Tuesday Night Sketching - Aug 5, 2025

Hey, Jason here from the Inkspire Life. Hope you're having a great day. I have multiple cameras on, as you can see. Thought it'd be cool to start here with a just kind of a shot. You can kind of see my workspace behind me, my over here. My kind of easel wall, barn door, whiteboard setup, multi purpose. But I love it. It's a great place to brainstorm. It's magnetic. So I pin up my sketches. There really just a fun way for me to display some of my artwork. You can see my Once Upon a Time. Not good at pointing off camera. There you go. Once Upon a Time poster of a sketch. It's back in 2001. That's not the original. It's a blown up version of the original. Yeah. So part of me. If I'm looking different directions, I'll switch the desk cam in a second. So I'm Jason with the Inkspired Life, where I love sketching architecture. Let's go to the desk desktop. And then I could focus on that camera. Boom. Yeah. So I love sketching architecture, urban sketching and just putting ink onto paper. Whether it's brainstorming or taking notes or sketching or doodling, it's always better for me to get things out of my head and onto paper. Let me know if you've been there and have had. Had that feeling before. Yeah. So let's just. I'm going to do some sketching. Nothing particular. Tonight I'm going to talk about St. Patrick's Cathedral because I have a workshop coming up, so an online workshop on August 30th, which is a Saturday, where we'll be sketching St Patrick's Cathedral together in a loose, quick, fun style. So here's an example of. This is actually a quick sketch I did in person. I'll show you a short video in a second of me on location. Here's one I did back at home. Just very loose, very whimsical. So don't fear the building, don't fear new Gothic architecture. We'll break it down into some simple shapes and scribbly lines. If you're interested in. You can see a link here on the corner of the screen, also in the description. All right, cool. Chip, it is great to see you. I hope all is well, man. Great to see you. I'm going to be playing some music. If you're at home listening, let me know if the music is too loud and drowns me out, which could be a good or bad thing, depending on your point of view. I'M just curious. I need music when I create, so let's throw on some music. Let me know how it sounds and let's just. I'm going to show a short video of me sketching at St Patrick's and then we're just going to do. I have, like I said, nothing set in stone, just a blank piece of paper. Pens. I. Guys, I'm going back to. I'm using ballpoint pens, gel pens a lot these days, so, yeah, a lot of fun. All right, let me show you a short video. Let's switch over. There's really no sound to the video other than maybe some traffic sounds. Boom. So here's me. This is, I think, two weeks ago, sketching dancing in New York City. There's St. Patrick's Cathedral right there. Pretty cool. So I had this sketch right here. Looking at. I had my Lock B folio. This thing's getting really good use. You can see it's kind of getting worn and I love the look. Check out Lock B. I have a discount. You can see in the. In my comments. But anyway, so here's a sketch I did in person. And this was done with. If I remember, it was done with this pen right here. So it has a brown. It's a brown ink, which I love the color of. Pretty cool. All right, so I'm going to put some music on. Let's do some sketching. And I'll be on just for a brief time. Here's another quick show and tell here. This is a workshop I was a student in last Saturday. Right. Literally right on the steps of the New York Public Library. And our main subject was looking towards the sidewalk, towards a bus shelter here. So shout out to Mel of at sketches and some. Mel is an amazing sketcher. He's incredible adding people into his scenes. Right. So that is not from Mel's workshop. I am lying about that. This is from. This is from a visit to Six and a Half Avenue in New York City. Mel's workshop is in this book. Here we go. This is the one from Mel's workshop. Yeah. It's late. I'm tired. Cool. So this was a fun scene to capture. Awesome. All right, let me have any questions, comments, where you're watching from. Be sure to like this. Thumbs up, smiles, hearts, all that cool social media jazz. All right, let me put some music on again. Let me know if it's too loud. Or maybe you can't even hear it. I. I think I'm just going to sketch a fictitious perspective view. So nothing in particular here. Guys, just move that back a little bit. Boom. We'll just sketch right here. If you're watching Instagram, hopefully you can see this layout. Zoom in a little bit. So when I sketch loosey goosey perspectives, I'll sometimes or most of the times I'll start with a box. And this isn't meant to be to scale. It's not meant to have detail. It's just meant to capture the idea of some kind of depth perspective. And I'll put a dot or a cross mark somewhere on there as kind of the focal point or vanishing point. And sometimes I'll actually sketch this loose lines here. You might not even be able to see it on camera. There are loose lines, very light lines here. All right, Maybe we're looking back towards some kind of arch or something. Maybe it's actually a pass through under a bridge here. So this is just fictitious. I'm just kind of sketching for my imagination, throwing some lines down. I don't know where it's gonna go. And that's what's fun about it for me. It's just, just throwing down lines. There are no mistakes when you have no planned outcome. So little pro tip, don't be afraid to put your pen on paper. Just let loose. Especially if you have no expectations of what you're trying to create. It opens up a lot of freedom. I'm not worried about mistakes, not worried about trying to make this look like anything specific. It. So I'm just throwing down some ink. I brought out a