Category Archives: seasonal

Lockdown sketches #3: botanical

Having more time to watch the loveliest Spring I can remember means I’ve been drawing more plant life.  Weeds like ivy and bindweed and sticky weed caught my eye at first; I love the way they’re creeping and covering. But … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, botany, ink brush, inks, park, seasonal, Spring, urban sketching, watercolour sketch | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Snow days

Sketches from the last couple of days when the snow was fresh and powdery, perfect for sledging on the nearby golf course. The roads and schools and shops were shut and an unofficial hillside frost-fair appeared! I did these in … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, brush pen, people watching, seasonal, snow, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Six left hands

All the lines were done in brush-pen, loaded with various water-proof inks; Noodlers Brown 41 (the first four), Noodlers Lexington grey (the fifth), and Carbon black (the last). The warm brown ink suits the subject best, merging with the colour wash at times, … Continue reading

Posted in body, brush pen, coloured paper, hands, ink brush, inks, Lexington grey, seasonal, self-portrait | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Seasoning

Another Autumnal post, this time a garden tree I pass on the way to work. My eye was caught by the way the tree was losing leaves from the top down, revealing a branching structure that closely matches the vein pattern of the leaves, … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, botany, ink brush, seasonal, street scene, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

54 people, mostly seated, and 2 dogs

During the Summer holidays I binged on sketching the general public in Bath, my default approach to ‘urban sketching’. I enjoy the seasonal differences: sunglasses, shady hats and bare arms in Summer; compared to high collars, long coats and wooly hats in Winter! … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, brush pen, clothing, comparisons, figures, ink brush, Lexington grey, monochrome, people watching, seasonal, sketchcrawl, technique, urban, urban sketching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Chim chim cher-ee

More soft pencil sketches; Summer evening views over Bath chimneys and roof-tops to the trees beyond. There’s a couple of seagulls flying home to roost (?) in the first one, and more of the telephone wires I love in the … Continue reading

Posted in Bath, buildings, landscape, pencil, rooftops, seasonal, sky, urban, urban sketching, watercolour sketch | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mendip views

A break from urban sketching with some rural pictures! They were all done in the Mendips, which rise above the Somerset Levels and have surprisingly good views for their size. An ink-filled water-brush was perfect for drawing the pattern of trees and hedges in the fields … Continue reading

Posted in clouds, coloured ink, coloured paper, journeys, landscape, seasonal, watercolour sketch | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Comparing flowers and sketches

More botanical sketching, this time in our back garden. First some new leaves sprouting from a shiny hazel trunk, then Japanese and Chinese wisteria flowers compared. The final sketch is a similar wisteria comparison study, but was done when I’d just started sketching … Continue reading

Posted in blossom, botany, comparisons, flowers, garden, seasonal, Spring | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Weedy

Spring, sunshine and showers, and months of neglect, so weeds are flourishing in our garden. Each week a different one appears, competing with the others for light and space,  and ripe for drawing… First a mostly monochrome sketch of some wild strawberry flowers amongst dandelions and other … Continue reading

Posted in botany, flowers, garden, grisaille, Lexington grey, line drawing, monochrome, seasonal | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Pan, pancake, lemons and sand-paper

A week late, but here’s a kitchen scene from Shrove Tuesday. The fresh pancakes were too delicious to sketch mid-cooking, so I saved one after we’d eaten our fill and drew it once the pan had cooled. It was the scorched patterns on … Continue reading

Posted in coloured ink, food, from life, home, inks, kitchen, Lexington grey, seasonal, technique | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment