An ink sketch with Lamy Safari pen, done sitting in the car after Christmas lunch with friends. It was cold and my car was totally boxed in…so what else could I do but draw!
Noodlers Ahab fountain pen
Messing about with the Ahab fountain pen and getting used to it’s flexible nib. Needs quite a lot of pressure to get a really heavy line, which makes for slower drawing and makes me draw more abstractly which I really like. Somehow it forces me to be more loose with the lines and definitely…
Drawing treat
Okay, nearly finished writing a section of my book (four chapters) – so I’m going to give myself a drawing treat. With the clocks changing at the weekend, Sunday will be a lovely long evening, and no rain is forecast, so I’m going to have a whole day of drawing and gardening. Get away totally…
Orange sweater watercolour
Was about to add colour to face, hair and background, then decided that the focus on orange is much more powerful. Very juicy splodgy watercolour in Seawhite sketchbook. Lines with Noodlers Ahab pen – love it for it’s line weight variability.
Tulip watercolour
Such beautiful tulips. I love them when they get to this stage of madness and uncontrolability. Noddlers Ahab pen with very splodgy watercolour.
Mary Poppins art bag
My soft leather yellow bag – deep enough for the most serious sketching kit to get lost in! It has a blue and white striped inner bag, which seems to swallow anything that goes into it – Mary Poppins comes to mind!
Noodlers Ahab
This tin is a dream to draw. Every time I draw it, I get different reflections. This was done with my Noodlers Ahab pen and ink. I’m really enjoying my Ahab and love the flexibility of the nib that gives me some line variation – makes for lively sketching.
Christmas colour pencil
I realise I haven’t even posted my Christmas drawings – so here are a few – only three months late!
Trusty suitcase
I seem to spend a lot of time with this suitcase at the moment. It’s travelled on Ryanair and Eurostar more than any suitcase has a right to! But it does it’s job and is fun to draw on the Stansted Express..
Instant sketching responses
It’s hard work trying to keep up to speed with a blog – and sadly this one has taken a back seat for a month or two while I work on my book. How can it take so long to get the words to say exactly what you mean?! That’s why drawing is probably more…
“Threads” sewing bag
…which I now use as a pencil case. The word “threads” is appliqued on the back..
Books and wine watercolour
A slower drawing than usual in set up. I think it makes for a tighter drawing, it loses a little life…had fun with the shadows – especially the glass of wine (where strangely the level kept going down)!
Brush pens
I’ve been having some fun with brush pens. Trying to keep sketches loose and lively. Simple everyday objects in my small Fabriano Classic Artist’s Journal – white and cream ingres paper.
Watercolour vs brush pen
Watercolour on the left, brush pen on the right. Like the pens but love the watercolour. What do you think?
Chateau – ink sketch
Mostly drawn on location at La Rochefoucauld Chateau. Finished with brush pens at home when rain got too heavy to see! <
How to photograph your artwork
How to photograph your artwork – How To – Artists & Illustrators This is from Artists & Illustrators magazine, and is incredibly useful. We all photograph our work all the time for putting onto Facebook etc – so here’s how to do it properly!
The harvest – colour pencil
Driving home from a “tasting” market in La Rochefoucauld. The maize looks dead, perfect for harvesting. The combine harvesters are out in force like prehistoric monsters eating it all up. And the grain silos are waiting to receive it all. Boiling hot day – weird for October….
The line revisited
These black and white “line” drawings are from several years ago – nice to revisit them and to see some of this old way of working remerging.
Enjoying the line
I’ve always been slightly nervous of drawing people doing their thing. But Melanie Reim has been an inspiration. She teaches on Sketchbook Skool and is based in New York City and has the most amazing ability to draw reportage. She demonstrates that a line can capture so much. So I’ve been experimenting and thinking that…
Riverbank
Riverbank in the garden. Very quick oil sketch. 5″ x 5″
Coffee, watercolour sketch
Thanks to Jane Blundell for letting me know it’s International coffee day!
Watercolour mixes
Starting to really enjoy my very limited palette of watercolours. It started with Jane Blundell’s recommendation for four great colours: Hansa Yellow Medium, Qunacridone Magenta, Phthalo Blue RS, and Transparent Pyrrol Orange. But I found they weren’t quite there, so have added two others – Cerulean Blue and Yellow Ochre. These add a little more…
Drawing with sunglasses
Cycled to Lichere and sat in the late afternoon sun to catch these strong shadows. Colours a bit mad as had very rose tinted sunglasses on while painting!
Broken barn window
Colour pencil and pen sketch in sketchbook
Fruit bowl – colour pencil drawing
Wobbly fruit bowl wedding present filled with fruit. Colour pencil in sketchbook.
Ink drawing – iron bird
Iron bird – made of scrap metal bits and pieces. He lives outside on our garden table – checking out the rather large round courgette!
Super-minimal travelling watercolour kit
Filled empty pans with new Daniel Smith watercolour paints. Stuck them into an old Rotring pen tin, along with a piece of sponge, which left space for my trusty Roberson no. 8 travel watercolour brush and a pencil. My perfect, lightweight, small travel watercolour kit. The brush I realise I’ve had for at least…
Sketch tagine pots
Mini tagine pots – a memory of Morocco. Pen and colour pencil in sketchbook
Riad rooftop drawing
Sitting in the rooftop garden of the Riad in Marrakesh, Morocco – one of the many drawings from my trip earlier this year. It was hot, so hot, with the call to prayer echoing around, and the hushed but busy sounds of the city. Colour pencil, A4 size – double page spread.
