TV Sketching: Murder, She Wrote and The Snoop Sisters

The rule of TV sketching is that I can’t pause the show.

I bought my father the DVD box set of Murder, She Wrote for Christmas, which means I have to visit to watch it, so sketches might be sporadic.

Murder, She Wrote, S1E7 “Lovers and Other Killers”

In this episode, I was struck by how much lilac was used.

Murder, She Wrote, S1E7 “Lovers and Other Killers”

I also really like that final sketch, above, in the blue blouse.

Back from my parents’ place, and watching The Snoop Sisters with my housemate. Pre-Jessica Fletcher crime writers solving crimes. I love Gwendolyn and Ernesta’s 1920s/1970s silhouettes.

The Snoop SIsters, “Fear is a Free-Throw”

Not nearly as much lilac, but still present. Also background nurses reacting to plot.

The Snoop SIsters, “Fear is a Free-Throw”

And dramatic falls/sprawls against potted plants.

The Snoop SIsters, “Fear is a Free-Throw”

For more TV sketches, see TV sketching.

More TV sketching: Murder, She Wrote

A few more TV sketches! These are from Murder, She Wrote — Season 1 Episodes 3 (“Deadly Lady”), 4 (“Birds of a Feather”) and 5 (“Hooray for Murder”).

Drawn on the iPad using Procreate, and as usual the rule is I can’t pause the show.

Always fun drawing lamps. I’m happy with that rosy face on the right.

’80s fringes defy gravity.

The HAIR

flamingo

Murder scenes are fascinating for foreshortening. Also, ’80s depictions of Hollywood aren’t glamorous in the way they are now.

Let her in!

A girl can never wear too much blue/purple eyeshadow.

Lessons:

• Jessica Fletcher is tricky to draw at speed. It would be useful to draw her for a while from stills until I work out a visual shorthand.
• Concentrating on one element (e.g., hair or mouths) is rewarding and simplifies choosing what to concentrate on.

TV Sketching — Murder, She Wrote

More TV sketching! As ever, the rule is I can’t pause the show while drawing.

These are for “The Murder of Sherlock Holmes”, the first two episodes of Murder, She Wrote, which is FINALLY available to watch online. The first season at least. (9Now, if you’re in Australia.)

It has a lot more fast closeups on faces — particularly Jessica Fletcher’s — than some of the other shows I’ve sketched, and I don’t have a shorthand for her yet. This is no speed at which to try likenesses!

Fancy-dress parties are THE BEST to sketch, in life or TV. Costumes are a brilliant stand-in for character likenesses or other physical accuracy (as for any sketches of Sebastian from Shakespeare & Hathaway).

Tricky perspective angles, e.g. looking at a walkway from below, are also a challenge at speed. It’s easy to rely on what I “know” (mostly eye-level) vs what I’m actually seeing.

So many trenchcoats. Also, every time I concentrate on strong lighting in a scene, I’m pleased with the result — torchlight here at lower right, or from previous Midsomer Murders the blue light from a phone and light through a chapel door.