This is one of my first few train sketches. I know because I was scared to draw people in real time. Instead I focused on things that were on the train. I had made a little bag with coloured pencils, an eraser, pencil sharpener and a few markers.
I used to doodle on the free newspaper that was handed out at North Sydney station after I finished the Sudoku on it. Then they stopped making the paper. That’s when I bought my first sketch book for this series. It was from a newsagent on the underground walkway.
Movement and Words Pencil on Paper – 2015 Dee Grant
Trains are a community of strangers making regular urban journeys. There is the to and thro as the train lurches back and forth. People hang on, people lean against walls. The lucky ones get a seat. This sketch is looking at the main entry to the carriage facing toward the front of the train. It was sketched from upstairs. You can tell as I am looking down on some peoples heads. It was in March 2015 in the afternoon peak. You can tell that it is neither hot nor cold. We are making our way south on an express train to suburbs like Wolli Creek, Hurstville, Jannali, and Sutherland. I will arrive at Sutherland station about 6.45pm for the final commute by bus to my final destination.
With my train sketches I use movement lines and words. The excerpt to the left below is a mans hand holding a newspaper and hanging onto one of the handles that are attached to the ceiling. As the train goes around the corner the handle moves. The two separate lines to the right of that handle show that movement.
With words I describe what I see. There are several on this train sketch including “short white denim”, “man talking to lady”, “senior”
The monotone robot voice “this train will stop at…North Sydney”. Clackety clack clackety clack is what I hear as the morning train makes it’s way over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I am struck by the solid stance of a health care worker with her badge dangling off her uniform in the main carriage. A girl in school uniform is about to get off when the train arrives.
I sketch basic lines to show the directions that eyes are facing. Not caught up in the detail. This is a basic drawing technique used when artists begin deciding on facial features.
Over the Bridge Pencil on Paper – 2015 – Dee Grant
He leans against the clear perspex. Eyes closed. The train sways like a lullaby. It’s been a long day. (Tap on picture to view) In his folded arms, protruding from his satchel a copy of the Herald newspaper. To his right are the main exit doors. This is the afternoon express heading south to Sutherland from Sydney city.
Sydney trains generally have a top deck, bottom deck, and then a main entry and adjacent wide space that has seats along each wall. This particular model has clear perspex attached to a yellow handrail that delineates the adjacent seating. In the background on the left the dark space you see is the door you would open to go into the next carriage. I would have a seat upstairs to have been able to create this one. The pencil is more controlled when I am seated.
Qualified but Unemployed – Pencil on Paper 2015 – Dee Grant
I’m listening to the chatter on a crowded city train platform. Some lament that even though they have gone to uni they still can’t get a full time job. I like the guy with the glasses on the right as he gazes up the crowded platform to see if what he heard was a train coming. It’s so hard to capture the moment sometimes as people move around the space. My pics are in real time and so very pleased to have listened to the chatter while capturing this.
This sketch was drawn in the afternoon peak while waiting for a train at an underground station at Wynyard in Sydney CBD . It was a connecting train that I was waiting for here. These people, as with me, were making their journey south into the suburbs to places like Hurstville, Kogarah, Sutherland and the like.
Personal space of train travellers. Everyone relaxes into a pose to keep them upright should the train jolt. This guy leans with the right shoulder against the wall with his Hurley backpack.
My sketches are done then and there. No photos are taken. This means that you generally have to expect that the subject will be getting off at the next station. This person is at the door. The next station is 2 minutes away. So glad I was able to catch that hunkered look. I find that characteristic in a few of my sketches. Love it.
Hurley over the Bridge – Pencil on Paper 2015 – Dee Grant
Familiar faces you never acknowledge, the smell of perfume and freshly laundered clothes. In a train I was hunkered down and switched off from what was going on around me. So were they. They were in their own space considering their own day.
Several sketch books later I stopped.
Revesby to Central – Pencil on Paper 2015 – Dee Grant
