Husb and I went for a walk on the beach this evening and I did some sketching on the hoof. It results in wobbly drawings! I used my Samsung Galaxy Tablet Note 8 with a free Markers app while I followed people. They suspected nothing.
The sun was setting behind us as we looked out to sea and cast these shadows of us on the sand; me taking the photo and Husb being a teapot.
The beach was reflected in the windows of the civic centre. It’s lush.
I was so blown away by last night’s Midsummer sunset that Husb and I drove out to Weobley Castle on the Gower Peninsula this evening to find another glorious view. It’s so easy to take our landscape and history for granted, I don’t think most of us realise what an exceptional part of the world we live in. We walked up to the castle and sat looking West over the salt marshes at three weird and distinct woods in the distance, just in front of the Loughor estuary.
The sun moved fast and I had to work very quickly as things were changing by the minute. It’s only possible to do a fleeting impression – well it is for me anyway. Maybe not for Monet. I used Daler Rowney artists’ soft pastels into a Khadi handmade paper sketchbook, 6″ square with deckled edges.
There was a rave going on just below the castle and we listened to Trance as the sun went down and threw spectacular colours over weird cloud formations all around us.
I wanted to draw the Midsummer sunset over Arthur’s Stone at Cefn Bryn, a Neolithic tomb 4,500 years old . It’s a spectacular place and the setting sun threw a dazzling pallette of colours across the Gower landscape. A lot of people were gathered to see it this evening. The sky was almost unbelievably colourful, fusing iridescent yellow, orange, pink, purple and blues behind the dark mass of the dolman. Generations of local schoolchildren get their first glimpse of Arthur’s Stone (Maen Ceti in Welsh) on school trips and I guess I was 7 or 8 when I saw it for the first time. I keep going back to visit; there’s something magical about the place.
I used Daler Rowney artist’s pastels into a Khadi handmade paper sketchbook, 6″ square. I had to work very quickly as the sun sets fast. Today, the Summer Solstice, was the longest day of the year and sunset was around 9.40 pm. The nights will be drawing in from now on. Before we know it, it’ll be Xmas.
A marvellous sketch blog from Patricia McKenna Jones with lots of new drawings
Individual tales of cold and comeraderie: a live homeless theatre project @Zacs.
I did this digital sketch at last night’s life drawing session. I like the challenge of foreshortening and a reclining pose is right up my street. The shape of the body is very strange but I measured accurately and that’s the shape thrown by the foreshortening.
I used the free Markers app on my Samsung Galaxy Tablet Note 8 and the pose was about 45 minutes. It was very difficult as the head, face, hands and a foot are all there in a foreshortened relationship with each other.
I’ve edited all the sketchbook drawings from my Pakistan residency into a short film with Adobe Premiere Pro. I drew them consecutively as I journeyed through the country and I also recorded sounds as I went along on my phone, so I’ve added a soundtrack as well. Isn’t technology brilliant?
The drawings were made with Daler Rowney artists’ soft pastels into a Khadi handmade paper sketchbook, 6 inches square which I scanned into my PC. The sounds were recorded on a Samsung Galaxy S3 mini.
Husb and I have been out this picking elderflowers to make cordial. It’s an annual ritual and makes the house smell lovely. It’s been a fine evening and a lovely way to spend a few hours. I did this sketch a couple of days ago in the Belvedere Gallery in Vienna. It already seems like an age has passed since we were there.
I stopped for some time in front of this self portrait by Egon Shiele at The Leopold Museum in Vienna. I have seen it many times in books but was fascinated when I came face to face with it. The brushwork is so fluid and he creates light and dark and the flow of the material on the clothes by simply using brushstrokes. I made a lot of notes around the quick sketch.
Viennese architecture is spectacular and it was a joy just strolling around the city. We hung out a while at Café Museum, where Shiele and Klimt used to eat.
Husb and I just got back from our few days in Vienna in time for the last episode of Game of Thrones Season 4. Ooooof!
Yesterday we went to the Upper Belvedere Gallery in Vienna to take in the permanent collection of Secession, Expressionist and Impressionist art. Marvellous. I drew this sculpture of a panther by Franz Barwig the Elder. It’s a large piece and completely black and shiny. Very hard to draw just using pen, without ink wash or charcoal to get all the tones. Good practice though.
Then we went to the Secession building to see The Beethoven Frieze. I was overwhelmed by Vienna. I’ve read about these artists and places connected with them for years and it’s been such a privilege to be able to go there.
Yesterday in Vienna Husb and I spent most of the day in The Leopold Museum wallowing in Egon Shiele’s art. And other Secession and Expressionist artists. It was an amazing experience.
Husb and I are the sort of people who upset the gallery staff by standing as close as possible to artworks to try and work out how the artist did it. I got told off! I studied this hand, Schiele has drawn in pencil and overlaid with translucent oil glazes. The drawing is clearly visible and enables far more detail than possible with a brush.
Afterwards I did a bit of scribbling at the tram stop; people are too busy with their smartphones to notice me.
scribblah 