MAKING A MARK AWARDS- Adebanji wins The Travel with a Sketchbook Trophy 2012

Adebanji's Sketches on Public transport 1

It's a great way to start the year and I see this year as a fresh sketchbook page spread- ready to be filled up with abundant creativity! There's really nothing as great as looking at the pages of a brand new sketchbook! When I see a fresh page, it makes me tick, and I just feel like filling it up! It's a great feeling! Looking back at my old sketchbooks, brings back all the experiences of each sketch made, what attracted me to do the sketch and it helps to track my own personal development. Moreover, filled, in my mind, is an inventory of thousands of faces, I've sketched in the year 2012!

Making a Mark has always given out awards to bloggers in the Art field and I really cherish this particular Award because it's what I do everyday! You can  read all about it in the post by clicking HERE.

The Award was given with this statement, "This year I'm going to award this prize to somebody who routinely carries his sketchbook with him and sketches while travelling to work and his studio in Chelsea on the other side of..... London.  So no overseas trips - but lots of sketching!..... For those who have never tried drawing on public transport before, I have to tell you that form of sketching is a challenge! Bear in mind the transport does not provide for a smooth journey and you never ever know when your subject is going to get up and leave!"

Also  I am going to use this opportunity to introduce you to another blog I'll be running alongside this one this year! It is going to focus on tips, videos, demonstrations, my techniques, sketches for sale and everything that would basically inspire you to GET OUT AND DO SOME SKETCHING YOURSELF! It's called-Inspired to Sketch with- Adebanji Alade. It isn't launched yet, but it will go live on Saturday the 12th of January-So get ready by clicking HERE and subscribe!

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SPECIAL QUOTE.
"Great drawings are the result of risk-taking. They come not from copying or from verbal or intellectual idea about the subject, but from a visual idea....An artist in any field perceives the importance of the whole. He notes significant information and makes order from chaos. Such a mind appreciates elegance, simplicity, design and restraint."- Sherrie McGraw 

Sketches on the tube, train and bus in March III (And some great news)

These are some recent sketches I have done on public transport. I am also happy to introduce you to the New blog-Urban Sketchers London, and also The New Book The Art of Urban Sketching in which I am featured (I think the first Print has already sold out, so they are in the process of a second print-that's why the amazon price is a bit expensive at the moment). Also I have a short 7 minute video that shows how I go about sketching on public transport, I am also recording this at the same time I am sketching so it's a bit fussy but I hope you enjoy the whole process.

Recent Sketches








This sketch is completed from start to finish in the video clip below.

The Video



The New Urban Sketchers London blog.

These are some of the new pictures and sketches I posted on the New Blog. Which will feature mainly sketches of London Scenes



Tower Bridge at Night



Adebanji sketching Tower Bridge at night

The Art of Urban Sketching Book





The Sketch and Picture here are part of the features of me in the book



This is book cover from amazon-you can click to HERE to see some more features of this great book!


SPECIAL QUOTE
"The main thing is to keep working, questioning, experiencing, growing. You've got to train your eye to develop your emotions to work together. We are all students. There is no end to learning."-Everett Raymond Kinstler from his book "Painting Portraits"

Sketches on the Tube, Train and Bus in February I (Plus Video of Sketching the Sketcher)

These are some of my recent sketches on public transport. The sketch has always been my constant method of understanding and grasping everything that art is about. For me it all starts with a sketch.







What are the qualities of a sketch/sketcher?

I tried to think of some of the things I carry along into each sketch I make and thought of breaking it down into the very word S-K-E-T-C-H

S-It must have spirit! It must have the soul of the sketcher embedded into it!

K-It must be executed with knack! The sketcher has to find his or her own 'shorthand'way of doing it!

E-It has to have some sort of energy, by this I mean vitality and intensity of expression!

T-The sketch has to be unique with the sketchers particular technique. Because it's mostly done quickly there has to be an underlying technique utilized by the sketcher to get it done quickly, if need be!

C-COURAGE!!!!- This one is the most important, it's that state of mind that enables one to do it anywhere, anytime and any place without any lack of confidence or fear!

H-The sketcher must have Heart! By this I am emphasizing the sketchers prevailing mood and present or current inclination while the sketch is being executed. He or she must believe it is possible, once the hand touches the pen or pencil and the first stroke hits the paper!


SKETCHING THE SKETCHER-Here I sketch myself on public transport and record the process with the camera in my other hand. A bit clumsy but worth sharing so people can enjoy a full unedited process of a sketch taking place on a fast shaking and moving train! It's divided into 2 parts so grab a cup of coffee or tea and some biscuits....quite long, I mean.

THE SKETCH




PART 1



PART 2








SPECIAL QUOTE
"I talk as I sketch, too, in order to keep their minds off what I'm doing so I'll get the most natural expression I can from them. Also, the talking helps to size up the subject's personality, so I can figure out better how to portray him."
-Norman Rockwell