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Sketchbook Archives: 10

These sketches were posted on my new-ish blog in June 2012. They’re quite a mix of where I was out and about around that time. There are some people dancing at a gig, a Big Issue seller and some shop security men on Swansea’s upper Oxford street. A friend washing up in his kitchen and people in cafes.

Little Figures, Big Press. And Cakes.

Had a lovely afternoon last Saturday down at Swansea Print Workshop. I and the artists I went to Germany with, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins, Rhiannon Rees and Rhian Haf, held an open afternoon where we presented an illustrated talk and showed the work we did at Atelierhof Werenzhaim. I cut up the huge paper into 3 sections to carry them back across Europe and I’ve laid them out next to our fabulous 1920s Radcliffe etching press so you can see the size of them. I must count how many figures there are, sometime.

I made a couple of cakes for the event. On the left a gluten-free almond lemon cake decorated with maple-soaked plums. On the right, a classic jam and buttercream sponge. They went down well.

More Layering, More Pretty.

Another of the random heads I drew recently a few days ago, with some additional drawing layered over it with my home-made walnut ink (bottom right). Like the head I posted yesterday, I scanned and loaded it into Adobe Photoshop and tried out a couple of different Gradient Map options (left and top right). And there’s more pretty stuff going on.

Layering Some Pretty Stuff.

I drew a random head a few days ago (top right) and today I drew into it a bit more with my home-made walnut ink (top left), not planning anything, just emptying my head of thoughts and letting my hand and the brush do their own thing. I wasn’t sure whether to carry on adding layers of ink, so I scanned it and loaded it up into Adobe Photoshop and tried out a couple of different Gradient Map options (middle right and bottom). There’s some pretty stuff going on in them.

Sketchbook Archives: 9

I posted these sketchbook scribbles less than a year after I started this blog, back in May 2012. Three of them are of a biker’s funeral at the local Gospel Hall, then there are random people and my little great-nephew, who is much bigger now and got married a few weeks ago.

#Caturday Saturday.

Here’s our little rescue cat, Bill AKA William Chat Noir formerly Phoebe. She was very timid and depressed when she came to us, just over a year ago. She was 14 years old, her human had passed and she was handed into a rescue centre. She had been with her human since she was a kitten so she was very traumatised. But she’s completely settled in now, and quite a cheeky chops.

Wicked Foreshortening.

Here’s another sketch I did yesterday when Husb and our little relative were throwing axes at Lumberjack. It was good practice for me to sketch the odd positions that I wouldn’t normally see. There’s some wicked foreshortening going on with that axe arm, took me ages but I got it in the end.

It’s definitely Autumn now, we’ve had thunder, lightening and torrential showers through the afternoon and evening so I thought it was time for some seasonal comfort eating, so I made a plum tarte tatin for tea. It was lush. The secret is to part cook the plums in the pan in lots of butter before adding sugar, topping with pastry and baking.