.

Here's another one.

I was doing a demo for a class for architecture of the door.

This woman walks by with an Afghan Hound.

Why not throw it in?

Do it so fast, she's walking, get it quickly enough that she hasn't even left.

Talk about speed.

And then these flowers were there.

That was easy to throw those in.

But white pants, I didn't have to make any color, big shirt, sort of a head, and a little bit of brown for hair.

I mean, my goodness.

And the dog, just make him a white dog.

It's much easier than you think.

Now as they get bigger, it's important what they are doing.

Here's the lead photograph.

This, I don't want you to notice how many lines are involved.

It was all about the cell phone and the young lady looking at the cell phone.

Now this is gonna stay there and this is easy.

This is the chair, that's the arm of the chair, all I needed, shoulder width, oh, look at the line.

The line is down here.

There was another scribbled line.

Pick them up.

Just a bit of color here.

I'm not in the lines there.

I'm out of the lines.

This is just color thrown together.

That's a lot of lines that weren't even used.

No lines in there.

The junk in the ornament in the back of her hair, that's got lines.

But the top of the hair doesn't, brush stroke.

It's much easier than you think, but you need practice or you won't do it.

These were people who were in an art show.

No face, no face, she's got a handbag.

They're just part of a scene.

You can do this.

Again, oh, this one's kind of interesting.

It all goes to the ukuleles.

It was a group playing ukuleles in Santa Barbara.

I blew this face, so didn't touch it with water.

I'm counting on this one carrying the picture.

He's okay up here, he's got a great rear, very nice belt, and the ukuleles.

The hat on this guy, well, his head couldn't be shaped right like that.

Would an older man really put his hat off to the side?

But he had a bad head, so you hide it, put a hat on it.

There are so many ways out.

It's hard to believe that it's so easy.

This was one of my students sketching.

The chair is a major part of it.

She actually worked out well.

So I put a dark around the outside of her so that we would see her.

Originally, this window came down further and it conflicted with her.

So just throw a dark in.

It doesn't matter that it's not there in reality, throw it in so you see the figure.

If this were not there, you would not see this figure.

Not against that window.

And you wouldn't figure it out.

You look at it and say, well, what does it need?

Put in what it needs.

Sometimes it doesn't work, didn't take much of your life.

This is a person at a restaurant who's folding napkins with silverware for the night.

Again, it's a back view.

It's a great view.

I spent a little more time perhaps on the tree, but the tree was really there.

You see how much leeway there is.

There's tons of leeway.

Emphasize lines that work.

This next one is kind of fun.

In fact, it's more fun 'cause I can't find it.

I will find it, but not quite yet.

I've misplaced something.

Here it is.

I want you to see this one because of the fudging.

This was a woman who was auditioning to be in a play.

She returned to the same position over and over.

That's important.

The same exact position even though they're moving.

And you continue to finish it as they return to the same position.

But notice the lines here.

That line didn't work.

It made her wussy.

She isn't, wasn't wussy, she's a very strong person.

So came out with more lines, more lines, more lines.

And then pulled the last line out with water.

So that's the line you see.

The rest are just building.

Same thing in her arm, many lines building.

And then just emphasize the cuff on her jacket.

Cut this in because that was a nice line.

Put water on it, so you'd see the line.

When you put water on, you emphasize the line.

I had a hard time with her face.

I gave her glasses.

Glasses are a way out on a face.

They ride at the base of the nose.

They hide part of the face.

And then the side has to come up over the ear.

And 1/5 of the ear is above and 4/5 are below, if their hair's out of the way.

There are so many ways to fudge.

This was a nice line, put water there.

Ran it up to here to make her neck.

The hand, well, if you really look at it, that's really an enormous hand.

But you're not really gonna look at it.

You're gonna look right here where there's contrast at her face.

You're gonna look here, you're gonna see this, and you're gonna see this.

You are not gonna see that hand.

It has not been emphasized.

Again, more and more wiggle room.

The next two are from John Singer Sargent.

Again, I love Sargent's work.

You can copy this, it's easy.

I've had a class copy it.

It's very easy.

Where are her hands?

There aren't any.

The size of this, 10 by 14 inches.

So that's, hmm, about that high by about this wide.

All of his watercolors were small.

They either fit in his lap or on that little easel.

Her face is done in watercolor.

I highly recommend that at this point, you don't use the pen, this pen on faces.

It'll get away from you.

Instead, do an outline for the face.

That's fine.

Pull that outline away so the ink doesn't interfere with the colors on the face.

Do the face in possibly pencil.

Although if you do pencil, you're gonna erase over and over.

I would prefer that you do it in watercolor.

