Sketches | artist-lothar

Emotional Landscapes

A collection of sketches from the places I have traveled, as well as quick studies of live animals, figures, and other subjects. These sketches have provided important resources and references for my final works.

Red Sand Bay Red Sand Bay near Macau, the peaceful moment before a storm, F4 with pen and ink, straight from life drawing.	Kloster Church in Berchtesgaden Autumn trail leads toward Kloster Church. Pen 🖊️ and colorred pencils on A4, based on a life drawing.	A wet day in Amsterdam A wet day in Amsterdam, pen and ink, F4.
Two Smokers Two old Chinese smokers, lightly shaded for the skin texture. Pen and ink A4.	Coast Landscape Coast landscape, pen and ink A4.	Guinea Pigs Cooking Three cute guinea pigs cooking 🍳 and enjoy a hotpot. Colour pencil ✏️ A4.
Smoking Man The smoking man, based on my oil painting. Pen and ink A4.	Medieval Soldier Art exercise of medieval amour noble with pen, pencil and colour pencil. A4. Reference used.	Triceratops Skeleton A triceratops skeleton fossil from the Naturalis museum in Leiden. Pen and ink A4 from a recent visit.
Gravensteen castle Gravensteen castle visit, Gent. A very wet day in winter. From life drawing. Pen, ink and colour pencils A4.	Plowing Boy and horse plowing fields, pen and ink A4.	Lushan Temple Life drawing at Lushan Temple in Changsha, first piece in 2024. Pen and ink A4.
Edinburgh Edinburgh view from Calton Hill, pen and ink A3.	Shuhe Afternoon A sunny afternoon in Shuhe town, Yunnan, visited with my parents in 2020. Pen and ink with colour pencil, A4.	Chamonix Mont Blanc Chamonix, France, view towards Mont Blanc from the valley. Life drawing on the 1st April and coloured with F&C pencil.
Giza Pyramid The great Giza pyramid, pen and ink A4.	Amsterdam The canal in Amsterdam, one of my favourite places. Pen and ink A3.	Wildlife Study Some random drawings of wildlife from museums in Norwich.
Chiangmai2019 Street in Chiangmai, Thailand. One week before the global pandemic. Pen and ink. Completely based on my oil painting.	Mom Reading Mom is reading a bible, from life drawing. A4 pen and ink.	Gravensteen Castle Relics Gravensteen castle visit, Gent. From life drawing. Pen, ink and colour pencils A4.
IGAD Art Staff Online Meeting Art lecturers from IGAD having an online meeting in front of monitors. Pencil A3.	Misty River Thames Boat mooring in misty river Thames, based on historical reference. Pen and ink F4.	Camerata Rco The Camerata Rco band live concert drawing in Dordrecht. A4 with pen and ink.
RUE Saint Dominique RUE Saint Dominique in the evening 🌆, Paris, pen and ink. A4.	Animal Study A quick 40 minutes study of the lion from Norwich castle museum, and the bushes behind the forget me not church. Pen and ink.	Dad and me Memory of my childhood entirely based on vague memory. Me and Dad were having fun in the paper factory in Yuanjiang. He was pushing the small open deck rail cart with me on top. Those small carts were used to transport raw paper materials within blocks of the factory. Sadly my dad passed away in 2020 with me on his bedside. Pen and ink A3.
Nights Watch The last drawing draft of 2020, it pretty much sums up the year, dark yet there's light of hope.	Chania Crete The view from the window in Chania, Crete, Mediterranean sea. A perfect warm sunny day in winter. Life drawing A4 with pen.	Putney Bridge Bath Putney bridge, Bath, one of my favorite cities in the UK. Pen and ink A5.
Journey To The West Two wee clown monsters from Monkey King, Journey to the West. A quick drawing for fun. Pen and ink A4.	Rosengarten from Tiers Life drawing during my trip to Dolomites. View of Rosengarten from the top of Tiers village. Pen and ink A4.	Elm Hill Road The dreamy snowy night in Elm hill road, Norwich, based on my oil painting. Slight different technique, without clear outline for major shapes. Pen and ink.