neon yellow color pencil. Just throwing some color down on this fictitious scene. And I think I'm going to call out kind of a sky back here. And I'm actually going to just do that with. Let's just use a blue pen. Blue ballpoint pen. Let's see. Should have some blue on this. We're just going to scribble in the sky here. Hey, Noel's on. Noel, great to see you. Hope all's well with you. When did you first start sketching? Great question. If you want to go way, way, way back into the time machine, I don't even mean tonight or in general, but in general. I started sketching way back in third grade. I had a. I had an accident with a snow shovel. Yeah, a snow shovel that had me in the hospital for about three to four weeks. Went back to school. I could not participate in phys ed. I couldn't go out to the playground with my friends. I was stuck in the nurse's office for, I don't even, I think three or Four months recovering. So that's when I started sketching. I was bored, so I had paper, you know, a pencil back then, and I just started sketching, actually. Maps. I loved to sketch maps and create these imaginary locations. I would also sketch imaginary cars. So that was way, way back. So that's kind of when I first started sketching. And I sketched for a while, then I kind of lost. I kind of stopped sketching when I got into high school. And then I developed my love of architecture, went to college, and I picked up sketching there. I had to learn how to sketch fast in architecture school to get my ideas out, so my professors would give me feedback on my designs. I was really competing with other students for the time and attention of my professors, so I was forced to get my ideas out quickly. So I continued sketching in college. That's what I really loved to start sketching buildings and architecture. And ever since then, it's just been a passion of mine to sketch real places and imaginary places. So. Great question. Hopefully that that answered you. Come back to the Prismacolor. It just feels right for me. But my right might not be your right. And that's all right. Cool. Crazy story. Noel says. Yeah, it is kind of crazy. That was the fast version, actually. I am. I am slowly working on a book about that story, Noel, So it'll be out. Yeah. So I'm working on the story right now. Chip says what might be three life lessons you can learn from sketching. You mentioned one, don't be afraid to make mistakes. Two and three. Oh, I like this. All right. All right, let's do this. Chip, I love your question. Three life lessons you can learn from sketching. Okay, so one, let's talk about don't be afraid to make mistakes. And number two is the comparison trap. Avoid the comparison trap. Don't fall victim to the comparison trap. So through sketching, I've learned that each line I throw down is me. It's part of who I am. My lines I'm putting on paper are not lines that I'm trying to copy from, let's say, Chip. Right? Chip's lines will be very different than mine. And that's cool. That's. We all have unique voices, so why spend the time. Why waste the time comparing what I'm doing, what I'm throwing down on paper compared to Chip, we know they're going to be very different. Now I can look to Chip and say, oh, my gosh, I really love what he's doing and be inspired and influenced from what he's doing, but I'm not going to be, not going to let it shut me down. I'm not going to compare that. What I'm doing is being inferior. I might use someone else's ideas or techniques as fuel to take my stuff or creativity to a different level or a different direction. So, yeah. So life lesson two is don't fall victim to the comparison trap. And you could see how that can apply to everything out there. You know, much more than just sketching. And what's another life lesson from sketching? Great question. You know what it is? So another life lesson for me that I've gotten through sketching and my design career in general is enjoy the process, enjoy the journey. For me, it's not necessarily about Z. The end point. What is the end point? So especially with this type of stuff, it's the journey between A and Z that I love. That's what fuels me up. That's what fires me. That's the design process in action. That is where you discover yourself. You discover, you learn from the mistakes you make. You, you embrace the challenges you, you encounter. Yeah. That's where for me the fun really is. The learning and growing really is in that journey of creativity. So I think that's another life lesson three points for me. Thank you. I love those questions. Guys. Keep throwing that kind of stuff at me. I love it. Hey, Jason Horvath. Everyone has a story. Yes, everyone has a story. And don't be afraid to throw that story. Whether it's writing, sketching, dancing, cooking, sewing, gardening, parenting, driving. It doesn't matter. We all have stories. Alright, so I just talked about Crayola. I think I've just grabbed a Crayola orange. We're getting really tropical now. I'm throwing some oranges. There's an architect. Look him up. His name is Luis. Luis Baragon. Batagon. B A R R A G A N. Luis Barragan. I'm Americanizing it. This reminds me of Luis Barragan's architecture. Mexican architect. He did really bold colors on in different planes. So if you google him, you'll know exactly what I mean. So this, this is reminding me of the architecture work of Luis Batagon. Loved him. Learned about him in college. Yeah, really, really cool architect. Would love to see some of his projects in person. It's a great example of architecture not having to be complicated, very simple forms. Remember, the colors really speak for themselves. Yeah, the man's Jermakin Chartreuse sidewalks here. My world. It's my world, guys. Cool. Right? Hey, Rodrigo. How are you? Welcome, Rodrigo. I just feel bad when I try to draw. It always comes out looking like cat food. I hate myself. Lol. Rodrigo, you