The Weald and Downland Museum is a collection of old buildings that have been saved from dereliction and demolition and given a new home. It’s like a much smaller, rural English version of Skansen, the wonderful original ‘open air museum’ in Stockholm. There’s lots to sketch, but I just managed the dark interior of a smithy, a thatched cottage from 1380 and some poppy heads with a hover-fly. I had fun gradually building up the shadows in the first picture, and note the other sketcher shamelessly sketch-bombing in the second picture.
Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, white gouache, A5 – 45 mins
Lexington grey water brush, watercolour, A5 – 20 mins
Mostly drawing 
Wow ! I really like the picture of the smithy . I’m amazed that you got all that detail down in 45 minutes . The touches of white really make the picture come alive.
Thanks Mark. I stood and drew the key lines and texture notes very fast peering through a doorway (10 mins? It was raining and my family were lurking nearby!). I added some additional details (more horse-shoes, more brickwork, more roof tiles, wood grain etc) and all the shade from memory back home. The water brush filled with dilute ink helps as you can quickly build layers of shade and tone. It was the gleaming smooth anvils amongst all the chaotic stuff that caught my eye. Ed
Ed, I love the smithy! Have you considered using even darker tones? I need to look into this diluted “Lexington Grey” for the the waterbrush … I now have two.
Also, my Lamy Safari could do with another colour than blue 🙂
Thanks Stuart, the monochrome worked well on the smithy, if I’d gone on to add colour it would have descended into visual soup! I’ve recently started using a Platinum fude pen loaded with almost neat Lexington grey, trying to get the darker tone you’ve mentioned and it’s working well. I can add a stronger water-colour , and avoid the washed out look of my current brush pen sketches. I’ll post some soon. I’ve tried diluting Carbon Black ink for the water-brush (it’s a bit easier to source than Lexington) but it clogs the tiny filter valve in the water-brush fairly fast. I highly recommend Lexington grey, and get mine from the only UK supplier Pure pens. And I was given a top tip about diluting inks, always use distilled/battery top-up water as normal tap water has chlorine etc which makes the ink ‘separate’ over time. Sorry for the long essay, I’ve really enjoyed exploring the potential of inks over the last 3 years! Ed