Tag Archives: en plein air

A Head At A Gig … The Unruly One

A quick portrait sketch with 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. This guy had lots of quite unruly hair and the thick end of the graphite block was ideal for scribbling a likeness.

Sketchbook Archives: 1

I started this blog in July 2011, almost 13 years now. I wanted an outlet for my sketchbooks as these are aspects of an artist’s practice that are rarely seen by other people. I had no idea I’d still be doing it all these years later, posting more-or-less every evening. The first two above areContinue reading “Sketchbook Archives: 1”

A Head At A Gig…The Hat One

Husb and I went to a gig the other night ….. more of that in another post. Of course I had to have a quick scribble or two. This is my old mate Peter Crow, who plays with an awesome Gothic Folk Rock band (I hope I got that right) called Wild-Eyed, Wicked and Oblivious.Continue reading “A Head At A Gig…The Hat One”

Travels With My Sketchbook …

I always carry a sketchbook when I travel, I prefer to look at sketches rather than photos, they seem to take me back to that time and place more effectively than a snapshot that took a few seconds to capture. Although the scribbles are quick, they’re slower and take more attention and effort than photos,Continue reading “Travels With My Sketchbook …”

Faces From The Past…

I’ve been taking a stroll through the images I’ve posted on this blog over the years – I’ve been doing it since 2011. It’s been good for me to revisit the work, I tend to ignore sketches once I’ve done them, which is a pity because there’s often some good stuff there. Here are fourContinue reading “Faces From The Past…”

A Blast From The Past…

From 2012, a sketchbook scribble of Oystermouth Castle in Mumbles at the western edge of Swansea. I used to do a lot more drawing en plein air directly into sketchbooks, but I fell out of that daily practice during the Covid19 lockdowns and I haven’t really got back into it. I should, it’s good forContinue reading “A Blast From The Past…”

Covid Queueing.

I was flicking through some sketchbooks and saw scribbles done during the daily Covid19 walks that Husb and I did back in 2020. Honestly, we haven’t been as fit since. The little café had opened in Cwmdonkin Park (loved by Dylan Thomas) and people were queueing masked and two metres apart in the sunshine toContinue reading “Covid Queueing.”

The Name Of The Stone …

I’ve been looking at Google maps recently, exploring the city online and finding interesting nooks and crannies. I knew about this Bronze Age stone in Bon-y-maen, to the North East of the city, and I have even visited and drawn it, but I never really gave much thought to the area around it. The nameContinue reading “The Name Of The Stone …”

8 Years Ago In Bath ….

I’ve been rummaging through some old sketchbooks and found these drawings from the Fringe Arts Bath (FAB) Festival in 2016, a few years before Covid19. It seems like another world. A small group of us stood in crowded streets in the sunshine and sketched, no knowledge of the impending pandemic that totally changed the wayContinue reading “8 Years Ago In Bath ….”