I think that cats are good for drawing practice as they’re surprisingly difficult to draw. I’m so used to using the human body as a subject that cats are a completely alien lifeform when it comes to scribbling; not only do they have different skeletons which work in strange ways, like knees that bendContinue reading “Cats in My Sketchbook”
Tag Archives: art
A Gothic Mansion at the end of a classic train journey in West Wales
Now and again we go away for one or two nights to a really nice Welsh hotel to recharge our batteries. Penally Abbey is one we’ve returned to; it’s one of those gothic nineteenth century mansions full of antique furniture, soft beds and lovely food. Because it’s reasonably close, we don’t have to faffContinue reading “A Gothic Mansion at the end of a classic train journey in West Wales”
A Link to The Beatles, Scribbling Faces and The Arandora Star
I carry my sketchbook all the time and take every chance I can to have a scribble. One night some friends invited us to a fundraising evening for the Arandora Star memorial. It was a great opportunity for sketching faces and I did some drawings there. The guest speaker was the veteran actor Victor SpinettiContinue reading “A Link to The Beatles, Scribbling Faces and The Arandora Star”
Prints, Paperclips in Pants and Paul Peter Piech
The past couple of days I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather, like I’m fighting off a bug but today was my volunteer day at Swansea Print Workshop so I dosed up on paracetamol and spent the afternoon printing monotypes. I managed to do eight, basing them on drawings from my sketchbooks, soContinue reading “Prints, Paperclips in Pants and Paul Peter Piech”
Stonehenge in Madrid; The Wall; and a Drowning Dog
Our mate Mike wanted to celebrate his fortieth at Roger Waters’ “The Wall” but the British gigs were sold out, so we piled off from Ynystawe to Madrid in March. It was cold and rainy, while Swansea basked in an unseasonably warm and dry Spring. We spent two days being culture vultures, doing ElContinue reading “Stonehenge in Madrid; The Wall; and a Drowning Dog”
An Ancient Castle, Shakespeare and a Secret Garden.
Every year our council puts on some outdoor performances of Shakespeare plays in front of Oystermouth Castle in Mumbles. It’s one of those semi-ruined Norman castles and is a spectacular backdrop to the plays. We went to see The Merchant of Venice. I’d done it in school but back then I’d never really understood howContinue reading “An Ancient Castle, Shakespeare and a Secret Garden.”
A hunky male model and electrocuting fleas.
I fancied doing some life drawing but it wasn’t life drawing group night so I borrowed Melvyn’s childhood Action Man, set up a floodlight and posed the little chap on a stool while I did this ink drawing of him. Best model I ever had – didn’t move a muscle. He’s got really bigContinue reading “A hunky male model and electrocuting fleas.”
Calico cat’s comfort zone
Sparta is our youngest of two tortoiseshell [calico] cats and typically loves her creature comforts. I’ve noticed over the decades of sharing my home and life with cats that there’s a hint of the ‘Princess and the Pea’ about them. They won’t settle for sleeping on a soft settee or bed if there’s a newspaper,Continue reading “Calico cat’s comfort zone”
Waspies, Steampunk and Drawing in the Dark
Swansea Steampunk night happens at a very atmospheric Victorian club which has developed a patina of faded grandeur over the past 150 years or so. Once a month it’s taken over by strange people in spectacular costumes and weird accessories. It’s great to draw there because I normally work with professional nude models andContinue reading “Waspies, Steampunk and Drawing in the Dark”
A Big Bum and The Berlin Bundestag
Berlin, January 2010 and a group of artists from Swansea were traipsing around in two feet of snow when I did this unflattering drawing of Sandra during our guided tour of the Bundestag. Minus 15º C meant that we were all overdressed in lots of layers and although film and video are supposed to addContinue reading “A Big Bum and The Berlin Bundestag”
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