Sue Pownall: Artist & illustrator
  • Home
  • SHOP
  • Swan Project
  • Recent work
  • On land & sea
  • Gardens
  • Buildings
  • Pet Portraits
  • #UKlockdown
  • Illustrations
  • The decay series
  • Workshops & talks
  • Exhibitions & events
  • Festival Faces
  • Artist profile
  • Newsletter
  • Blog: Art of a Nomad

Sneak peak

28/8/2013

 
Al Minsefah doorway
Section of Al Minsefah doorway ©Sue Pownall 2013
I'm currently working towards my solo exhibition, which is on from 7th December here in Muscat. 

This is a sneak peak at the first new work that I've produced. If you want to see the whole thing, you'll have to wait until the exhibition.

The Beach House

24/8/2013

 
The Beach House
The Beach House, 35x25cm Ink. ©Sue Pownall 2013
Watercolour sketchWatercolour sketch
Having finally completed and delivered a long-over due commission piece, I can now share it here.

I started by visiting the building, taking photos and sketching it in situ. It is a complex building being in 3 parts due to extensions, and this first step was necessary to understand it. Then, I got my lovely client to approve a view and started work.

Approved roughThe approved rough
Due to the situation with mum and dad, it got horribly delayed as I found it impossible to concentrate. Plus I have Degas who takes up far too much time and attention. However, this week, 2 months late, I delivered it.

Handing over
Handing it over to my lovely, patient client.
If you would like to commission me to draw your home, please use the contact form on this site.

Jack's London

13/8/2013

 
Blind beggar pub & Whitechapel Bell Foundry ©Sue Pownall
Blind beggar pub & Whitechapel Bell Foundry ©Sue Pownall
I was really disappointed in January when I couldn't join the London Urban Sketchers due to snow. Luckily, 2 days after leaving Barcelona I got another opportunity as Pete Scully had arranged a sketchcrawl around Jack the Ripper's London. I caught a train up after visiting mum in hospital on a surprisingly hot summer's day.

  We met at Whitechapel tube and it was lovely to see Pete and Alissa again, having just seen them in Barcelona. Pete supplied us all with route maps and mini-sketchbooks he'd made and then we divided to capture the Ripper's World. I went with Alissa, Lola, and Simon to The Blind Beggar pub. The pub is infamous for its connection to the Krays and may have been used by the Ripper. Unfortunately, due to the heat (a miracle for a summer in London) it was too hot standing on the pavement, so moved on to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Chasing shade, I was attracted to the hoist at the side of the building. A lovely foundry worker offered me a chair then told me that the hoist was the only one in the country where the operator couldn't see the hook. Apparently, he had to rely on someone to lean out of a window and shout directions back at him. It was last used in the 1980s when a delivery of bells were brought from an old church. This lovely man told fascinating stories and I stayed talking so long I lost the others.
An East London pub. ©Sue Pownall
An East London pub. ©Sue Pownall
Wandering around I loved the mix of old and new buildings in this area and next drew an old bell (foundry influence?) I saw on the renovated warehouses in Devonshire Square. I wasn't too pleased with my drawing so wandered on. I love this area of London and used to walk around it after work sometimes, usually when trains were delayed or cancelled out of Liverpool Street. (I worked in London as a graphic designer). I found a pub in a building that was from the Ripper's era and some estate agents were kind enough to let me sit on their doorstep to draw. For all my sketchcrawl pictures, I continued to experiment with non-waterproof ink, and I am especially pleased with it on this one as it suggests the grime of old London.
A gruesome end? ©Sue PownallA gruesome end? ©Sue Pownall
Needing to find the others, I headed to the finishing point at Christchurch in Spitalfields. The group had increased since our 3pm start, so after having a look at some sketchbooks and chatting a little, I drew some of the gravestones. I linked the bell rope and the edge of the stone in order to get continuity of the area, but I'm not sure it was very successful. Then, I filled the mini-sketchbook with portraits, reverting to my normal Staedtlar pens, before a final sketch of the Ten Bells pub. The pub is one of the key haunts and "Ripper literature shows that two victims visited the Ten Bells before they were murdered" (Source: www.casebook.org/victorian_london/tenbells) With this drawing I used James Richards' technique for drawing people, which I learnt on his Barcelona workshop.

