blind contour drawing

Two Techniques At The Folk Club.

Husb sings in a local community choir, Aderyn Du Brynmill Blackbirds, and they gave a short performance of Medieval Christmas Carols at the Riverside Folk Club in Loughor earlier this week. I tagged along and of course, I had to have a scribble. The duo on the left is done using the continuous line techniqueContinue reading “Two Techniques At The Folk Club.”

Baggy Waders

I did some quick sketches en plein air at Brynmill Stream the other day, where some colleagues from the FIRE Lab were setting up an experiment in the water. I was fascinated by the baggy waders that they were wearing, I’d never seen any close to before. I did a couple of very quickContinue reading “Baggy Waders”

Scribbles From the Bath Carny

Husb and I went to Bath this weekend to visit friends and go to the Carnival. I like a good carnival. When I was a nipper, there used to be loads of carnivals in working class areas, with floats and what we called “Jazz Bands” who didn’t really do jazz but tunes on jingly thingsContinue reading “Scribbles From the Bath Carny”

Snipe In The Dark Manner

This is the last of the drawings I recently did at Swansea Museum as part of a day with Edinburgh artist and printmaker Kelly Stewart, organised by Swansea Print Workshop. I did loads of drawings of the Snipe and this is done in the manier noir technique on prepared paper (please click here if youContinue reading “Snipe In The Dark Manner”

Another Blind Contour Drawing

Here’s another blind contour drawing I did, of a snipe, at Swansea Museum last week. It’s a very useful exercise, it forces you to stop being precious about what you’re drawing, to loosen up and to concentrate on closely observing your subject, instead of watching the paper.

Snipe Silhouette

So now I’m getting a bit obsessed with Snipe, a funny little bird with impossibly skinny legs and beak, for wading and probing at the water’s edge, beautifully designed for its environment. In these drawings I focused on the silhouette to try and establish the overall shape of the bird, using my own home-madeContinue reading “Snipe Silhouette”

Blobbiness Abounds

I thought I loved the bittern when I first saw it – and I did – but then I started drawing a snipe and that was it, bye-bye bittern. I’m so fickle. This gorgeous bird is one of Swansea Museum’s taxidermy collection. I did this drawing with a reed pen and my home-made walnut ink.Continue reading “Blobbiness Abounds”

Blind Contour Bittern

I did some blind contour drawings of the crazy stuffed bittern I was drawing recently at Swansea Museum. It was one of the taxidermy specimens from the museum stores and we were lucky to have been able to get to draw them. It’s good to go back to some basic drawing exercises now andContinue reading “Blind Contour Bittern”