Category Archives: boats

Docking

When is a sketch not a sketch? This one from October took almost two hours, which seems to take it beyond ‘sketchiness’, losing some of the looseness and energy along the way… It was done on my third visit to Bristol … Continue reading

Posted in bamboo dip pen, boats, Bristol, River Avon, sketchcrawl, urban, urban sketching, white pen | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

My eyes! My eyes!

A GIF-tastic round-up of some recent sketches, mostly of Bath, showing how water-colour works with drawings done in bamboo dip-pen and coloured ink. I love the way that the coloured ink lines can fade back into the sketch or be brought forward, … Continue reading

Posted in bamboo dip pen, Bath, boats, coloured ink, figures, GIF, inks, kit, technique, urban, urban sketching, watercolour sketch | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Ship ahoy!

Museum sketches from Stockholm. First some of the haunting facial reconstructions of bodies found in the C17th Vasa shipwreck (and the skulls they worked off) at the wonderful Vasa Museum. Then looking down from an upper viewing platform on galleries of visitors looking at the ship … Continue reading

Posted in bamboo dip pen, boats, faces, figures, museum, nautical, Naval museum, people watching, skulls, Stockholm, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Baywatch, day and night

Two more Summer seaside views, when I was moving from pen to ink-brush for the key elements of a sketch. The first is from a ledge at the top of the North Cliffs, looking across the bay to Tenby old-town, with tree-tops below … Continue reading

Posted in boats, comparisons, ink brush, inks, landscape, Lexington grey, monochrome, sea, Tenby, Wales, waves | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Rising tide

From a visit to Aberporth a couple of years ago, trying out an inflatable canoe (it’s great!). I paddled around the headland to an inaccessible cove near the missile testing range, and sketched the beached canoe as the tide came in… … Continue reading

Posted in beach, boats, holiday, Lexington grey, monochrome, nautical, sea, Wales, waves | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Harbour life #2

More sketches from Tenby harbour. First the view from the quayside looking down and across beached boats at low tide, then a similar view from last year for comparison (stronger lines, lower angle, more pigeons…). Then a mix; a guided tour, two teenagers … Continue reading

Posted in beach, boats, collections, drawing buildings, holiday, Lexington grey, line drawing, nautical, sea, Tenby, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Harbour life #1

Four sketches of low tide at Tenby Harbour Beach this Summer. First some boats moored to the harbour wall (white Gelly Roll pen invaluable for the ropes), then small dinghies being taken out for a day’s sailing. The third one is from Castle … Continue reading

Posted in beach, boats, brush pen, buildings, comparisons, holiday, ink brush, nautical, urban, urban sketching, Wales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Bristol docks, horizontal and vertical

Two sketches from Sunday’s inaugural sketchcrawl for the new ‘Urban Sketchers Bristol/South West’ group. It was chilly down by the water’s edge, but good company and absorption in sketching kept the cold at bay. Thanks to Jules and Charlotte for setting it all … Continue reading

Posted in boats, Bristol, buildings, Lexington grey, monochrome, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

On the beach #3

A final batch of monochromes from Tenby’s beaches. First the tractor that pulls a mobile  jetty up and down the beach in time with the tides (here’s a similar beach-tractor in Aberporth), with sight-seers returning from a boat trip to Caldey Island. … Continue reading

Posted in beach, boats, brush pen, clouds, coloured ink, coloured paper, from life, holiday, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, sea, Tenby, vehicles, Wales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

On the beach #1

Two from Tenby, where I spent some blissfully vacant days sketching in the Summer. First a range of boats beached in the North Harbour at low tide, with an inquisitive pigeon exploring the seaweed. This was drawn on location, along with the key shading … Continue reading

Posted in beach, boats, buildings, from life, holiday, line drawing, monochrome, sea, Tenby, urban | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments