I’m a huge fan of illustrations that are full of life, and the work of Chris Gent exemplifies this perfectly. He captures the busy city life of London perfectly with quick brush strokes and bursts of colour, immortalising shop fronts, famous landmarks, and the skyline. Enjoy!
Your sketches of London have a colourful, whimsical style to them. How did this develop?
The combination of architecture and people appeals to me, without using too much detail and giving an impression rather than an exact representation. I’ve always noticed the more quirky and random happenings in everyday life and have included many of these in my work.
Let’s talk about process. What steps do you take when creating each piece?
Most weekends I go ‘location based’ drawing in London with other like minded sketchers and drawers. (My non-drawing friends refer to it as a ‘doodling club’!). As a group, we explore the diverse range of themes that London has to offer, and this provides a great opportunity to discover the lesser known but really interesting places to draw.
I’ll then decide which sketches I want to work up and go straight in with pen and ink and then watercolour. I love their immediacy and the fact that I can’t rub out mistakes. When I do make mistakes (and there’s loads), i’ll try and use them to my advantage and turn them into something else that’s relevant to the drawing. An example could be turning a hand (that i’m unhappy with), into a handbag with decorative detail. Alternatively, I’ll leave the mistakes in – I think it gives the drawing a narrative of how the drawing evolves – warts and all!
I’ll normally do the same drawing over and over again until i’m happy with it – sometimes 8 or 9 times – not the most efficient use of time but fortunately I work quickly.
What inspires your sketches of London?
The buildings, architecture, decorative forms, and the people I meet in everyday life. When I draw on location, I often witness more quirky and random happenings that occur and these all go in my sketchbook!. This could be an enormous pillow fight outside the National Gallery; a zombie march through the streets of London; a paper aeroplane being thrown off the top of St Pauls, or someone with a phobia of spoons!.
What do you hope each sketch tells the viewer about London?
That London has an unbelievably rich and varied supply of bizarre and ‘blink and you miss it’ happenings!
Where or what has been your favourite place or subject to sketch in London and why?
Bank and Trafalgar Square. I love the old architecture with all the decorative details. If my drawing is a bit rusty I will often go back to these places as I find drawing familiar places a great way of boosting my drawing confidence.
Do you have any quick tips to offer viewers who might be thinking of visiting London?
Try and explore as much as you can and walk/bus around the city – there is so much happening.
And, finally, if you could sketch anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
I would love to visit Rome again – the architecture is unbelievable. Also New York – the scale, busyness, movement and people would be inspiring.
Chris is holding an exhibition at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill from the 6th April – 12th April. Click here for more information about it or visit Chris’ website to browse through more of his work.
