The Choristers.

I went to a Plygain last week, it’s a performance of traditional Welsh Christmas carols, a bit late but the choir has been busy doing so many other things. Of course, I had to have a scribble.

#StandingStoneSunday

Through 2016 to 2019, I did a large series of drawings of standing stones out in the field, en plein air as we artists call it, across South Wales, which has been described to me as a Neolithic Landscape of the Dead, there are so many ancient tombs. I was accompanied by archaeologist Dewi Bowen who was researching his new book on Neolithic / Bronze Age monuments (Hunting The Wild Megalith) and filmmaker Melvyn Williams. 

Manorbier dolmen

This is the magnificent tomb overlooking the beach at Manorbier in West Wales. I visited and drew it in March 2016, it was chilly but nice and sunny, with not a lot of people around, which is good when you want to concentrate on drawing. I drew with my own home-made walnut ink and conte crayons, concentrating on the mark-making as well as the forms.

#Caturday Silhouette 10.

This #Caturday Saturday, here is my silhouette of little rescue cat Bill on top of a drawing I did a few years back of a “leper” stone in the little church in Llanrhidian on The Gower Peninsula. I cut the image of Bill from some very heavy textured paper that I recycled, I painted it black and started to experiment with it.

Scribbling In The Waiting Room: 2

A couple more head sketches from yesterday’s visit to our local A&E department (nothing serious as it turned out). People are quite still and easier to draw.

Scribbling In The Waiting Room: 1

I was in the A&E (ER) department today, nothing serious as it turns out. It’s a long process having tests and waiting for results so I did a bit of sketching. People tend to be quite still and quiet in waiting rooms. I had a bit of fun with cross-hatching with this one.

Just Watching And Scribbling.

I’ve got a few days off work and I did something I used to do a lot before Covid lockdowns, about once a week I’d go to a cafe for a cuppa and have a scribble as well. Cafes are good places for sketching as people are often absorbed in conversation or thought, so it’s easy to draw them incognito. I fell out of the habit when the lockdowns started, I must get back into the habit again as these little spontaneous drawings are really important for my art practice.

Sketchbook Archives: 24

Looking back to my blog posts in March 2013, I was drawing a lot of heads in my sketchbooks. It’s good practice to sketch quickly at random, it really trains you to identify the necessary details and get them down.

#StandingStoneSunday – Y Garreg Coch

Y Garreg Goch

Here’s my mixed media work featuring Y Garreg Coch (the Red Stone), a Neolithic monument in Carmarthenshire. Throughout 2016 I did a large series of drawings of standing stones, en plein air as we artists call it. I was accompanied by archaeologist Dewi Bowen who was researching his new book on Neolithic / Bronze Age monuments (Hunting The Wild Megalith) and filmmaker Melvyn Williams. 

#Caturday Silhouette 9.

This #Caturday Saturday, my negative silhouette of little rescue cat Bill shows a drawing I did a few years back of a carved stone in the little church in Llanrhidian on The Gower Peninsula. I cut the image of Bill from some very heavy textured paper that I recycled, I painted it black and started to experiment with it. I’m enjoying the process, creating so many different images with some quite basic materials.

Sketchbook Archives: 23

Here’s a selection of people sketches from my sketchbooks in February 2013. That was 7 years before Covid lockdowns when I used to be out and about scribbling so much. I sort of got out of the habit after lockdown, but also there seem to be far fewer people just hanging out in the city too.