Category Archives: from life

Father’s Day

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Ed Mostly

My father painted last year by me. I went straight in with water-colour for a change, and the facial features are pleasingly soft/blurred as they were done ‘wet on wet’. Watercolour, A4 Below is a drawing of me by my daughter. … Continue reading →

Posted in family, from life, parents, people, sketching, watercolour sketch | Tagged bald, Chicory Tip, father, father's day, Hester, mortal engines, Orbix Xaxis, parenthood | 4 Comments

Park life

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Ed Mostly

A warm and sunny Saturday in the park, people reading, chatting and sunbathing, covering the lawn in front of the Royal Crescent. A great chance to do lots of fast and simple figure studies of people at rest. Fountain pen and water-brushes with … Continue reading →

Posted in Bath, body, from life, Lexington grey, monochrome, people, sketching, urban, waterbrush | Tagged figure studies, leisure, park, royal crescent, saturday in the park, Small Faces, Summer | 4 Comments

Afternoon shade

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Another one from Portugal using gouache and inks on tinted paper. Sketched while sat in the shade of a spreading oak tree on one of the terraces in the fabulously strange and beautiful gardens of the Quinta Da Regaleira in Sintra. … Continue reading →

Posted in botany, from life, garden, gouache, Portugal, sketching, travel | Tagged Lexington grey, marker pen, monochrome, oak tree, Quinta Da Regaleira, shade, terrace | 1 Comment

Bog Island

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Bath Abbey appearing over the rooftops on a bright and breezy day, sketched while leaning on a lamp-post (sincere apologies). I was on Bog Island, named after the public toilets, or ‘bogs’, which used to be there and that were converted … Continue reading →

Posted in Bath, from life, grisaille, urban, waterbrush, watercolour sketch | Tagged architecture, Bath Abbey, Bog Island, city, George Formby, Google Streetview, under-painting, water brush | Leave a comment

Sintra National palace

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Up on the roof at 7am, sketching Sintra National Palace as the sun rose over the hills. I used a handy folding ruler to draw some pencil guidelines at the start to get the foreground rooflines right, and found that their vanishing … Continue reading →

Posted in buildings, from life, journeys, kit, Lexington grey, monochrome, Portugal, sketching, waterbrush | Tagged architecture, chimneys, early morning, gouache, Palace, roofscape, satellite dishes, Sintra, tinted paper | 6 Comments

There, and back again

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Two more airplane sketches, flying to and from Portugal (sketches from Lisbon and Sintra to follow…). On the first flight I had an aisle seat and drew shoes, the strong perspective and my hands sketching. Returning home I had the middle seat so focussed … Continue reading →

Posted in airplane, baby, from life, hands, journeys, monochrome, sketching | Tagged creativity and learning, in-flight, Lisbon, sketching self sketching, slice of lemon, water brush | Leave a comment

Public transport

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Travelling on public transport usually involves some waiting, and opportunities for a quick sketch of people at rest. It’s when a small portable sketch kit is most useful, and provides excellent practise for capturing a likeness. Here’s a selection from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bath, from life, journeys, kit, people, trains, urban, waiting | Tagged bin, bus, passengers, portable kit, public transport, quick sketch, station, Venice, waterbus | Leave a comment

‘Fail better’

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Ed Mostly

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett A good description of learning to sketch, amongst other things, and my frequent attempts at drawing my left hand are an excellent example! So here’s the latest batch … Continue reading →

Posted in body, from life, hands, inks, pencil, sketching, watercolour sketch | Tagged coloured ink water-brushes, Fail better, hatching, Samuel Beckett, The Replacements | 1 Comment

Looser lines

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Ed Mostly

An early Spring Saturday with Jim in Bath Abbey Courtyard, where we tried to sketch with minimal looking down at the paper, ‘blind contour drawing’. We didn’t manage the recommended “90% looking at subject, 10% checking the picture’s progress” proportions, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Bath, from life, inks, people, urban | Tagged Bath Abbey, bench, blind contour, courtyard, expressive lines, people, public | Leave a comment

Gouache thumbnails

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Some tiny views around Bath, including one of Little Solsbury Hill at the top. Gouache seems to work well for thumbnail landscapes. The freedom to paint on top of paint is particularly useful when sketching skies, but still seems strange after using … Continue reading →