Tulips in charcoal and coloured pencil, sketch

Tulips in the deep shade under a tree, with a little light filtering through the fence, charcoal and coloured pencil sketch, A4

I'm up to my eyes in paperwork and stuff - this is just to prove I am doing a little drawing.

It started life as a simple charcoal sketch but I couldn't resist adding a touch of colour.

update on the postcard exchange, Pendeen lighthouse, Cornwall, watercolour and mixed media sketch

details from Pendeen Lighthouse, watercolour and mixed media on fairly rough paper

Pendeen Lighthouse, watercolour and mixed media on fairly rough paper, whole image, about 9 inches across as I remember

This postcard was the most recent one I did for the exchange, sent to Cathy, it will be published on our group blog today so I can now show it to you. I was very relieved when it arrived safely as one, from another member of the group to her, is lost somewhere in the sorting office, so disappointing. I put it in a very dull brown envelope with no decoration to make it appear boring to any would-be-thieves.

The sea in the dip, where the water is shallower really is that beautiful pthalo green/viridian - impossible to describe without those colours in your palette.

Just a short distance along the coast are The Crowns at Botallack - old mine engine houses perched precariously on the edge of the cliffs, where I have also sketched.

more sketches and paintings of Cornwall

Has anyone being doing still lifes? I'm afraid I haven't done much! I got sidetracked ......

tulips, photographs in my garden taken using a magnifying lens 10x

We've been busy planting and sorting things in the garden, so I took the camera out for some close ups of my tulips.

These were taken with one of the cheap screw on magnifying filters that help you to get really up close and personal (much more than this if you want to)

I really like the very shallow depth of field they give, with the flower focussed but the background very much out of focus, losing all the nitty gritty details there that detract from the main subject.

Keeping the camera still when taking the photo is crucial and these were taken without a tripod - they would have been better with one.





details of the magnifying lenses here for anyone who doesn't know the kind I mean

and more photos of flowers here and here and here and here

urban sketching, an old Roman road that passes through the city, biro (ballpen)

Fosse Road in April, biro sketch

Rather than wait for my mother in the dentists waiting room, when I dropped her off for a check up, I sat out in the car sketching. A cheap biro was handy so I used that, which meant no erasing. I prefer my Parker biro' for sketching, it flows much better.

On the left there is a terrace of 3 storey Victorian houses, on the right behind the railings are allotments full of greenery, rows of vegetables, old sheds, trees and bushes a breath of fresh air in the city. The road dips under the pedestrian bridge - it used to be a railway but is now a walkway/cycle track that crosses the city and links to the canal towpath as it crosses nearer the city centre.

The road is part of a Roman road that went from Exeter to Lincoln in an almost straight line.

sketches of moving people from life

More quick sketches of moving people - moving far too much!

These two were done with a Rotring art pen and a a little water to smudge and create areas of tone. They are in a moleskine sketchbook - hence the bubbly effect on the washes, which were rubbed into the paper - the waxy paper moleskines don't like water much!

and the next 2 with a mechanical pencil with a B lead



They were all absorbed in what they were doing and moving a LOT, not making life easy! but it was good practice even if the results aren't great :>)

cat in coloured pencil in moleskine A3 folio sketchbook

The resident tiger, coloured pencil in A3 folio moleskine

A drawing of the resident tiger, looking down at her, done when himself was hogging the tv because golf was on, . She refused to pose, saying she had better things to do, so I'm afraid it's done from a photograph.

details to show the scribbling that makes the fur and the 'drawing' back in with an electric eraser for the light over dark sections:




As usual there are some subtle tones that aren't being picked up, bleached out by the scanner. The viewpoint is looking down a little at her and she's sitting slewed with her head at an angle and her body slightly twisted - thinking of moving off.

more sketches of cats here

Designing a catalogue for a group of artists

I've been working on a catalogue for the small group of friends I meet up with once a month. It's to be used for a proposal for a group show at a really good venue.

The introduction page

Not quite finished - but this is pretty much how the pages will look - one each, one large image, statement, small image and contact details/web addresses (which I've removed here). I'm waiting for a couple of images and statements.

It is A5, will be on heavy paper and will be wire bound for ease of page turning.

I wanted to keep it very simple, the covering letter etc does all the talking, this is just a flick through, who we are and what we do.

Mary our secretary will do those - my responsibilites are catalogue, posters, publicity.

What do you think?

The rather long winded name of our group pre-dates my membership and that of several of us - we sometimes think of changing it but we've built up a reputation under that name, which makes it difficult ..... and then there's the problem of agreeing on a new name!

Life Drawing, Charcoal and pastel

The latest life drawing - it will not photograph well for me - there is a soft cream in the highlights but they are reading too garishly :>(

Done with willow charcoal, compressed charcoal and cream pastel. Again about 90 minutes work,

I wanted to concentrate on the 'portrait' aspect with this one.

Charcoal is such a lovely medium to work with, messy but so adjustable. I can sweep mistakes away with a brush of my hand (yes I do get very grubby) and redraw, draw back in with an eraser to paint lights back in and be really flexible. I edit. A Lot.

We've got the same model, Lucy, very chatty, again next week, with the same pose for those who paint and work slower. So I'll choose another view.

People: quick sketches of my students with the pentel brushpen

With tonight's life drawing group in mind I did these very quick sketches of some of my class with the Pentel brush pen. I like the variety of marks it makes but of course, being ink, it's very unforgiving of mistakes! I've added a few unflattering years to the poor student below!



Of course they moved constantly - so inconsiderate ;>D

The postcard exchange update, February landscape in mixed media

A muddy lane in February, one for the postcard exchange, roughly A5

This was my February postcard for our exchange - now posted on our group blog.

It ws done with a loose underpainting in watercolour and Caran d'Ache Neocolor II, then some coloured pencil, more of the Caran d' applied without water and a little oil pastel and gouache.

At the beginning of spring the hawthorn hedges briefly have a pink glow as the sap rises and the tiny leaf buds swell a little. It was very cold still. As soon as the leaves grow a little more, the pink is gone.

Dried grasses made calligraphic marks against spiky hedges and the slight mistiness made the far trees a bluish haze.

It was wet and squelchy and there were deep puddles in the tracks along the lane.

My March card was posted a couple of days ago and I'm looking forward to receiving my next one :>) I've no idea which member it will be from. I've received 2 gorgeous cards so far :>)