The Welsh May Cat: Y Gath Mis Mai…

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 allContinue reading “The Welsh May Cat: Y Gath Mis Mai…”

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”

Fun With Skulls!

I run regular adult education sessions and this week I was demonstrating collage using a line drawing of a skull and a copy of National Geographic. The eyes are by Picasso, the nose by the Hubble Space Telescope and the rest are from an exhibition of dead stuffed birds. When it’s finished I’ll coat itContinue reading “Fun With Skulls!”

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…”

One From The Archives ….

One of my favourite places is Paviland, a strange otherworldly cove on the coast of the Gower Peninsula which is the site of the Goat’s Hole Cave, famous for the skeleton of the  “Red Lady of Paviland“, which is actually a young man. From the main road, it’s a fair walk across fields via aContinue reading “One From The Archives ….”