Portrait Prelims

Quick sketches in ballpoint.

I’m working on a portrait painting and most of it is done. Now’s the really hard bit, getting a good likeness. I did an underpainting of the face and then some preliminary sketches to really study the face in detail, the proportions and angles. I drew these from a photo, the one of the right is the best likeness, I drew this upside down. The photo, not me 😀

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

#StandingStoneSunday 2

Merlin’s Quoits / Meini Llwydion.

Here’s one of my many sketches from my travels with pre-historian Dewi Bowen and filmmaker Melvyn Williams about 6 years ago. We tracked many of the Neolithic and Bronze Age standing stones across South Wales as Dewi was researching for his new book. This was the very first of our outings and we visited two stones called Meini Llwydion / Merlin’s Quoits, near Llangain in Carmarthenshire. I drew en plein air with compressed charcoal onto a textured vintage handmade paper. I wasn’t sure back then how to approach drawing these wonderful artefacts …. this is how I began ….

The short film (one minute) which was made as a trailer for a solo exhibition of the work shows some of the hair raising predicaments I got myself into as we travelled across Wales…..

You can see the texture of the paper under the charcoal.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

#Caturday Archives

Computer Kitty.

It’s Saturday / #Caturday so here’s another from my kitty archives. I went through a phase of doing digital drawings on my Samsung Galaxy 8 tablet a few years back and the cats were good subjects for the programme – a free app called Markers which is great for sketching. Here’s Little Ming, our fluffy one-eyed rescue cat, who was much more ferocious than she looked.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Scribbling The Shadows.

Simple Shadow Sketch.

I was sitting in a sunny polytunnel in the GRAFT Garden, wondering what arty stuff to do and I saw a lovely plant – fennel I think – right by me. But I was feeling a bit lazy and wanted a short cut so I balanced my sketchbook onto the edge of the raised bed and pinned a couple of stems over the paper with my phone. Then I used a ballpoint pen to quickly sketch the shadows. I really enjoyed it, very relaxing way of doing a sketch.

Lazy lines …….

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Scribbling At The One Man Show

Drawing heads.

Husb and I took a trip to Cardiff Tuesday evening to see the writer and broadcaster David Sedaris perform his one-man show – he’s hilarious. I had a bit of a scribble first. It’s nearly always backs of heads at gigs but sometimes there are some great textures, like this woman’s hair. That was a good exercise in mark-making that was.

Lots of marks….

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Colour Mandala Step 5.

Starting The Patterns.

I did some more work on my colour theory mandala today, finishing all the segments, with a selection of brushes and palette knives. I’ve covered Primary, Secondary and Tertiary colours, Complementary colours, Tints and Shades and now I’ve started painting in little linear patterns with bronze paint and a very fine brush. I’m using Daler Rowney System 3 acrylic onto a stretched prepared canvas. It’s very relaxing making a mandala, I get right into the zone.

Stages 1 to 4.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

The Plebeian Printmakers Revisited…with video

Printing Directly From Street Metal.

About 5 years ago I got together with a group of other artist printmakers for an art in the street event called Troublemakers, in central Swansea. We went up and down the street inking up manhole and stopcock covers – street metal – and taking prints from them. You can see more in the video below. It was great, loads of people stopped to talk about it and I developed a bit of an obsession with street metal from then on.

Rolling Up A Manhole Cover.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

Scribbling Outside A Cafe

Relaxing ….

Husb and I were getting a bit stir crazy working from home so went out for a cold drink this evening and sat outside a nice cafe bar for a little while. I had to have a scribble of course. The main thing about these little sketchbook drawings is not to get a perfect representation of a scene – there isn’t anywhere near enough time for that. It’s to get an impression and also to work out the proportions, perspective and so on. I like to use the continuous line drawing technique for this.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

The Soundtrack To My Life.

Living My Best Life.

Husb and I went to a gig in Singleton Park Friday night. We bought the tickets for Nile Rodgers and Chic‘s world tour before the Covid epidemic and waited for two years for it to be rescheduled. It was amazing. Nile is such a brilliant musician and so prolific, he’s provided the soundtrack to my life. The Park, in the sunshine, is one of the best places for a gig. It was a wonderful evening, I feel so privileged and lucky.

Sketching the crowd.

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x

#Caturday Archives

Sleepy Cat In Coloured Pencils.

It’s Saturday / Caturday so here’s one from the archives, a pencil sketch of the late and very hairy tortoiseshell Ming The Merciless. Husb and I rescued her from a very neglectful home, she was nearly dead from an untreated lung infection, poor little floof. She was only a few months old at the time but after a ton of TLC (and vet’s bills), she lived until she was nearly 20. We still miss her like mad x

Raising Funds.

My family is raising money for Phil, a younger relative of mine, to have life-changing surgery in Spain. Phil is disabled by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and the operation he needs isn’t currently available in the UK. I know times are hard, but if you’re able to spare a bob or two, please click here find out more or to donate a small amount to Phil’s crowdfunding campaign. Thank you xxx

Raising funds for Phil, bottom left, to have life-changing surgery xxx

Trying Out A Change

I’m having a go at new templates for my website so I’ll be changing them a few times over the next couple of weeks to see how I get on with them. If there’s one you really like, or dislike, please let me know . Thanks x