Life Studies Various life studies from Norwich castle gallery, the typewriter is a good example of speed drawing, about 30 minutes, the penguins took about 25 minutes. Pen and ink on A4 paper.	Laundry Man Man working in laundry in Sri Lanka. Pen and ink. I made a few versions of this study including an oil painting.	Farmer in South Tyrol A farmer with his golden looking after the herd of cows on the hill. Life drawing in Steinegg, Tirol. Pen and ink A4.
Chatting Young girls with a dog passing by a group of old women wearing masks and chatting on a bench. Pen and ink A4	Tibetan Villagers The Tibetan villagers queuing for a holy funeral of a Lama, study, pen and ink.	Shuhe Town The dramatic clouds in Shuhe town, elevation 2470m. Pen and ink A4.
Watzman from Berchtesgaden Based on life drawing in Berchtesgaden in 2007, view from the hotel towards the second highest peak in Germany, the Watzmann. Pen and ink A4.	Strasbourg Beautiful autumn colour in Strasbourg, a cozy warm afternoon by the canal. F&B colour pencil with pen and ink. A4.	Commission Illustration A commission illustration for a friend's project, about Athens and Greek history. Pen and ink.
Nepal Faces Play with value, contrast and composition. Nepal, Pen and ink A4.	Boao Town Life drawing on the balcony of Boao town, Hainan island. Pen and ink.	Berchtesgaden Pen and ink polished over life drawing of Berchtesgaden valley, April 2007. I sat on the hill slope in two days around 6 pm during sunset and made the sketch. A4.
Forest Forest and waterfall, pen and F&C colour pencil. A4.	The Grote kerk of Breda The Grote kerk of Breda. Pen and ink A4 from life.	NuanQuan Town Market Pen drawing from the sketch. Based on a visit to a rural village in Hebei, China. The sunny day of a local market. A4.
Flam Fjords Life drawing of the Norwegian fjords in Flam. A4.	Norfolk Coast The Norfolk coast, half from life drawing in Norwich, half from imagination. This one was done by pencil only. A4.	Bacharach Beer Garden Beer garden in Bacharach, with pen and colour pencil. F4. Life drawing and memory only.
Pont Neuf Added more shading and details for my 2009 Pont Neuf life drawing. A4 with pen and ink.	Farm in South Tirol A dairy farm in the valley of Steinegg, towards Rosengarten massif. South Tirol. Pen and ink A4, life drawing.	Beijing Hutong From life drawing with colleagues in Hutong near Houhai, Beijing small alley are becoming a major tourist attraction. Pen and ink with colour pencil, A4.
Flam Norway The mountain view of Flam, Norway, life drawing A4.	Feng huang Life drawing in Fenghuang, Phoenix old town, west Hunan. Pen and ink, A4.	Breda Haven Breda haven, pen and ink from life drawing, A4.
Bhaktapur Durbar Square Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Kathmandu, 2019, pen and ink directly on life drawing. A4.	Bagel Brother Cafe Lubeck_S The life drawing from the window of Bagel Brother Café in Lubeck, I drew this piece in 2007, made some changes in 2019. Pen and ink together with colour pencil, A4.	Russia Winter a quick base drawing for a client asking for loading screen of a WW2 board game, 2B and 4B Pencil and pen on A3 paper.
Frank on the train Frank on the train, the 60 year old historian sat next to me and we had a nice chat from oberwesel to Koblenz. I made a quick draft of him with pencil. F4.	Princess The young puppy, Princess. A4 pen and ink, Colour pencil.	Journey It's a base of my digital painting, the piece features bishops bridge in Norwich, the Salzburg castle and Romania buildings, all the places I have visited.
