The Challenge
Today’s challenge is an old bookshop, with the emphasis firmly on simplification and restraint. The instruction is to establish the main structure of the building without describing every architectural detail, using changes in line weight to create depth and allowing unfinished areas to suggest the surrounding street. And, specifically for me, not to draw every brick.
The Sketch
I decide to keep this one monochrome and use my Sailor 1911L Naginata Togi filled with Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-guri brown ink. The Naginata allows me to vary the line considerably by changing the angle of the pen, with broader strokes used for the main structure and finer marks for smaller details. I also take some of the same ink with a brush to create darker areas and patches of tone (a trick I learned at @sketchloose), giving the drawing depth without introducing watercolour. I concentrate most of the detail around the shopfront, reducing the books to simple marks and allowing the neighbouring buildings, pavement and parts of the façade to remain unfinished.
The Verdict – simplification works particularly well around the edges of the drawing, where very little information is needed for the neighbouring buildings to be understood. The strong roof lines establish the building immediately, while the loose collection of marks making up the bicycle reads surprisingly clearly. The lower half of the sketch feels particularly relaxed. The upper façade is slightly more controlled and symmetrical, with the three windows becoming a little too carefully described compared with the looser shopfront below. A few stronger dark accents around the awning and doorway might also have anchored the bottom of the building more firmly. Most importantly, however, the drawing demonstrates increasing confidence in leaving areas unresolved and allowing the viewer to complete them.
Score: 8.8/10
The Loose Nib 
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