Carlo Brancaccio Paris sketch (pencil / watercolor)

Carlo Brancaccio (born 1861, died 1920) was an Italian impressionist, who left his pursuit of maths to start painting at the age of twenty-two. Brancaccio’s mentor was Eduardo Dalbono who was a professor of painting at the Naples Academy. This is a quick 4inch by 6inch pencil/watercolour sketch (made on the flip side of yesterday’s […]

Rue Montmartre, Paris, Childe Hassam sketch

Childe Hassam was a renowned American impressionist whose early work in illustration paid enough for a Paris apartment near Place Pigalle, where he fully embraced Parisian life. At one point he even sub-let Renoir’s old studio. Whilst he studied at the Académie Julian, he was not swayed by the academic approach to art, and preferred […]

Sketching Paris, ballpoint pen and basic toning

These are a couple of quick, small sketches of Paris – ballpoint pen on copy paper with basic toning using vine charcoal and a 2B pencil. They’re made after paintings by the former Parisian artist Luigi Loir. The biro forces you to commit your lines, and you can vary the depth of tone to some […]

Water soluble pencil sketching after Wilhelm Busch

Wilhelm Martin Busch was probably one of the most brilliant sketchers and draftsman I’ve come across, with a wonderful imagination and command of line, able to draw almost anything that came into his imagination. Before Busch passed away in 1987, he had illustrated some 300 books. To properly appreciate Wilhelm Busch’s abilities and wonderful treatment […]