Painting Reportage Drawings / Instructional Video

New Drawing Video!!!! This time at Century City Mall In Los Angeles

New Drawing Video!!!! This time at Century City Mall In Los Angeles

So I went to see Mission Impossible this past weekend at the AMC Century City. 'Twas' a cool movie! Afterwards I created my own festivities by drawing people right I front of the theater. The video shows a small section of the drawing session however it was a good session. I recommend drawing in public places to anyone interested in Building Confidence in your drawing skills. 

You learn how to draw people who are moving, ways to approach proportion, perspective, likeness, and lots of other great stuff. Drawing in public is a true multi-vitamin, nutrient dense with learning opportunities. All of the above topics are covered in my eBook "Drawing ToolBox" available at this link:
http://dawoodsketchs.blogspot.com/p/store.html

By the way if you haven't subscribed to YouTube channel or newsletter - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?? You can sign-up to my newsletter in the column to the right. As for my YouTube channel you can subscribe here:
https://m.youtube.com/user/dawoodmarion

Digital Drawing People At The Cafe - Demo Video

Heres the demo video of the image in the last post. It walks you through my process of sketching and painting in Adobe Photoshop.

Reportage Drawing in San Francisco/ One Day Workshop - session 1

This workshop aims to focus on loosening up and drawing complex scenes with energy and expression and without hesitation or fear. During this workshop you will learn various methods, techniques, tips and tricks for how to effectively and boldly draw buildings, cityscapes, moving people and cars. We will also be drawing while riding public transit buses and trains. I will be doing lots of demonstrations to show you how I draw on public transit vehicles.

This is for beginners who wish to develop confidence as well as the advanced who would like to break out of a rigid routine and draw more loosely. 

We will be drawing on-location in various areas of San Francisco, riding trains, streetcars, buses and doing some walking.  To view more details and purchase a ticket click the link below.

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/683431

My first self-published book...

My first published book of drawings is here!!!
I'm so thrilled to have this finally completed.
Purchase a copy!

Dawood Marion Drawings of Random People Vol. 1 by Dawood Marion 

Train drawings to Sketchbook paintings: Building a rhythm

So I've been vigorously improving my drawing ability for about 4-6 years now. My Master (mentor) said I should focus on drawing and gain strength there before moving on to painting, I also read this advice from John Singer Sargent. I've dibbled in paints a little over these years but nothing consistent. I've been more into line aesthetics than anything else, though in the back of my mind I really wanted to paint, I kept telling myself,"Not yet - in due time." The child artist inside didn't want to hear that.

 I'd noticed some of my favorite painters did it every day, they'd warm up and paint away for hours, just as I did with drawing. I tried this from time to time but just hadn't built of a rhythm. I would get on a painting kick and it would be great for a week or two and then CRASH!! Back to the drawing book. Where drawing spontaneously weaves in and out of my daily schedule due to that nature of my primary style (fast/ quick captures from life), painting is something I have to find and make blocks of time for.  Well looks like that train has finally pulled in because I am painting regularly now and it feels good, not forced. I figured I'd start with these sketchbook studies and build up to full size paintings. This is the fun stage!! Where I get to see myself go through many styles until one fits, sticks and I evolve with it just as I did with drawing. I like to see the marriage between the line and paint, I don't burying my beloved pen strokes under the paint completely, the painting has outlets here and there where the drawing can breathe:)

I crafted my own sketchbook!!!!!

There comes a point along the road to mastery when an artist develops a deeper relationship with his work and therefore compelled to create his own materials. Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, dudes and dudettes, brothers and sisters... I present to you... my very first handmade sketchbook!

Yes, it sports the genuine top quality raw unstained leather encasing, and inside is 90 lb ph neutral archival paper (hand torn). This paper is so think that I will have no problem painting as well as drawing in it. I think I'm gonna stain it thought because it may not look so good when it gets dirty.

It took some time to get the hang of it but I must say the journey was therapeutic. Especially sewing in all of the paper by hand. I've been up all night working on this beauty and now I gotta get some sleep, but I wake up I'm hitting the trains station to give it a test drive. Feels so GOOOOD in my hands - I can hardly wait!!!!

Email me if you'd like a sketchbook made just for you.
info@dawoodmarion.com

This is the first drawing to grace the pages of my new self-crafted sketchbook. Done on the transit bus going to the art store to purchase paper to create more books. The 100 lb, 100% rag paper felt like butter underneath the pen. I could feel the ballpoint sink into the paper.

My Second Sketchbook Film Short... Check it out

Sketchbook Flip - Book II (Part 1)

I stay drawing people...

Drawing of a guy at the coffee house. Both are the same person. I went in on the drawing with markers to pull out the cool shadows.

11x14
Ballpoint, Marker in sketchbook

Oil painting of transit scene

This is a reportage painting from a drawing I did yesterday on subway (Bart) train in San Francisco. 

Here is the initial sketch done on the train.

Transbay Tube

16x12
Oil on Canvas

Young people on transit

I wonder what it's like to be a female riding on transit staring out the window in deep thought when suddenly a guy approaches you with a sketchbook and on the page is a drawing of you... as he begins to smile.

Queen on transit using smart phone
11x14
Ballpoint Pen in sketchbook

Young people on transit

11x14
Ballpoint Pen in sketchbook

Young people on transit2

11x14
Ballpoint Pen in sketchbook

Man reading on transit

11x14 

Ballpoint Pen in sketchbook

Drawing Teens

Young Sistah' on her way to school plugged into her smart phone.

 11x14 

Ballpoint pen on paper

Drawing on the bus today...

This was a young Queen on the transit. I did a quick sketch and added the gouache wash right there on transit. Tremendously uncomfortable but the lighting was so nice I had to try and capture it.

Girl riding to school

11x14

Pencil and Gouache in Sketchbook

Drawing in San Francisco again....

Taught a Drawing class at The University of San Francisco today. These are the drawings I cranked out on the commute to and fro.

Man on train using smart phone
Ballpoint pen
11x14

Asian woman on Muni Bus (route 31) in San Francisco holding plastic grocery bag
Ballpoint pen in sketchbook
11x14

Passenger on subway train
Ballpoint pen in sketchbook
11x14

Drawing in transit again

Today I drew people on the end of the day commute. It was very relaxing sitting there listening to my ipod staring at people in they're "Thank God The Day Is Over" state. This is one of the drawings that developed nicely from the session.

Evening ride home
Graphite and gouache
11x14

We all drew each other day...

Today I had all my students draw each other. I was requested as a model also so I had to draw someone in order to sit still long enough to be drawn. Lots o' Fun Fun FUN!!!! 

The people below are folk on public transit

My latest "filled" sketchbook (Video)

Took about  a month or less.

Deeper Though...

More drawing people on the transit.

Drawing people from Oakland to San Francisco

Been running through sketchbooks like water lately. Getting lots of practice in on public transit. Frequent practice is essential if you want to be good at this. I'd say drawing on public transit is far better practice for me than nude figure drawing... all of the challenges and discomforts create excellent platforms for making good decisions fast, critical thinking and problem solving.