Four Chelsea Buns, Two Small Loaves And A Quick Scribble

I went out earlier for my sanctioned exercise and as it was looking like rain and very windy, just strolled to a small public mews garden, probably Victorian. It has quite a formal arrangement of lawns and paths but there’s a tangle of very mature trees around the edge. I did a quick sketch withContinue reading “Four Chelsea Buns, Two Small Loaves And A Quick Scribble”

Then Came The Deluge

  Husb and I went for our daily authorised exercise today and ended up in the lovely Cwmdonkin Park where I stopped to draw this very striking row of trees. I laid down the basic details with willow charcoal into a Khadi sketchbook – then the heaven’s opened and a deluge of Biblical proportions hit!Continue reading “Then Came The Deluge”

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”

Life Drawing Live

I checked into the live life drawing session on BBC4 this evening and did this 5 minute sketch. I couldn’t stay for the full programme, it’s family Zoom quiz night, but I’ll catch up with it later in the week and draw the rest of the models. There’s a lot of art happening on theContinue reading “Life Drawing Live”

Pandemic Portrait – Willow Charcoal

  So today I did a bit more work on the portrait I started yesterday, working from a photo. I developed the image with willow carcoal, putting in the shadows by squinting my eyes. I’m using willow charcoal at the moment because it’s easy to rub out mistakes. Once I’m happy that I’ve got theContinue reading “Pandemic Portrait – Willow Charcoal”

Pandemic Portrait – Making A Start

I made a start on a portrait drawing today. I rarely work from photographs, I’d much rather draw from a live model, but we’re in pandemic lockdown so I’ll do this one from a photo. I’m using a lovely sheet of vintage British hand-made paper with a deckle edge made by W H Saunders mill,Continue reading “Pandemic Portrait – Making A Start”

Maggi Hambling Kicked My Backside

I watched Grayson Perry’s Art Club on Channel 4 (UK) last night. He’s one of my favourite artists and he’s doing this series to encourage people to get into making art during the Covid19 lockdown. The programme also features guest artists and last night it was Maggi Hambling, who is another one I really admire.Continue reading “Maggi Hambling Kicked My Backside”

The Last Page

I love finishing a sketchbook. It’s a slice of my life and there’s something so satisfying about drawing on the last page and closing it. It marks the passage of time. I’ll open it from time to time because these are working documents and I look through old sketchbooks to get ideas and inspiration butContinue reading “The Last Page”

Mask And Mosque

Some more queue drawings. It’s getting to be a good place for sketching now. Faces with masks are new and something I haven’t had a chance to draw before. The queues I’ve been in have mostly moved reasonably quickly so I have to be really fast drawing people. I can be a bit more leisurelyContinue reading “Mask And Mosque”