Stroll And Scribble: 1

Husb and I went out for a stroll this evening. We used to do it a lot before Covid19 and even during the lockdowns, we took our allocated one hour a day. But after I caught the dreaded lurgi, about 2 years ago, I lost so much stamina and I’m only recently regaining it. I used to draw in my sketchbook more or less every day, but I let it slip. Time to turn this around and get back into strolling and scribbling! Here’s a big tree in Singleton Park, drawn with graphite into my Khadi handmade sketchbook.

Musicians And Europe….

This is the series of musical heads I drew recently at a gig that was held to draw attention to the problems that musicians are now facing because of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. This isn’t a comment of the pros and cons of withdrawal, but about how musicians are being affected.

When the UK left the European Union, musicians lost the ability to tour without restriction in Europe. This means that performing and selling merchandise got more complicated and expensive. There is a petition asking the Government to Face the Music and find a solution to the issues facing musicians who want to tour Europe after Brexit. The petition organisers say, “Music is a central part of our cultural identity; it champions diversity and supports our local communities.” If you want to sign the petition here it is.

Sketchbook Archives: 2

Here’s a few of the sketches I did en plein air back in September 2011, in the earliest days of this blog. I used to be out and about so much, scribbling away into my sketchbooks, but the Covid19 pandemic restrictions disrupted that and I haven’t really got back into it. I sketch at gigs and special events but I don’t just wander around aimlessly any more, pens in hand, scribbling anything that doesn’t move too fast 😀 I need to get back to it, looking over my archives is great, so much I’d forgotten and it comes back much more vividly from a drawing than a photo.

Tha Bass Player …

And continuing the theme of musicians I have drawn at gigs recently, here’s a young bassist who also happens to be related to me. Aren’t I lucky? Bassists are cool. Graphite into my Khadi sketchbook.

A Head At A Gig … The Thoughtful One …

I spotted this bloke at a gig Husb and I recently went to, he was in the audience and lost in his own world of thoughts … which meant that he kept pretty still, easier for me to draw 😀  I used a graphite block into my Khadi handmade paper sketchbook.

A Head At A Gig….The Jolly One…

Here’s another muso from a gig Husb and I went to the other evening. He is a jolly musician in a very jolly and upbeat band. He was fun to draw. I used a graphite block into my Khadi handmade paper sketchbook. I like the thick graphite with this textured paper, anything finer would struggle to be seen. 

A Head At A Gig…The Beardy One…

I love live music, I used to listen to albums for hours on end, but now I’m no longer a teenager, I prefer to go to gigs. It’s nice to get a chance to draw musicians too. This is a quick portrait sketch of a muso with a magnificent beard, I used a graphite block into my Khadi handmade paper sketchbook. I like the thick graphite with this textured paper, anything finer would struggle to be seen. 

The Guitarist …

Husb and I went to a gig on Saturday, but more of that another day. I had to have a scribble, of course, and I spotted this young guitarist who had a really unusual look, so I sketched her.

Rhythms In The Garden ….

Every year, a chum holds a garden party on her birthday. Her organic garden is fantastic, hewn from a steep and uncompromising hillside, every inch of ground packed with exquisite flora. No flashy architectural hard landscaping, no astroturf, just the outcome of years of hard work and a great love of plants.

I don’t find it easy to draw plants, greenery, landscape, so I just let myself be guided by the play of water on the heavyweight Khadi paper, the randomness of the marks made with Derwent Inktense blocks and the rhythms of the musicians playing into the dusky evening.

The Welsh May Cat: Y Gath Mis Mai…

Pastel drawing: The Welsh May Cat.

Sparta Puss, our 14 year old Naughty Tortie, is a bit of a rampaging murderous scourge of anything smaller than her that moves. Worse than that, she brings her prey into the house. People tell us she’s bringing us ‘presents’ but you know, I’d rather go without her little gifts. The worst thing of all is that they’re often alive when she throws them at our feet and we have to deal with terrorised rats, mice, voles and birds trapped in the house.

My late father-in-law, a fluent Welsh speaker, told me about the Welsh ‘Cath Mis Mai’ translated as ‘The Month of May Cat’. According to Welsh tradition, you should avoid giving a home to a kitten born after the month of May as they will invariably bring their prey home. Sparta Puss’s birth month? September!

Here she is in a pastel drawing I did on BFK Rives 250 gms paper that I had previously coloured with acrylic pigment mixed with acrylic medium and metallic powder.