Ratstein!

Sparta Puss here. I managed to get my paws on the pooter box again. My trained monkeys are still busy faffing around after the rat I brought in to entertain myself. Turns out the wily rodent is some kind of genius; the stupid simians have nicknamed it Ratstein after some supposedly clever hoomin scientist. AsContinue reading “Ratstein!”

The Dog House

Greetings hairless apes. Sparta Puss here. It’s been a long time. My trained monkeys have been keeping me away from the pooter box but I managed to distract them for a while. It’s Spring and every year I bring them some rats to play with. Such fun. The she-ape jumps on chairs and squeals andContinue reading “The Dog House”

Darkly Drawing

Spent a happy day at the Creative Bubble artspace in Swansea with the 15 Hundred Lives collective on our monthly public art event. I’m continuing with a series of manier noir drawings inspired by a visit to Berlin a couple of winters back. I saw the Holocaust Memorial under a couple of feet of snow and itContinue reading “Darkly Drawing”

Stick People

Husb and I spent the last day of our short Belgian break having a wander around Brussels in the unseasonal heat. We stopped under the shade of a tree in a park for a while and watched while a group of young men kicked a ball around. I scribbled them, they moved fast and wereContinue reading “Stick People”

Bruges, Swansea, Leeds.

I can’t get enough of Sir Frank Brangwyn’s work. Here’s another study I did from a drawing at the Brangwyn Museum in Bruges. The original is in charcoal and chalk onto a brown paper. I used four grades of graphite into my A5 hardback sketchbook, much smaller than the original. These days drawing in thisContinue reading “Bruges, Swansea, Leeds.”

Big John

Went up to the farm a few days ago to collect a load of manure for the allotment. I stopped to have a look at the pigs, feeding in a big field. Most were quite dainty sows but there was one boar, Big John, with enormous tusks, a Mohican hairdo and a massive personality. OutContinue reading “Big John”

Practice Makes Perfect (male nude)

Just back from life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop and it was a tough one this evening. The pose is deceptively difficult, with foreshortening of the hands and legs and the model leaning back made the head a bit odd too. I struggled, using several grades of graphite stick onto a vintage Saunders paper. IContinue reading “Practice Makes Perfect (male nude)”

Is It A Hen?

  Husb and I visited a friend at her farm today and cut some bamboo canes for our allotment. It was gorgeous, sunny and warm; thirsty work. I grabbed the chance to get some sneaky digital shots of the fidgety chickens and had a bit of a scribble into my A5 hardbacked sketchbook with aContinue reading “Is It A Hen?”

Some Days You Can’t

I try to blog every day but now and again, not often, I’m just too shattered to do a drawing and write up a blog. Yesterday was one of those days. I’m a bit gutted because I haven’t had a day off blogging since the middle of December, but last night I just couldn’t getContinue reading “Some Days You Can’t”