Portraits using Pete Scull's mini-Ripper sketchbook
2 portraits in my mini-Ripper sketchbook.
If you want to see other work from this great day, James Hobbs posted here , and Pete Scully here.

Continuing the momentum

6/8/2013

 
La Sagrada Familia, ©Sue Pownall
La Sagrada Familia, ©Sue Pownall
Several of us wanted to see the Sketching Barcelona exhibition (by Miguel Herranz, Lapin, Sagar Fornies, Òscar Julve, and others) and to sketch in Bari Gòtic or El Born and so met up the next morning. After the exhibition, which was amazing and inspiring, we went to Granja Dulcinea a xocolateria. Shantele and her partner ordered churros with their chocolate. Kindly they didn't eat them whilst I drew them. I couldn't draw my chocolate as I drank it. I was very impressed as Shantele didn't have her sketchbook with her but soon adopted the suggestion of drawing on a serviette.
The above photo was taken by Chris, the only non-sketcher whilst he was waiting to eat the churros. It shows Alissa, Chris H, Shantele with napkin, myself, Dave Black, & Yvonne sketching.
Reflections. Watercolour moleskin ©Sue Pownall
Reflections. Watercolour moleskin ©Sue Pownall
Afterwards, Chris, Alissa & I walked into El Born district looking for subjects. I left Alissa sketching a door and Chris found an alley she wanted to do. I wandered around a while longer before I saw a distinctive window in a plaza. Luckily, there was a bench across the way and I took out my new watercolour moleskin (given on Virginia Hein's workshop) and tried to capture it. I'm quite pleased with the results and it is not as wonky as the scan implies - my bad photoshop stitching is partially to blame. I can't believe I tackled something so challenging; I think it's partially due to confidence gained from the symposium and a big improvement on how I felt at La Sagrada at the beginning of the trip. Unfortunately, intimidation reset-in later in the day when a lot of us met at CCCB'd cafe and everyone was drawing everyone else. It did make me smile when I asked to see the amazing Luis Ruiz's sketchbook and he said "it's only workshop drawings", just like I had done moments earlier to someone else.
Tapas. Tapas. A5 sketchbook. Ink & watercolour
When I finished the window it was lunchtime, so I went to a tapas bar I have visited before. It's slightly expensive but very tasty. I sat at the counter and ate a tapas whilst drawing another. Not liking stuffed peppers, I was able to draw that from the plate near me.

The next day, before checking out of my hotel, I went back to La Sagrada Familia. As it was only 9am, there were very few people about and I found a bench with a great view. There's a very heavy influence from Norberto Dorantes as I experimented more with non-waterproof ink. It's also inspired by the work of others on the symposium. I am very pleased with this sketch, so it was a good way to end. All too soon, it was time to head to the airport for a week in UK, and to start planning my return to Barcelona.
La Sagrada Familia
La Sagrada Familia moleskin sketchbook.

All over far too fast

5/8/2013

 
Arc de Triomf. Pen & watercolour ©Sue Pownall
Arc de Triomf. Pen & watercolour ©Sue Pownall
4 linesProud of my 4 lines
Waking up on Saturday morning, I couldn't believe it was the last day of the symposium already. After the panel, I gathered for my 5th and final workshop, Barcelona Perspectives with the architects Florian Afflerbach and Arno Hartmann. The group caught the metro out to the Mies van der Rohe Barcelona Pavilion, where, after a demonstration by Arno & with help from Florian, Alissa and I very carefully drew 4 lines in 25 minutes.

I studied and used perspective back in college and still apply it to some drawings, BUT never with my urban sketches. It was enlightening! Alissa and I did get the basic 2-point perspective finished and I for one felt I'd achieved a lot.