You can move the watercolor, lift it off, and put it on somewhere else if you didn't hit the right spot.

And Sargent used this a lot in his watercolors of people.

This is another Sargent.

I want you to get taken away with what's upside down.

Again, he has, there are no hands.

Look really hard.

There's not a hand in there.

The gesture is there.

The fact that there's reading a book and perhaps listening, what they're doing is very important.

He has used his famous dark back here to emphasize that line, the line of the body, the dress, and he uses this frequently, to emphasize the edge of the umbrella.

Otherwise, it would be too light.

Over here, to emphasize the shoulder.

All of this background stuff is arbitrary.

I love to call it the Sargent squiggle.

These are squiggles.

There's nothing there, but you think there's a background.

Again, a dark down here to pull this in together as two different skirts.

The faces are done in watercolor.

Look at the outline, very little to it, very little to the outline.

And then very light facial features.

Again, it's an escape.

Don't go in really heavy with something dark, you're gonna be stuck with it.

You wanna do it very, very lightly.

It's amazing to see how a master does this.

I mean, I don't consider myself anyway a master.

Let's look a little bit further.

This is the beginning of something that really, really, really surprised me.

I was in a layover in O'Hare Airport in Chicago, 4 1/2 hours.

I brought a book, but I always have my sketching stuff with me.

And I plan to read the book.

Until right across from me, there was a couple.

The man pulls out this big sketchbook and says loudly enough that I can hear, they gave it to me, I better find out how to use it.

He obviously didn't sketch.

He started to sketch.

She got on her cell phone.

And I thought, hey, if he can do that, there's no reason why I can't do that.

I got 4 1/2 hours here.

So I started to sketch.

Start with somebody who's easy.

Somebody who holds still.

This was a young man scanning the board.

This is my second sketch.

The first one was a young man on a computer.

Do you know what they do when they're on a computer?

They sit here like this.

They hold motionless.

They may use their hands a little bit, but they're motionless.

They make very, very, very good models.

So this guy was holding still.

And yes, there's a mistake, look at his face.

It doesn't matter, I got the effect.

He had absolutely wild hair.

I wanted to catch the wild hair.

That's what caught my attention.

The rest, there aren't many lines in here.

No hands, nothing difficult.

Faces turned away, nothing difficult.

But then I noticed that they were like fish in a fish bowl.

They were everywhere.

There were people holding still.

It was just terrific for models.

This was a young lady who had a baby and she kept looking at the baby.

She's gonna keep looking at the baby.

And all I have to do is the back, no hands.

Did you notice?

So far, I don't think I've shown you a thing with a hand.

People are afraid of doing hands.

We don't have to, especially at this small size.

It's the gesture.

What is the person doing?

What are they wearing that caught your attention?

I caught her great big scarf.

And then I noticed this was sort of like suspenders.

It wasn't.

That might have been a backpack, I don't think it was a chair.

It was probably a backpack.

But nonetheless, I caught that pattern.

And her blonde hair, all over the place.

And as little as possible on a face.

Stripes on a shirt.

These are things that you look at and you catch.

So why not base the sketch on the things that caught your attention?

Don't try to get that face.

It is, that's hard.

Save it till later, you'll get there.

If you like people, you'll do people.

A very interesting place and I'll pick her back up just to use her as an example.

If you're in a cafe and you wanna sketch people, if you start, you sit down and start to sketch, they're going to get very, very uncomfortable.

It's like you're stealing their soul or copying them for some awful purpose.

So instead, you find your victim, put your stuff down in clear view, then walk over to them and say, excuse me, I need your help.

Stop, pause.

They're trying to figure out how to help you.

Now I'm in a class and I have to learn how to do people in a public setting like this and I don't know how, do you mind if I include you?

Almost everyone will say yes, go ahead.

Do I have to hold still?

No, just keep doing what you're doing.

I just need people in this setting.

And you go back and you start to sketch them.

Now the only people who object are the ones who are leaving.

I'm leaving, I've got to go in just a couple of minutes.

Okay, thanks anyway.

Go back to your place and sit down and start to do something.

Do not go to another person.

You go to another person that looks like you're soliciting one to another to another and they pick up on that really, really fast.

So go back, sit down and cool it for a couple minutes.

Pick your next victim.

Now you get up and go to that person and it might be someone who just arrived, didn't see it with the other one.

And you go through the routine again.

Excuse me, but I need your help.

Stop.

Let them figure out how they're gonna help you.

I'm in a class, I have to learn how to do people in a setting like this, do you mind if I include you?

That one's gonna say yes.

They just got there.

They hold pretty still.

Their hands will move, their friends may come.

You've got all the furniture, you've got the umbrella, the table, whatever is there on the setting, but you wanna get the person.

