For the last two weeks I have had to take my laundry to the local laundromat SoapBar. It is a few stops on the tram, modern and easy to use (once you know how) .
Of course, I knew that I would sketch there. It is ‘given time’ as I knew how long the washing and then the drying was going to take.
These are the first weeks’ sketches. I also had lunch there.
Above is my most recent visit . I wish the I had taken photos along the way . You will have to use your imagination as I describe the step by step process of creation of this page.
First I sketched the washing machines and dryers with my Lamy Safari ink pen in my Moleskine 19×13 cm watercolour journal. I am generally never unhappy with a page of sketches. However, at this stage the page just didn’t feel right , so I added the black watercolour pencil and it softened the page.
I knew that I had lots of time left so I started drawing the laundry basket in Payne’s Grey watercolour pencil and then added more colour and then the used the waterbrush to pull the colour across the page . I then drew over some of the finer, harder lines of the basket edge and pattern of holes.
I still had dryer time , so drew one of the tokens in Cool Grey IV watercolour pencil.
Once at home I wrote my notes on the page.
Then instagrammed – and received a lovely reply from the Laundromat .
and then decided to write this post. I hope that it explains my thought process.
If this was in another country and I was on holidays It would be travel sketching, and this is the sort of page I would sketch when travelling, as it is all part of the journey. Join me in travel sketching classes in Melbourne. For more details: https://www.trybooking.com/eventlist/travelsketching
Thanks again for your explanation of each stage and materials Alissa. It helps so much to know those details.
I enjoy seeing and doing this kind of “ordinary” sketching (as well as the extraordinary). When I was doing my laundry in Paris, I did this kind of sketching while waiting too, and it all seemed fun because it was part of the adventure. If I had to do this at home (I assume this is not normal…? You are waiting for a new washer/dryer to arrive?), it would seem boring — but it’s still an opportunity to sketch, as you’ve found. Great to learn your process steps too!