Category Archives: Bristol

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

Walking zoom

A sequence of tiny sketches, starting half-a-mile away from Bristol’s St Mary’s Redcliffe church (which Queen Elizabeth I called “the fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England”), passing the Thekla boat, and gradually zooming in on the beautiful and unusual moorish doorway and … Continue reading

Posted in Bristol, brush pen, buildings, church, ink brush, sequential, street scene, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Raptors and others

“Birds of prey, also known as raptors, hunt and feed on other animals. These birds are characterised by keen vision that allows them to detect prey during flight and powerful talons and beaks.” I couldn’t fit the talons in, but here … Continue reading

Posted in animals, Birds, Bristol, brush pen, exhibitions, figures, ink brush, Manchester Symposium, museum, people watching, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The quick(ish) and the dead(very)

Two double-page spreads from yesterday’s USk Bristol/South West sketchcrawl at Bristol Museum (15 sketchers, our best turn out yet!). Here are passengers at Bath railway station, a recreation of the Dignitas flat and the reconstruction of an ancient Egyptian face (both … Continue reading

Posted in Bristol, brush pen, cafe, death, faces, figures, museum, people watching, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Return to Arnos Vale…

After our sketchcrawl I returned for another go at sketching the old crematorium oven. I tried an oblique angle this time and used the acetate grid to get the angles right before starting with the ink (see below). I entered the … Continue reading

Posted in Bristol, cemetery, death, Lexington grey, line drawing, museum, objects, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

End of the line?

I love a good memento mori, and this is the most striking one I’ve sketched so far. It’s a decommissioned crematorium oven (!) in the museum at Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol, found while on a sketchcrawl there with the Bristol/South … Continue reading

Posted in Bristol, brush pen, cemetery, death, figures, Lexington grey, monochrome, museum, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 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