Category Archives: collections

Stone faces

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Ed Mostly

Twelve of the fifty stone heads that gaze down on an original Magna Carta in the Chapter House at Salisbury Cathedral. They were carved in the 13th century, seem to be based on individuals, and capture a range of expressions that … Continue reading →

Posted in collections, coloured ink, Cordoba, death, faces, monument, sculpture | Tagged fountain pen sketches, Manolete's grave, medieval portraits, Salisbury Chapter House carvings, sketches in cathedrals, sketches of sculptures, sketches of stone carvings, The Only Ones, tomb of Bishop of Wells | Leave a comment

Hands, again

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Ed Mostly

My hands, family member’s hands, stranger’s hands on trains, and hands on porcelain figures. Complicated miniature landscapes of curves, shadows, contours and foreshortenings that make regular appearances in my sketchbooks. As individual and expressive as a face, and always a challenge. No … Continue reading →

Posted in body, collections, coloured ink, coloured paper, family, hands, monochrome, people, people watching, self-portrait | Tagged drawings of hands, hands drawing, hands holding phones, Sandie Shaw, sketches of hands, sketching hands | Leave a comment

Back in the kitchen

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Ed Mostly

More monochrome kitchen scenes, with lots of ellipses, variety and repetition in all the jars, cans, bottles and packets. Made a mistake with one? Draw another, and keep going till you fill the page! Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, A5 – … Continue reading →

Posted in collections, coloured ink, coloured paper, domestic, home, kitchen, line drawing, marker pen, monochrome, objects | Tagged domestic sketches, drawing ellipses, drawings of bottles and jars, Hot Chip, kitchen sketches, lexington grey sketch, monochrome sketching, sketching at home, sketching collections of objects, water-brush sketches | 1 Comment

Inside the Mezquita

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Ed Mostly

Back in Cordoba, this time inside the Mezquita. The first sketch is an attempt to describe the famous forest of columns, mostly inhabited by tourists; as the columns recede in all directions it feels slightly like being in an Escher … Continue reading →

Posted in buildings, collections, coloured ink, Cordoba, faces, monochrome, monument, people, travel, urban, urban sketching | Tagged Cordoba sketches, Escher, faces on tomb, inside the Mezquita, Kasabian, sketches of people taking photos, stone faces, tourists taking photos, urban sketching | 3 Comments

Yet more toys

Posted on January 10, 2015 by Ed Mostly

It’s cold and dark outside, but there are always toys to draw…. Here’s Henry (a mild mannered janitor), some Airfix 1:72 scale knights, a Playmobil vulture, a shire-horse, a grass-hopper, and The Thing from the Fantastic Four. Pencil, Lexington grey in fountain pen and water-brush, … Continue reading →

Posted in animals, collections, coloured ink, figures, insects, line drawing, monochrome, objects, toys | Tagged drawing toys, fountain pen sketches, grasshopper, Hong Kong Fooey, knights fighting, shire horse, sketches of small figures, The Thing, vulture | 3 Comments

In Memoriam…

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Ed Mostly

Tombs, memorials and statues are another great source of patient models for sketching, so here are seven monochrome examples spanning three thousand years to finish 2014. ‘Memento Mori’ or ‘Memento Vivere’ depending on your mood in the run up to the … Continue reading →

Posted in body, collections, coloured ink, coloured paper, death, inks, line drawing, monochrome, monument, sculpture, skeleton, urban | Tagged Bath Abbey, Bronze age skull, dog at feet of knight, drawing of skull, Edwin Starr, Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, memorials, Prince Albert, Robert Recorde, sketching in churches, sketching statues, St Mary's Tenby, statue of dog, tombs, urban sketching | 1 Comment

My left hands…

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Ed Mostly

…eleven of them this time, in a range of media. It’s a very reliable model, always there when I’m stuck for something to draw at the end of a long (Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young and Jones!) day, increasingly familiar, but with a fairly … Continue reading →

Posted in body, collections, coloured ink, coloured paper, every day matters, from life, hands, inks, line drawing, monochrome, self-portrait, sketching | Tagged Crosby Stills Nash and Young, drawing own hand, fountain pen sketching, left hand, my left hand, noodlers inks, sketching hands, sketching with coloured inks, Tom Jones | 3 Comments

3 Stockholm doorways

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Ed Mostly

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 apartment blocks, doorways, fountain pen sketches, grand entrances, My Bloody Valentine, Ostermalm, Stockholm sketches, urban sketching | 3 Comments

Tokyo commuters

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Ed Mostly

I spent last week on a study trip to Japan, a great opportunity generously supported by the Japan Foundation. The schedule was hectic and very full, but it helped to hone my speed-sketching skills, straight to ink using a simple fountain-pen and water-brush kit. So … Continue reading →

Posted in brush pen, collections, coloured ink, from life, inks, Japan, kit, line drawing, monochrome, people, trains, travel, urban | Tagged coloured ink sketch, Japan Foundation, Japanese priest, John Gregory Orchestra, Noodlers Brown 41 ink, sketching commuters, sketching with fountain pen, straight to ink, Tokyo, Tokyo commuters, urban sketch of commuters, waterbrush sketch | Leave a comment

toys R me

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Ed Mostly

Here are four Britain’s cowboy figures, three views of a horse, and various robots enjoying some ‘circle time’. Toy figures are great sketching subjects; they’ve already been simplified as part of their miniaturisation, helping you see the key shapes and structures, … Continue reading →