Norwich from Castle Castle view towards north east in Norwich. Pen and ink, F4.	XiChang Street The rundown XiChang street in Changsha, 2016, A5 pen and ink.	Ponte Veccio Ponte Veccio, Florence. life drawing from the balcony of a wine shop on the left bank, it was freezing cold. F4 with pen and ink.
CheungChau Island Life drawing in Cheung Chau Island, Hong Kong. Pen and pencil A4.	CingelStraat Breda Cingelstraat, Breda, based on life drawing on location. A4 with pen and ink.	Norwich Cathedral From Wensun Based on my life drawing from a Norwich paint out event, A4 with colour pencil and pen. Autumn of Norwich, England.
New Summer Palace The study of new summer palace in Zhuhai, China, I will draw more traditional and historical oriental subject in the near future. A4, pen and ink. Directly from life drawing.	Gent Life drawing in Gent, 2017, A5 pen and ink.	King's College through a gate Rainy day of King's College through a gate, the finished drawing of Cambridge, pen and ink, A4.
NewIsland Cafe New Island café, Hong Kong, based on life drawing when I was dinning there and memory later on. A4 with pen and pencil.	Church Constantin&Helen Afternoon view of the Constantine & Helen church in Bruges. A5. Life drawing with colour pencils.	View from London Eye Last piece of 2015, based on life drawing from London eye! Pen and ink, A5.
Rome A sunny winter day in Rome. View from the colonna traniana square towards east. F4 with pen and colour pencil. Life drawing.	Chester East Gate The famous east gate of Chester, a very picturesque elegant city with so many historical landmarks, pen and ink, A5, life drawing.	Norwich Cathedral Life drawing of Norwich Cathedral during the first week of the new term, pen and ink polished later in office. Finally I had the chance to draw the magnificent cathedral from my favourite angle, I could even see the peregrine near the spire. A3 full size.
Istanbul Impression I visited Istanbul in May 2012, a wonderful and colorful city! I made a A4 drawing afterwards. The location is from imagination, doesn't actually exist, it's a reflection of my impression of Istanbul.	Ruins of the Great Wall The Huanghuacheng section of the wall may not be the most dramatic part of the magnificent wonder, but it changed my initial impression of the wall. F4 from life draft, ink only.	Keelung Jiufeng I visited my favorite place in Taiwan in 2013 summer, the guest house located at the top of the hill, I made this drawing early in the morning around 6am before the temperature got too hot. Pen and ink on A4 paper.
NUA Fantasy During the outdoor life drawing session, I transformed the courtyard of NUA campus into a more fantasy world. Created different layout and composition for the building structures, added figures and other stuff from imagination. When the sun came out, the shadow really brought everything together.	Syntagma Square Life drawing at Coffee Island, Syntagma Square, Athens. A4, Pen and ink only.	Hale Station Life sketch of Hale station in the morning, pen and ink on A5 paper.
Castle Bridge The bridge connects the Norwich castle and mall, life drawing in the morning of 19th September 2015. Pen and ink on A5 paper.	Japanese Warrior A very atmospheric drawing, depicting Japanese warrior rides a small boat in storm. Pure imagination drawing inspired by "Lone Wolf and Cub"/Kozure Okami. Smaller than A4, pencil and pen.	Iron Penguin A sketch I made eventually for my 3D scene, a girl is painting a rusty iron penguin, 10 minutes with pen and ink during a meeting at Francis house.