shouldn't feel bad. You should be proud of yourself for even. You know how many people don't even take a pen or pencil and put it on paper and even try to draw or sketch or scribble? Just be proud of yourself for taking that first step. A lot of people don't even take that step, so I'm proud of you for throwing stuff on paper. If you really want to get better and better, it's. It's practice. Like anything in life, you have to practice, you know, set some time aside. Every day, a few minutes, ten minutes, sketch something. It doesn't matter what it is, and you'll get better and better, and you'll come up with your own style. Like I'm scribbling tonight, for me, this is just fun and playful, and just when you're doing your stuff, keep a fun and playful attitude. Okay? Hopefully that helps. Chip says, other than New York City. Other than New York City, what city in the world is most inspiring for you to sketch? Wow. I can tell you this. The city that I most want to visit. Sketch, and that's Venice. I want to go to Venice so bad and with sketchbook and just get travel and sketch. Sketch it. I know people say Venice is a very touristy place, and I'll be one of those tourists, but yeah, I want to go to Venice. The architecture mesmerizes me. The. Just the whole idea of the. The canal system, you know, buildings. Right. Literally in the water. Yeah, I want to go to Venice, so. And honestly, I really have not done many sketches on my own of Venice, so. Great question. All right, let's see. I'm gonna wrap up into five minutes or so. Noel says Hawaii has some great views too. Just saying. I'm there. So. Noel, I was in Hawaii. Dina and I were in Hawaii. Gosh, I don't even know. 20 years ago. And I have to say that I don't. I don't really remember much of it, unfortunately. It's not that I was partying or anything. I just don't remember. We were in Honolulu. Our friends were stationed there at Pearl harbor, so that was really cool. The only thing I have really remember is going to a. Some kind of shrimp shack on the beach. I'm sorry. North Shore, maybe. Yeah, I need to get back to Hawaii. 100%. This is cool. I'm liking the sketch, guys. Let me zoom out a little bit. There we go. So you can literally see I scribbled in the sky here. This just adds a little more details. Play around with this for another minute or two. I got this cool pencil when I was at the workshop last week. They gave this away. Has all these different colors on it. Let's just play around with it. I haven't used it. This goes back to what I was saying earlier. Just experiment, play around with stuff. You never know what you're gonna like or not like. Right. So let's just throw this. Let's just color this door in with this multi color color pencil. So I am rotating this. As you can see, there's different colors around the point. So I'm just rotating it so different colors come out. It's kind of cool. This is. This is a fun, fun pencil. Very cool. Yeah. The shrimp shack. I'm trying. If I remember, it was really kind of dilapidated looking. I don't remember if it was a hut or it was some kind of a food truck. I think it was more of a building like a little hut or shack. Maybe it was like a shack. That would make sense. But that was. Yeah, it's one of the. Another memory I have from my Hawaii trip. I think we went. We went to the Dole Pineapple plantation. I just remember that being the. Those pineapples being the most delicious and fresh pineapples I've ever tasted. I think we went on a little train ride maybe there. Yeah, the Dole. The Dole pineapple plantation. I'm guessing it's still there. I do love sketching palm trees. Let's add a palm tree on here. Let's do a palm tree right here. So I went to college in Miami, University of Miami. Minored in landscape architecture. That was fun. Let's see. So, yeah, we used to sketch palm trees and stuff. Let me see if I can draw. Let me draw a big one here. It's not going to draw over the color pencil there. All right, we'll do a mini palm tree here. Going to school in Miami was very cool. It was an international college, so I got to meet people from all over the world. And coming from a small town in New Jersey, Very kind of small town in New Jersey for me. Meeting people from Malaysia and Cuba and Barbados, Korea. It was so fascinating for me to under to learn these different cultures and traditions and foods. Oh, my gosh. I used to love going to my Cuban friends homes where we'd have some delicious Cuban food. My God. And then I remember the first time I ever went to Someone's house, and I had to take my shoes off. That was interesting. That was. It was interesting. Yeah. I was one of my Korean friends, and they're like, oh, you have to take your shoes off. I had never experienced that. You know what? It's something I do to this day now when I come home and very rarely will wear my shoes in the house. Different languages. I learned to speak Spanish. Not fluently, but I can understand it. So sometimes it's good just to get out of your comfort zone, you know, to learn new things. Actually, let's use this brown. You can see I'm in the zone now. I'm just picking up and going, yeah, I like this brown. It stands out a little bit more for the tree trunks. There you go. Who else is Dole? Yes. All right. So I'm not crazy. Is that Dole? There is Dole. Is there? All right. I was. Was 100% sure I didn't dream that for some reason. I'm remembering. This is weird. I'm remembering a song now from the. The. The Dole plantation trip. Not the exact song, but it was. Oh, my gosh. I think sisters. I think Hawaiian sisters sang this. Pineapple Princess, maybe. Is that the song? It's kind of popping into my brain. Isn't music powerful? I think it's called Pineapple Princess. I'm gonna have to Google after this. Go on Spotify. So there's some quick palm trees there in the front. The dull plantation right next to the pineapple fields. Yes.