Mostly drawing

‘Fail better’ #2

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Ed Mostly

lamp post1 TV thumbnails_0004

Another repeated subject, with 4 versions of a familiar view where I regularly have to wait.

The cars change, a notice is tied onto the lamp-post, a badly drawn traffic cone appears, and a bird flies over. But the basic elements remain; the sloping pavement and lamp-post in the foreground, the middle distance railings and trees, and the distant woods across the valley. And it’s mostly monochrome as I’m only there for about 10 minutes..

Marker pen and fountain pen with carbon ink, Diamine and Lexington grey ink in water-brushes, white gouache, white marker pen, A6

Posted in Bath, from life, Lexington grey, monochrome, sketching, urban | Tagged Fail better, lamp-post, pavement, The Kinks | Leave a comment

Castelo dos Mouros

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Looking up at the ‘Castle of the Moors’ on the crest of the hill above Sintra in Portugal. The 8th century castle was restored in 1840, at the same time that the nearby Pena Palace was being built, and its dramatic position makes it a key element in the highly picturesque scenery around Sintra.

Another quick sketch focussed on the boundary between sky and horizon, something that gouache seems to excel at.

Gouache, A5

Posted in clouds, from life, gouache, Portugal, sketching, travel | Tagged Castle of the Moors, crest, horizon, Norman Greenbaum, picturesque scenery, Sintra | Leave a comment

Scarlet tiger moth

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Ed Mostly

A silent visitor to our garden on a very hot afternoon, a Scarlet Tiger moth. There’s a tiny glimpse of the moth’s glorious scarlet inner wings just visible at the base of the centre line.

Its Latin name, Callimorpha Dominula, could be translated as ‘beautiful shaped little mistress’. It’s a day-flying moth and one of the few tiger moths with mouthparts, as it needs to feed as an adult. Most other tiger moths never feed, surviving on fat stored when they were larvae. None of which I knew before writing this post!

Fountain pen and water-brush with Lexington grey ink, watercolour, A6

Posted in from life, garden, insects, Lexington grey, seasonal, sketching | Tagged Captain Scarlet, moth, nature, scarlet, Scarlet Tiger moth, Summer | Leave a comment

Lisbon views

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Fountain pen with Carbon ink, water-colour, A5

Marker pen with Carbon ink, watercolour, A5

Two views of Lisbon from the apartment we stayed in, with two different approaches to line.

I loved looking across at a neighbouring roof-top and its eclectic collection of aerials, dishes, pipes, chimneys etc above the formal symmetry and order of the apartment building. And then looking down at the street below with the yellow trams clanging past.

I couldn’t have drawn the intricacies of the TV aerials with the marker, and didn’t have the patience to use the fountain pen on the details of the buildings in the street scene. ‘Horses for courses’…

Posted in buildings, from life, marker pen, Portugal, sketching, urban, watercolour sketch | Tagged aerials, architecture, chimneys, Lisbon, marker pen, Nancy Sinatra, pipes, roof-top, street, tiles, trams, tv aerials | Leave a comment

Strangeness abounding

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Ed Mostly

3 more sketches from the wonderful and mysterious gardens of the Quinta Da Regaleira in Sintra, Portugal.

sintra

Looking up from the bottom of the 27 metre deep “Initiation Well” or “Initiatic Well”. It has a secret entrance at the top and a spiral staircase around its sides leading down to more tunnels… I love the way gouache can produce such great contrast on tinted paper.

1mm Pigma pen, Lexington grey water-brush, gouache, A5

One of the many grottoes, this one close to an exit tunnel from the base of the “Initiation Well”.

Fountain pen with Carbon ink, Lexington grey water-brush, A5

Stepping stones across ‘the waterfall lake’, and a couple of gargoyles on the palace roof.

Fountain pen with carbon ink, Lexington grey water-brush, watercolour, A5

Posted in animals, from life, garden, gouache, Lexington grey, Portugal, sketching, sky, travel | Tagged animal statues, gargoyles, grotto, Initiation well, looking up, Quinta Da Regaleira, The Monkees | 3 Comments

Car window thumb-nails

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Quick thumb-nails sketched last weekend on the road back from North Devon. Spot the trailer-load of toilets being delivered to the Glastonbury Festival site, which is about 25 miles from Bath. All that wonderful music, just down the road from here. When I’ve finished this post I’ll get back to the live coverage (Primal Scream, with their old dads performing later).

I last went to the festival in 1992 when the total attendance was 70,000 and remember it as great fun, but fairly crowded; this year there are ~~135,000~~ 180,000 (!) on a larger site. Woodstock in 1969 peaked at about 400,000. The population of Bath is around 85,000…

Water-brush with Lexington grey ink, gouache, A6, coloured paper

Posted in brush pen, from life, journeys, Lexington grey, sketching, travel, waterbrush | Tagged Canned Heat, cars, coloured paper, Glastonbury, road, thumb nails, traffic | 1 Comment

Black tea isn’t…

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Ed Mostly

…it’s golden brown. Breaking in a new sketch book with a familiar cuppa.

Fountain pen and water-brushes with lexington grey ink, white Gelly Roll pen, watercolour, A5

Posted in from life, home, Lexington grey, objects, waterbrush | Tagged cuppa, gelly roll, golden brown, mug, tea, the stranglers | Leave a comment

TV thumbnails

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Ed Mostly

Using the pause button to do lots of quick thumbnail sketches while watching late night television. Good for trying to catch the key lines and shapes.

Not happy with the sketch? Do another one. Still not entirely happy? Do another. Repeat until sleep overtakes you… Then appreciate the sketches in the morning.

Fountain pen with carbon ink, water-brush with lexington grey, watercolour, A5

Posted in Lexington grey, monochrome, people, sketching, thumbnails | Tagged In the morning, television, The Coral | 1 Comment

Father’s Day

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Ed Mostly

P1220759

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. There’s an obvious resemblance to my father; bald, glasses. I’m joined by Hester from ‘Mortal Engines’ and Orbix Xaxis from the ‘The Edge Chronicles’, two book series that we both enjoy. ‘Eleanor’s Secret’ is a beautiful French animation.

Pencil and pen, A5

father's day

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 Lexington grey ink, A5