New Forest Late afternoon in new forest, brockenhurst, life drawing with pen and ink, polished a year later. A5.	Fight in Elm Hill My favorite street, the Elm Hill, where the fight begins. I widened the road for better composition. Pen and ink on A4 paper.	Elm Hill Fantasy The life drawing session with students really inspired me, made this fantasy world of Elm Hill, the lower part of the drawing are purely from imagination, and of course the dragon, one day work with pen and colour pencil.
Norwich Market towards Castle The view from Roman market towards Norwich castle, I stood in the sun for an hour and made the draft, coloured with pencil later. A4 size.	Bacharach Burg Stahleck The old castel turned into a youth hotel, over river Rhine in Germany.	Melaka Malaysia This small A4 draft drawing is based on my impression of the great Malaysia coast town Melaka, used to be a very important port from 17-19 centuries. The town has very rich culture and history of early Chinese immigrants and local Malay people.
St. Peter Mancroft St. Peter Mancroft, Church of England, Norwich. Afternoon at 3pm, about an hour. Pen and colour pencil.	Pont Alexandre III Based on an old pencil draft I made in Paris in 2009, the Pont Alexandre III, just finished the ink lines, changed the composition, added a few figure in the foreground and cloud.	Wensum River A 1 hours study alone Wensum river near Norwich University of the Arts main building. I made this as a demo for life drawing session of my first year students. Pen and ink on A5 paper.
Feng Huang Impression A quick drawing finished in the office, smaller than A4, nearly 2 days work. It combines the impression of west Hunan province, 3 hours away from home town. Amazing culture and landscape there.	Norwich Castle Keep The life drawing of Norwich Castle keep, for memory with my students in the Uni. Pen and ink, A5.	Dumnoen Saduak Market Dumnoen Saduak Market. Thailand, 2012 Christmas. Draft with pen and ink. Size A4. This piece formed the basis of my final drawing in A2.
Heidelberg Fantasy One of the quick draft after visiting Heidelberg in July 2010, combine with some fantasy elements and imagination.	Cingjing Farm Life sketch I did in central Taiwan in 2013, Cingjing Farm is a famous tourist holiday resort, 30 minutes with pen and ink looking down from the castle towards farm.	Wensum Norwich 40 minutes quick life sketch, the view from Monastery towards Wensum river, pen and ink, coloured with Faber&Castel pencil.
Portrait Study Some random drawings of people, from various places, airport, museums etc, Many of the mini head portraits took merely 5-10 minutes.	German WWII Soldier The drawing I made for a WWII online game, as a base for the coloured splash screen.	The Cat Woman 40 minutes of life drawing, with Holly in Cat woman dress. Pen and ink on A4 paper.
Suleymaniye Mosque A very quick draft of the famous mosque I made during the visit to Istanbul in 2012 May.	On the train A very quick sketch, during the 15 hour train jouney from Beijing to my home town Changsha, two travellers sleeping in the lower bed of the carriage, one is reading and another is checking his mobile phone.	Prague01 Looking down to the bridges from the hill on the west, the view offers more than what you expected from a legendary city. Pen and black ink on A4 paper.
Life Drawing Life drawing in SG39 with A2 paper, 40 minutes each.	Kandy After a short to Sri Lanka, I made a drawing on the busy chaos street of Kandy, their historical town. Finished with coloured pencil after came back.	British 6th Airborne The drawing I made for a WWII online game, as a base for the coloured splash screen.
Wells Norfolk Life sketch from the field trip in Wells, I always wanted to draw the typical Norfolk coast line, with a very cloudy grey sky, with a few moments of sunny spells.

