The Sausage Fingered Stick Of Doom

For most of my life I haven’t been keen on charcoal, I thought it was a bit clumsy. Husb calls it “the sausage fingered stick of doom”. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it isn’t much good if you want to do fine detail on small paper. My Khadi sketchbook isn’t big soContinue reading “The Sausage Fingered Stick Of Doom”

Caravan Jam

After a grey rainy start, the weather turned out warm and sunny so Husb and I went for a walk in the beautiful Clyne gardens. We found this caravan parked on one of the paths, serving drinks and home made cake. Of course, I had to have a scribble, with willow charcoal into my KhadiContinue reading “Caravan Jam”

Charcoal And Chips

We did our government-sanctioned lockdown exercise this evening and I stopped for a quick charcoal sketch of this pair of trees in Cwmdonkin Park. It was a bit of a rush because Husb phoned the local chippy and ordered fish and chips so we had to get there in time to pick them up whileContinue reading “Charcoal And Chips”

Clean, Green And Safe

Husb and I have gone out for a walk most days since the pandemic lockdown started. We’re not at risk so we can have a government sanctioned hour a day. It’s really made me appreciate how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful city. Swansea is so green with loads of parks, wildedContinue reading “Clean, Green And Safe”

Carving Blocks And Charcoal At The Castle

Today was pretty productive. I inked, traced and transferred seven texts onto little lino blocks and cut two of them. These are part of my series of words and phrases I’ve written down through the course of the Covid19 pandemic, from the first day of lockdown. Eventually, I’ll be printing them onto home-made cotton masks.Continue reading “Carving Blocks And Charcoal At The Castle”

‘Only’ The Cat

I try to do a drawing every day, even if it’s only the cat (she doesn’t like me describing her as ‘only’ the cat). It’s important to practice every day, sketching is like a singer practising their scales. And to be honest, after the very difficult weekend half the world has had, it’s nice toContinue reading “‘Only’ The Cat”

A Tough Decision

I did something yesterday that’s made a lot of people angry. I knew it would and I knew the risks but I decided to go ahead and do it and also do my best to minimise the risks to others. I went to the #BlackLivesMatter protest in Swansea. It wasn’t a hasty decision and IContinue reading “A Tough Decision”

A Cityscape, A Lush Loaf And A Spider Man

Earlier, before the rain started, we went to visit an elderly friend who lives high on the hill, observing social distance of course. I did a scribble into my Khadi sketchbook with some willow charcoal. It’s hard drawing a cityscape – it’s so packed with detail and charcoal is quite a blunt instrument, so IContinue reading “A Cityscape, A Lush Loaf And A Spider Man”

Out The Back

This is the sort of subject that I really don’t like to draw, it’s way outside my comfort zone. Give me people and animals any day, or even a bit of open landscape. But. I need to challenge myself, so I had a scribble looking out of the back door into my garden. It’s aContinue reading “Out The Back”

Charcoal And Baps

I took my Khadi sketchbook and willow charcoal to the allotment this evening and drew from inside the allotment site, which is tucked away in a corner of the Castle park. It’s on a fairly steep hill dropping away to the coast and we’re near the top. It’s surrounded by woodland, which can be aContinue reading “Charcoal And Baps”