Urban Couches (Plus Inktober)

10/1/15 inks, colored pencils

A couple of weeks ago when an abandoned couch happened to appear in a sketch, I jokingly commented on Facebook that I see discarded furniture on the street so often that I should start a series. A few days later, I drove by a couch on the sidewalk just a few blocks from my house. When I went by yesterday, other random trash had been piled onto it – a piece of plywood and barbecue tongs. The owner didn’t even bother to put a “free” sign on it.

While I was standing on the sidewalk across the street, not yet sketching but just studying my subject, a neighbor walked by and said, “Are you selling or buying?”

“Neither – just sketching,” I replied.

Two sketches – I now have the beginning of a series. My local Facebook friends are on point to let me know when they spot a couch.

10/1/15 #inktober

P.S. Yesterday I impulsively decided to take part in Inktober, the challenge to make one drawing in ink per day during the 31 days of October. By default, it would be easy for me to fulfill this challenge, since I sketch daily anyway, and ink is almost always at least one of the media used. So I’m giving myself an added challenge of making these Inktober sketches in ink only – any subject, any size. And I also thought it would be fun to photograph each sketch with the pen used (if I can remember to do that). I probably won’t blog about all of them, but if you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see them there.

P.P.S. Go to illustrator Jake Parker’s Inktober page – he shows nine of his favorite inking tools, almost all of which I own, too! Inky minds think alike.