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I took to my local park to sketch some groups of people. This was a tricky task as I had to work quickly and, also, without said people spotting me watching and drawing them. I had with me my sketch book and a couple of charcoal sticks, so, as the brief suggests, I wasn’t able to recapture colour, but I’ve had a whirl at the other parts.

I found this task really interesting, and, although they are quick works, I really like the way they look.

I think you are able to see the friendships, the enjoyment, and the excitement in these, especially the first two. The closeness and the positioning of those within the groups shows the companionship and I feel, when I look at them, that you are able to feel the happiness within them. The arms around each other, the way the bodies lean towards one another, the hands clasped to mouths or holding onto others shows the love and friendship that is there.

The other two sketches were small groups or pairings passing each other; not necessarily together, but close in proximity. Sketch 3 is of a crowd of people. I don’t think any of these people actually knew each other, however, the closeness of the crowd gives the impression that they do. Not exactly in the same way as sketch 1 and 2, but I think there’s something in common with them all. They’re all moving, they’re all on their way somewhere, and the sweeping, swift charcoal strokes seem to merge the 5 figures into 1. It’s only the single figure moving away from the group that doesn’t seem to be a part of this group, as though they are moving in another direction.

The final sketch shows two groups moving towards each other, but in opposite directions. The size of the figures and the distance between these two groups makes it very clear that they are not together, but you can feel the connection between those in the two separate groups. I don’t know what exactly portrays this; maybe the way the heads are positioned, turned towards each other, or the similar movements of the bodies.

It’s tricky to portray groups of people in a live setting, as their movements and positions change rapidly. It might be beneficial to take photographs of these groups to capture the scene you’re looking at before the group/person moves away, but I found that drawing there and then felt better, more natural. It was challenging, and to portray these people and their movements I had to work extraordinarily fast, which is why I think a photograph would be more beneficial to work from, even if that natural “there and then” quality is lost.

That said, although all of these sketches were created in a minute or less, I still think they’re powerful and my point has been effectively made. You can see and feel the movement, the emotion and the relationships between the figures, which is what I wanted to portray.

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