PHIL DEAN

Phil Dean, aka The Shoreditch Sketcher, is an amazing sketchbook artist. He originally trained as a graphic designer, when drawing was a much more essential part of the process than today. Phil Dean is inspired mainly by the vibrancy of urban landscapes, which motivates him to live sketch on location and capture the cityscapes. I find his attention for detail incredible - the stonework of architecture, the roofs. He states on his website, “You can’t beat live sketching on location. I’m interested to capture the spirit of the subject matter and that can only happen when you are drawing on site. I can use photographs as a reference, but the finished result never has as much character as a live sketch”. This is definitely something I will try and encourage myself to do more. He draws all of his line work live in situ and always adds colour post live sketch. From following his instagram I find he is also one who believes it isn't all about the vista, it's about capturing the intricate details. From his instagram you can also pick up plenty of tips on his use of materials. His line drawings are usually done with a spirit based marker, he says you could use any pigment liner pen but he likes to use Edding or Copic. To add colour he uses markers - Copic and Windsor & Newton. Quite often for brickwork he would use a Posca white pen as these are opaque. When colouring the pan tile roof tops he says the most effective method is to start with the mid colour and then add darker and lighter tones using marker, pencil and gouache.

​https://www.instagram.com/shoreditchsketcher/