No. 1: Mini Veggie Shrine
Virtual sketching // Waseda Dori, Tokyo
Hello, I’m Jess! Welcome to my new Substack where I share a closer look into my sketchbook and sketching process. This is a brand new space and I’m so glad you found me!
Rather than dwell on what to say on the first post, I’m going to dive right in! It’s been quite a while since I dipped my toes back into sketching from reference photos and I forgot how much I enjoy it. It’s a different type of feeling when I sketch from photos compared to on location sketching.
When I sketch on location I’m often short on time and usually need to catch up to whomever I’m with, so I keep my sketches under 5-10 min. There’s also an excitement of not knowing what will end up on a sketchbook page even if the location itself was planned. Sketching from photo references allows me to slow down and experiment a little bit more since I have extra time on my hands. However, more time = leads me to overworking a sketch.
One of my favorite subjects to sketch from references are Japanese storefronts. Between the textures of the buildings, hidden everyday objects, creeping ivy and the beautiful mess of cable wires draping off the rooftop edges… I love it all! These buildings have such a unique characteristic and I just love getting lost in the details.
Recently I finished a “mini veggie shrine” virtual sketch and have had this photo reference saved for quite some time (reference below). What drew me in to wanting to sketch this space was the amount of vegetation surrounding it and the amazing mural that was painted on the door shutter. The textures and plant life taking over this space was too tempting to not sketch.
Every sketch is an opportunity to grow and try something different in the next, or keep repeating the parts that I like. I tend to always go too dark and too heavy with my color so I try to keep that in mind since I prefer my sketches more light and delicate. This sketch was a good chance to see what I want to work on more, but I really enjoyed how it turned out and glad I finally added this sketch to my sketchbook.
Process: I lightly penciled down my sketch first and then used a Micron 02 pen for my linework. I then laid down watercolor and touched up a few spots with a white Posca marker. I also decided to try adding some light paint splattering but got a bit heavy on the first one (top left corner) and it ended up being a happy accident since I really like how it added to the vegetation. The size of this sketch is roughly 3.5” x 3.5” in one of my 5” x 5” sketchbooks that I tend to use only for virtual storefront sketches.
Original Photo Reference:
This veggie shrine was photographed by @hello.im.stefan on Instagram, he’s the photographer behind one of my favorite Japanese storefront accounts @storefronts.japan. Location: Waseda Dori, Tokyo.
