Taking the oneliner technique a step further

In last Tuesday’s video I use the continuous line technique; red for the foreground and blue for the background. It made me think of one summer a few years ago, I took this onliner(s) technique a little further.

That summer in Amsterdam in 2017 was great. The weather is good, which in Amsterdam means that the streets are filled with happy faces. There are so many terraces to sit and enjoy the city buzz. Summer days like those, are a great excuse for me to sketch outdoors while sipping a coffee, and practice my ‘oneliners’; continuous line drawings. It’s a bit of a game: not lifting your pen off the paper and making a drawing with one, continuous line. This technique allows you to slow down and really look at what you’re seeing, as well as speed the drawing process up, because you can’t afford to go into detail much - the line must go on (am I the only one hearing Freddy Mercury in my head, singing this??)

For these drawings, I used not two oneliners like I showed in last Tuesday’s video, but three. One for the foreground, one for the far background, and one for the stuff in between. It's all a bit wobbly and chaotic, but I think that translates the buzz and vibe pretty good.

Before I was ready to explore with different colors, summer was over and I moved over to different subjects and techniques, but who knows, I might pick this fun game up again some time. So much fun!

You could give this a go too. You could do it even in your own home. As long as you have a very clear and close foreground, a clear far background, and an ‘in between’.
Example: Your glass and a carton of milk on the table in front of you (and the cookies of course, to go with it), the back wall and windows of the room your in, and the furniture in the room. I might give it a try myself. Have fun!