Category Archives: buildings

3 Stockholm doorways

Ostermalm in central Stockholm is full of late nineteenth century apartment blocks, some with lovely doorways. I planned to sketch lots of them when we were there this Summer but only managed three… All Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, watercolour, … Continue reading

Posted in buildings, collections, from life, holiday, line drawing, Stockholm, travel, urban, watercolour sketch | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Urban sheep

A flock of sheep on the steep field in front of Lansdown Crescent on the Northern slopes of Bath. An odd but lovely urban sight, a very faint echo of the times when drover’s roads criss-crossed the UK, bringing flocks of sheep into many city-centre markets. … Continue reading

Posted in animals, Bath, buildings, coloured paper, from life, Lexington grey, sketching, urban, white pen | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

An urban stroll

I’ve been reading Freehand Drawing and Discovery by James Richards. Richards is an architect so his drawings look like planning proposals, but it’s got a lot of good tips on creating simple but effective urban landscapes. It also mentions ‘serial visions’, a … Continue reading

Posted in buildings, from life, inks, journeys, line drawing, sequential, street scene, technique, travel, urban | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Stockholm sketching

Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, watercolour, A5 – one hour We spent last week in Stockholm, and I was delighted to have the chance to go on a sketchcrawl, kindly arranged by Nina Johansson. Here are Tina (on the fence) and Nina … Continue reading

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Bath streets

Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, watercolour, white Gelly Roll pen, A7 – 10 minutes drawing and ink wash on site, 10 minutes at home for colour My recent sketching’s been more domestic than urban so here are a … Continue reading

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Rear windows #2

White Uni Posca brush-pen, pencil, white pastel, A5 – one hour over two days The back of the King’s Circus, Bath, drawn from a convenient bench outside the Fashion Museum. Standing in the middle of the Circus the circular terrace of symmetrical … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, buildings, coloured paper, from life, line drawing, monochrome, pencil, sketching, technique, urban, white pen | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Spring has sprung

Pencil, Lexington grey water-brush and fountain pen, watercolour, white Gelly Roll pen, blue Uni Posca brush pen,  A5 – various times A double page spread from last weekend, when the weather was fine, the clocks went forward and everyone was out … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, botany, buildings, coloured paper, flowers, from life, park, people, seasonal, sketching, Spring, urban, waiting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Topkapi #2

Water-brush, dilute Lexington grey ink, watercolour, gouache, A5 – 30 minutes  Back in the Harem section of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, this time looking through to the Black Eunuch’s Courtyard, with direct sun on the columns beyond. One of … Continue reading

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Topkapi #1

Two sketches done a year apart in the ‘twin kiosk’ rooms in the Harem section of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. The first was done in 2012 focussing on the decorative tiles and trying to get the perspective right. The second … Continue reading

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Rear windows

1mm Pigma pen reloaded with Lexington grey, Lexington grey water-brush, white Gelly Roll pen, watercolour, A6 – 50 minutes Revisiting Marlborough buildings, this time the higgledy-piggledy back, on an overcast afternoon. You can pick out some of the symmetry and … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, buildings, from life, kit, Lexington grey, line drawing, sketching, urban, watercolour sketch | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments