I’m currently thinking about two cafe sketches that I did this week. The sketches both included obscured figures but have a very different feel to each other.

The looser composition of the one on the left gives a much wider view of the surrounding scene. It also reflects that I was sitting at some distance away from the people I was sketching. I always do the figures first, just in case they get up and leave – which they did before I finished the background. On reflection, I can also see that the proportion of the obscured person is not in keeping with the main figure. I think the composition would have been stronger if I had corrected this error.

The second sketch is much more focused,  not only because the main person was sitting at the next table. Her focus was elsewhere and that big collar on her parka meant that she wasn’t noticing me sketching her. Again, the second obscured person was of interest to me. They also left shortly after I sketched them in.

One thing that I think helps make this second sketch pop are the dark shadows behind the cups. Many of us are ‘afraid of the dark’ when it comes to watercolour painting and yet, in the majority of cases, it’s just what a sketch needs to bring it to life.

I’ve also been trying to apply some advice from Singaporean sketcher Andrew Tan, who is an illustrator and comic book writer in his day job. He notes that to get a story across in a comic, you need to focus attention on the main character. You can do this by ensuring that there is a strong contrast between the focus of your attention and what surrounds it. Hence, the dark wall behind my person. There was indeed a shadowed wall behind her, but I dialled it up to help bring even more attention to her.

I regularly sketch at both these cafes. So, having these two side by side has prompted me to consider bringing a much more focused view when next I’m cafe sketching.