Just over three years ago I decided to draw one hundred people from my generation, the Baby Boomers. “It’ll be over by Xmas” I thought. Famous last words, But I’m nearly there and today drew number ninety seven. Oh yes!!!
It’s a big demographic, starting in 1946 and continuing through to 1964, which is a big gap, not just in terms of age but also life experience and culture too. It’s been fascinating listening to people talk about their lives.
I’ve been flicking through some of my old sketchbooks again, finding things I’d forgotten about. There are quite a lot of drawings of sprogs.
They’re weird little creatures to draw, looking simultaneously like aliens and cartoons.
I’ve been flipping through old sketchbooks, reminding myself of work I’d forgotten about. I came across a cluster of heads in one that I’d bought from the Tate gallery in London. Nice sketchbook. I like drawing heads and faces, but children’s faces are so difficult. The younger they are, the more they look like an alien life form. There’s a mixture of media here, graphite, charcoal pencil, Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen and biro (ballpoint).
Husb and I stopped off for a nice cuppa tea and a flapjack (I do enjoy a moist flapjack) and I scribbled him quickly as he queued. He’s quite tall and was standing right underneath a glass light fitting and it looked a bit like one of those lightbulb moments in the comics when someone suddenly gets an idea.
Husb and I spent the Bank Holiday visiting the North East of England, looking at places we’ve been meaning to see for years and finally got around to it. We dropped in on Whitby, home of Whitby Jet jewellery ( I collected a few antique pieces back in the 1970s before it was fashionable) and the dramatic setting for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The weather was fantastic, hot and sunny and there was a theatre group performing a fast and funny version of the story through the grounds of the magnificent Whitby Abbey.
I had to have a scribble. I quickly sketched in the abbey, with a Staedtler drawing pen, just before the performance started and did a quick Winsor & Newton watercolour wash, then over-sketched one of the actors. I didn’t do any more because we had to follow the actors all over the Abbey site.
Husb and I have been doing a mini tour of North East England over the Bank Holiday and visited the historic town of Durham yesterday, which was hosting a Pride festival. There were rainbows everywhere. I had to have a scribble, didn’t I? So I did a bit of pen and watercolour work en plein air. We were sat outside the Cathedral in the glorious sunshine looking across the green. There were hundreds of rainbow people, it was lovely. When I was a child it was illegal to be gay (well, for men anyway). How far we have come, it’s brilliant.
I drew with a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen into my Tate Gallery ‘landscape’ sketchbook and then added washes with Winsor & Newton watercolour half pans.
Just a little bit of people watching today into my tiny floral covered sketchbook.
Husb and I took a walk around Avebury village over the weekend. There are a few medieval barns, thatched of course and lots of trees, quite a lot had been pollarded. The older barns are a bit higgledy piggledy, bent and sagging with age. I had a scribble. Of course!
Husb and I had a few days away in England, staying with some lovely friends. We stopped for a break at the ancient site of Avebury. We have been there before, but to see the Neolithic stones. This time we visited the fabulous medieval manor on the site. We had a nice cup of tea and cake in the manor’s tea room. Of course, I had to have a scribble, into my tiny flowery sketchbook.
It was a lovely evening after a cold, grey day so Husb and I took advantage and went for a walk on the beach. There were a lot of people doing the same thing and some groups playing sports on the sand. I saw these four playing volleyball. So I had to have a scribble, didn’t I? This was speed drawing at its speediest, barely a couple of seconds to get something down, which really forced me to focus on the basic details and to keep my eye on the subjects.
As far as I’m concerned, although these sketches don’t look like much, they’re the building blocks of my art practice. They refine my linework and help me to gain a greater understanding of form. I used a Faber Castell Pitt drawing pen size F into my tiny flowery sketchbook.
Coming up in August – I’m running a weekend printmaking workshop inspired by Frank Brangwyn , one of my artistic heroes. An outstanding draughtsman, painter, printmaker, muralist who exhibited with the Viennese Secession but unlike Klimt and Schiele, Frank had the mis/fortune to live to a ripe old age and fall out of fashion; he’s due […]
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