Summer Sketching

For several years now I’ve gone away in July with my friend Katy for a yoga retreat to Crete. The venue is a lovely bougainvillea draped white house on a hill beside the sea in a tiny village called Sfakia. https://www.yogaoncrete.gr

I try to draw as much as possible, starting with the journey. I’m never too frustrated with delays and setbacks because with a sketchbook it just means there is more time to practice.

When not doing yoga, we spend time resting, getting to know the other yoga students, eating and visiting the local beaches.(I draw!).

I’ll show you more beach drawings and tell you about the yoga next time when Ive finished scanning my summer sketchbook.

You do the eyes too big!

The very talented Vin Ganapathy introduced me to the app Sktchy which is available on iphone and ipad. People upload photographs of themselves and in so doing give permission for anyone to draw them. I love it because when you scroll through the artworks, you can swipe sideways to see the original source image and compare it with the artistic choices made by the artists! So, if you want to draw people, or want to be drawn….head to Sktchy!

Following are some of the portraits I have done recently.

I find the ones that are loose and spontaneous are most successful. My women are a bit hit or miss. Pleased with the one above, overworked the ones below.

I really like this drawing, but I don’t think the subject was too impressed. I left out his ornate neck tattoo and made him look more scruffy hippy than hipster. But hey, it’s my drawing!Yes, there is a bit of a beard thing going on…

I must admit to quite fancying these two (the drawn versions, not the real ones) but I do have to do something about my tendency to make the eyes enormous. Just because my family all have big limpid eyes doesn’t mean I have to give them to everyone. Mind you, Picasso did….

 

And here is the man responsible for this latest sketching fad, Vin G himself :

 

Heat and Happiness

I planted up a few pots this year (ahem) and my garden is bringing me much pleasure.

I am now washing the herbs thoroughly since the pigeons have taken to sitting in them…

Some nights it is actually too hot to sleep. This is England, it only happens about 3 days per year, so I won’t worry too much.

I promised Sadaf that I would draw her. Why is it so much harder to catch a likeness when you know the person? Is it just me? Sadaf has a wider kindlier face that this with her eyes spaced further apart. I will have another go soon.

Above is a drawing that in no way captures the charm of my goddaughter, but below is one that captures my friend quite well!

I have been having a #sktchy binge this week, practising portraits, so I will post the results next time. Enjoy the sunshine whilst it lasts!

Capturing a likeness

I am always delighted when a sketch turns out to look like the person 🙂 This does capture my Pa, and the ones following are also successful likenesses. As always, the secret is close observation and lots of practice.

 

My Other Work

When I am not drawing and playing in my sketchbook, I am busy doing projects like this :

A shop doorway threshold for an urban regeneration project.

 

Or thinking up ideas like this: A design proposal for a gallery garden.

But I always make sure to have my sketchbook to hand to document events like this :

and more importantly capture special moments like this one:  early summer,  long, lazy lunch in delightful surroundings. Sunshine, flowers, wine and a blackbird singing his heart out.

 

Small and very cute relatives.

I don’t have children of my own, more’s the pity, so I am always delighted to spend time with my nieces and nephews. I have been lucky enough to spend time with the Surrey Two recently.

Ideas of parenting have obviously changed since I was small. In the 70’s you were shoved out of the car at the appropriate house, one of many small children, whilst your long suffering mother took the chance to have some grown up time to herself for an hour or two…hairdressers/winebar/sofa+phone…

I was delighted to be entrusted with Auntie duties the next morning as my brother and his wife had to get to an appointment insanely early. It was a revelation. I have never done early school morning before, only ever weekends….

 

Well, it’s a good job I love the both of them to bits, is all I can say.

Social Activity

I went to Malvern Theatres to see the fantastic guitarist Craig Ogden play with the Orchestra of the Swan. It was a wonderful concert and I enjoyed it immensely. I wanted to try drawing the musicians (which is always interesting in the dark) and I rather like the results that I got especially with the brush pen. I attracted a lot of interest from other audience members around me, but unfortunately I hadn’t got any cards on me, so the chance to flirt with the very attractive solo man behind me was shortlived … Next time…

I have had visitors, bearing gifts. Two of my favourite things, Fizz and Tulips.

I didn’t like the above sketch when I first did it, I hated the coloured pencil over the top, but now I see it after some time has passed, I really like it. Yet again proves that you are your own worst judge!

Spring is arriving, there are tulips, daffodils and cherry blossom everywhere, trees and bushes are in bud and I might go outside into the sunshine again soon.

Where have you been? What have you been doing?

Well my circumstances have changed and I am no longer working as Head of Art in a little prep school. I miss the daily interaction with small children terribly, but I must admit, I hadn’t realised until I left how very poorly I was the entire time I was working there.  The last few months have allowed me to get a better grasp of my adrenal / endocrine problems, and I am in better health and much happier working for myself as an artist again.

Although I haven’t posted for ages, I have been drawing in my journal; so without further ado here we go again with drawings from my life!

These two – George and Pat – were drawn separately, hence the weird difference in scale.

I can’t get over the fact that a consultant would label an air freshener, some silk roses and a bowl of pot pourri…

I do go out to places other than the doctor’s and hospitals I promise! Here’s proof:

The naughty speeders reeducation class was very interesting and full of things I had forgotten or didn’t know. I am a much safer and more careful driver now, especially around town. I now think we should all have to do a refresher course every 10 years.

I have somehow fallen in love with Opera. This chap was sat in the row in front of me. One doesn’t have to dress up to watch it on a screen – or travel all the way down to London either! The live broadcast idea works really well.

I hope those were worth waiting for 🙂

It feels good to be back here on the blog . What post do you want to see next? Some dreams I’ve had recently or the 5 year old’s birthday party? Let me know in the comments.

Inktober Week 1

I find it useful to have a prompt or arbitrary theme to work to in order to keep myself drawing regularly. It is too easy to be distracted away from what is most important and find myself not drawing… I had a few pages of a Stillman &Birn Alpha to finish and then a Moleskine from my stash to use up so Inktober has come at a good time. Moleskines are not wonderful for watercolour, although quite a few of my favourite artists stubbornly persist eg: Chandler O’Leary on her travel blog drawntheroadagain.com  and the wonderful Mattias Adolfsson, www.mattiasadolfsson.com.   but I have been thoroughly enjoying just drawing with a fine nib on the smooth surface.

Here are the first few observational sketches for Inktober. The last week had several days of beautiful sunshine and I went outside to capture the light.

The next sketches were done on a trip to Birmingham to see the new Grand Central space. It is wonderful, very futuristic, but I will need to go back another day on my own to try and do it justice in my sketchbook. Instead, I just sketched people on the train.

I’ve turned this one upside down so you don’t hurt your necks craning to see.

Originally I was going to post each drawing on the day that it was drawn, but I am not that organised, so a weekly round up will have to do.

I am going to draw stuff that is just lying around the house and see what kind of collection I have. I dropped my Pilot Prera half way through this, and bent the nib. Even after emergency surgery with needle nosed pliers it is not quite the same, but a bit scratchy now. 😦

 

Err… Don’t draw poppy heads in bed unless you have shaken all the seed out. I woke up from a disturbed sleep like the princess and the pea and had to remake the bed .

Must do something about the colour balance from the scans of the cream coloured moleskine paper.  I quite like the look of my crude little stamp carved from a rubber. What do you think?