If this person gets up and leaves, look around and find another person in the same posture, continue your sketch using that one.

You'll be almost done anyway.

But I have found that asking for their help is infallible.

They may come and ask if they may see the sketch.

Don't worry.

You've already told them you're learning how to do it.

The sketch can be dismal, but you've allowed them to think they're helping you and people love helping people.

So you've just allowed them to help you do something.

You've made them feel good about themselves.

I mean, think this through a little bit.

And when you start to think of that, oh, I can do that.

I can do that in a cafe.

And if you need to stay longer at the cafe because you're really having a good time, order iced tea or whatever's appropriate for the season, cup of tea.

They'll let you keep that table for a really long time.

I have never been asked to leave a restaurant when I keep ordering tea.

Of course I have to go to the bathroom frequently, but I get to stay there and sketch the people and that was the purpose.

And this is also fun to do with other people.

You're all in the same class.

You're all learning how to do it now.

Now just a few more just for the fun of it.

Oh, by the way, I would not take a commission.

I have done it only once when somebody who knew I do these sketches asked me to sketch her.

She happened to have been very pretty.

She was less than middle aged.

And she said to me, don't include my smile, everybody puts my smile in.

So I did a sketch, it was good, I was really pleased with it.

And she came over to look at it and she said, where's my smile?

No, don't bother to do it, commission.

If somebody wants to buy something you've done and you're willing to sell it, sell it.

But don't be meeting their expectations.

You got enough to do for yourself really.

Now, where do you find models?

Models are found, your easiest models, do you have anybody in the family who watches television like football?

Make sure they have enough to drink, enough to eat, and their favorite chair.

I would recommend that you put on headphones so that you're not distracted when there's a touchdown.

Put something on, the headphones.

You can move around the room.

They're pretty much gonna keep the same posture.

They may eat a little bit, but they're not gonna move much.

They're gonna give you many, many.

And by the way, I don't happen to like football.

My husband loves it.

This way he thinks I'm watching football with him.

I'm in the room, so he thinks I'm watching football.

He can see me sketching, but my physical presence is there.

So I'm making him happy while I'm getting to sketch, and he's my model.

It's very, very easy.

Another easy way to get models, you have to turn the sound off.

If the sound's on, you cannot do this.

A talk show, a host and two guests.

The guests are brought there because they care about the subject.

The host is sophisticated, hereafter the guests.

A cameraman will tell the guest, sit there and get comfortable.

They're comfortable.

You cannot move, that way they're in focus on the camera the whole time.

So they stay seated.

They get heated in thinking about their subject.

One person is very close, very tight like this.

Every motion he makes is tight, it's close, it's careful.

And the other one's a jerk.

I mean, he does this.

He does this.

He points.

He's a jerk.

So you start with this one, he's really quite easy.

When you notice the gesture he returns to, that's when you start sketching.

He does this again.

Oval for the head, a bit of the hand.

We go to the other guy, wait, this guy back and does this again.

Start to get the hand, start to get the face, start to get the hairstyle.

We come back to this guy.

Eventually you'll put this guy over here next to your first one with an arm sticking out.

But this one's in front of him.

You got two figures, it's a half an hour.

You had two free models for a half an hour, and now you can go away.

So it's an easy place to get models.

And any place anybody's on a computer, anybody that really sits still.

I have a couple more to show you.

I do enjoy sketching people in public.

This is a man who was watching his grandchildren.

Really?

Duh.

He's on his cell phone on a swing.

He has no idea If they're still in the park.

They're gone.

And I had to sketch him because I was just, this guy's supposedly watching his grandkids.

Not.

This one is gardening.

What are they doing?

You can't see his hands.

It doesn't matter, you don't see his face.

This is not scary.

Two little kids.

That is a little bit more scary.

And if I can find the last one, it's kind of fun.

I put it in at the very end here.

Maybe I won't find it, it happens.

Wait, no, she's not there.

And I know I didn't do her.

Oh, well, here she is.

She didn't know I was doing this and I did not ask.

Luckily she didn't look.

At a swimming pool, reading her cell phone.

I'd planned to go swimming, but she was too neat not to do.

So you can see that sketching people can be a way of a lot of fun.

You don't have to be good.

You just have to sit back, wait for them to move into a position, and sketch them.

Really have fun, happy sketching.

(upbeat music) Want to learn more about the wonderful world of Pocket Sketching?

Then visit my website at pocketsketching.com.

We have so much there for you to explore, including free tips and training videos, the Pocket Sketching supplies, photo galleries, and how to access additional training.

All this and more is available at pocketsketching.com.

Learn enough to play for a lifetime.

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