Emotional Landscapes

Red Sand Bay

Red Sand Bay near Macau, the peaceful moment before a storm, F4 with pen and ink, straight from life drawing.

Kloster Church in Berchtesgaden

Autumn trail leads toward Kloster Church. Pen 🖊️ and colorred pencils on A4, based on a life drawing.

A wet day in Amsterdam

A wet day in Amsterdam, pen and ink, F4.

Two Smokers

Two old Chinese smokers, lightly shaded for the skin texture. Pen and ink A4.

Coast Landscape

Coast landscape, pen and ink A4.

Guinea Pigs Cooking

Three cute guinea pigs cooking 🍳 and enjoy a hotpot. Colour pencil ✏️ A4.

Smoking Man

The smoking man, based on my oil painting. Pen and ink A4.

Medieval Soldier

Art exercise of medieval amour noble with pen, pencil and colour pencil. A4. Reference used.

Triceratops Skeleton

A triceratops skeleton fossil from the Naturalis museum in Leiden. Pen and ink A4 from a recent visit.

Gravensteen castle

Gravensteen castle visit, Gent. A very wet day in winter. From life drawing. Pen, ink and colour pencils A4.

Plowing

Boy and horse plowing fields, pen and ink A4.

Lushan Temple

Life drawing at Lushan Temple in Changsha, first piece in 2024. Pen and ink A4.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh view from Calton Hill, pen and ink A3.

Shuhe Afternoon

A sunny afternoon in Shuhe town, Yunnan, visited with my parents in 2020. Pen and ink with colour pencil, A4.

Chamonix Mont Blanc

Chamonix, France, view towards Mont Blanc from the valley. Life drawing on the 1st April and coloured with F&C pencil.

Giza Pyramid

The great Giza pyramid, pen and ink A4.

Amsterdam

The canal in Amsterdam, one of my favourite places. Pen and ink A3.

Wildlife Study

Some random drawings of wildlife from museums in Norwich.

Chiangmai2019

Street in Chiangmai, Thailand. One week before the global pandemic. Pen and ink. Completely based on my oil painting.

Mom Reading

Mom is reading a bible, from life drawing. A4 pen and ink.

Gravensteen Castle Relics

Gravensteen castle visit, Gent. From life drawing. Pen, ink and colour pencils A4.

IGAD Art Staff Online Meeting

Art lecturers from IGAD having an online meeting in front of monitors. Pencil A3.

Misty River Thames

Boat mooring in misty river Thames, based on historical reference. Pen and ink F4.

Camerata Rco

The Camerata Rco band live concert drawing in Dordrecht. A4 with pen and ink.

RUE Saint Dominique

RUE Saint Dominique in the evening 🌆, Paris, pen and ink. A4.

Animal Study

A quick 40 minutes study of the lion from Norwich castle museum, and the bushes behind the forget me not church. Pen and ink.

Dad and me

Nights Watch

The last drawing draft of 2020, it pretty much sums up the year, dark yet there's light of hope.

Chania Crete

The view from the window in Chania, Crete, Mediterranean sea. A perfect warm sunny day in winter. Life drawing A4 with pen.

Putney Bridge Bath

Putney bridge, Bath, one of my favorite cities in the UK. Pen and ink A5.

Journey To The West

Two wee clown monsters from Monkey King, Journey to the West. A quick drawing for fun. Pen and ink A4.

Rosengarten from Tiers

Life drawing during my trip to Dolomites. View of Rosengarten from the top of Tiers village. Pen and ink A4.

Elm Hill Road

The dreamy snowy night in Elm hill road, Norwich, based on my oil painting. Slight different technique, without clear outline for major shapes. Pen and ink.

Life Studies

Various life studies from Norwich castle gallery, the typewriter is a good example of speed drawing, about 30 minutes, the penguins took about 25 minutes. Pen and ink on A4 paper.

Laundry Man

Man working in laundry in Sri Lanka. Pen and ink. I made a few versions of this study including an oil painting.

Farmer in South Tyrol

A farmer with his golden looking after the herd of cows on the hill. Life drawing in Steinegg, Tirol. Pen and ink A4.

Chatting

Young girls with a dog passing by a group of old women wearing masks and chatting on a bench. Pen and ink A4

Tibetan Villagers

The Tibetan villagers queuing for a holy funeral of a Lama, study, pen and ink.

Shuhe Town

The dramatic clouds in Shuhe town, elevation 2470m. Pen and ink A4.

Watzman from Berchtesgaden

Based on life drawing in Berchtesgaden in 2007, view from the hotel towards the second highest peak in Germany, the Watzmann. Pen and ink A4.