AIRES DEL SUR

My name is Ian Fennelly and I am an artist, more specifically an urban sketcher; or, to be even more precise, I make art in crowded places while observing buildings and street furniture.

I have always been attracted to the urban environment, those places where people interact with the dynamic spaces that surround them. I try to draw people without depicting them directly - partly because they never stand still - but I like to draw the spaces they have inhabited, the cobblestones they have walked on or the windows through which they have looked. I love drawing from life because it allows me to record the experience of being in a busy place.

I usually start with a colour stain applied with a brush to fragment the space in front of me. This establishes the general shapes of the composition. It is a very emotional part of the process, working with colour, something that affects us all in different ways. Watercolour is perfect for this moment, because it softens easily and creates a wonderful layering effect, allowing me to build up tones and glazes of colour.

I then work over the colour with brush pens, which adds depth and tonal value to the image. I then use line markers to incorporate texture and detail. This is a fundamental part of the creative process, as recording the details of an urban scene forces you to really look and notice things. This is where the more human component comes in: being in the place, living it fully and enjoying the world around you.

Finally, if I'm lucky, the work is finished. In between I'm constantly moving, going up and down, going to the toilet or buying a coffee and a piece of cake. I don't usually stand still, so the angles can change. If a car or van is parked in front of me, the choice is to draw through it or move somewhere else; in either case, you have to be completely involved in the scene, both physically and imaginatively.

My urban drawings usually take two to three hours. It used to be much quicker, but now I pay more attention. The more you look, the more you see; the more you see, the more you understand.