Depicting Bricks in Ink

Today I was asked, by one of my students, how I incorporate line work (ink) into my paintings that have brick in them.  

"When you do brick outlines in permanent marker do you do rows or start in a corner and fan outward? I think I want to attempt that on this picture."  Then she included her painting, along with one of mine that she wanted to emulate the look and feel of.

Her painting, along with her reference photo.

My painting that shows the bricks she'd like to emulate.

So, here's the input I gave her...I'm hoping it helps others of you as well.

1) First of all, be aware of how large to make your bricks. They will not necessarily be the size I used. Depends mostly on how close the building is. 

2) I do draw my brick rows in pencil lightly first to get the angles of the lines as they either move away from me or not (perspective).

3) then, again in pencil, I start to draw in some of the bricks nearest my main focal area (not on the outside edges of the building). Maybe around a door or a window.

4) I either then finish by using pencil or, if I feel confident enough, I jump in with ink. (I use a variety of inking options, but on this one, I used a Sharpie Ultrafinepoint marker.  Since this painting was done en plein air, it was easier to travel with.)

5) For interest, some lines are fatter than others and I never use a ruler in order to keep it fresher.

6) I don't always use ink in my paintings.  But I still try to give the bricks some individual character so that it doesn't look mechanical. Here's an example.

No ink used in this painting.

Please feel free to leave your own watercolors with brick work in the comments section.  We can all learn from each other.

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