Bottom: mine
Bottom: mine Above: Florian's 2 minute demo :)
1 point1-point perspective of Mies' pavillion. ©Sue Pownall
Next, we moved into the building to draw it with 1-point perspective. This was new to me, or completely forgotten, and ended up as my favourite workshop drawing from the whole symposium. It was also the best workshop I attended and left me buzzing to try more. Thank you both Florian & Arno.

Back at CCCB, I attended Fred Lynch's fantastic talk, then headed for the metro to join WWSketchcrawl #40 and the end of the symposium. I have never seen so many sketchers in one place - it was amazing! The symposium participants and organisers were joined by the off-symposium attendies, and local sketchers. Numbers vary but the paper said there were 500 sketchers!

awesomness
I couldn't wait to start drawing, so once the photos were taken, I attempted the Arc de Triomf itself. Thanks to James Richards, the crowds weren't daubting to draw and I am very pleased with my result (top). There was some great music nearby, so several of us drew the buskers as we enjoyed it. When we gave them some change as thanks (great subject & music), they asked to see our sketchbooks and clapped us as we had clapped them.
PictureGadjo at Arc de Triomf.
Finally, we headed back to CCCB for the closing ceremony sniff sniff. I'd managed to get a copy of Nina Johansson's book and she kindly signed it for me, which is a fabulous souvenir of both the symposium and last year's trip. Another fabulous souvenir was Florian's drawing of the Mie's Pavilion, drawn whilst I was sat next to him, which I got in the silent auction.

and then the rain came...

3/8/2013

 
Panarama in light & shade
From Panaramas in light and shade.
in the rainMelanie talks about Picasso as we shelter from the rain.
In the afternoon of the 1st day, I attended the workshop of an illustrator I admire, Melanie Reim. Sitting in CCB's patio she talked about Picasso making marks as an introduction to Channelling Picasso; the theme of the workshop. Then the heavens opened and we took shelter under the umbrellas of CCCB's cafe and continued the workshop there.

The rain didn't abate all afternoon, and disappointingly for me we stayed at the café drawing each other in various Picasso like ways (or not as mine seem). I'd been looking forward to sketching in Pla de la Boqueria on the Rambla as I spend a lot of time drawing in cafés here in Oman due to the prohibitive heat.

Picasso?
CapoeiraCapoeira my-style.
I have to confess I felt disappointed with my drawings from this workshop, but as lovely Liz Steel said at the drink and draw, we don't know what we get from a workshop until we apply it at a later date.

Still feeling a bit out of my depth, despite the successful morning, I didn't do any sketches at the drink and draw, but chatted to a few people before heading off for dinner. On my way to the metro, I heard/saw a great capoeira troup and cheered myself up with a non directed sketch, my-style.

The following morning, after the panel discussion, it was off to Plaça Catalunya for James Richards' Life between the buildings workshop. This was a workshop I instantly recognised new information that I could use in my sketching, and did on subsequent days. The actual drawings I produced for the workshop aren't good, but I learnt so much that it doesn't matter!
PictureKumi & I by Pete Scully.
After lunch I attended a talk by Miguel Gallardo, someone I had not heard about beforehand, but he left me in awe, inspired, and emotional afterwards. Then it was on to Virginia Hein's workshop Panoramas in light and shade. It was held down pass Colom at the Maremàgnum, an area I've not seen before.

After the workshop, I went to the drink and draw and was immortalised by Pete Scully, which was flattering.

To be continued...

    About me

    I am a nomadic artist travelling the world for inspiration. Here, I publish my sketchbook work alongside my new finished pieces.

    All posted artwork/images and text are ©Sue Pownall. All rights reserved.

    Email for permission if you want to use them using the contact form.

    It is ok to quote images or text on your non-commercial blog or website as long as you give a credit and link back. It is not okay to pin images.


    Copyright © 2009-2019
    Sue Pownall

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Tags

    All
    Abstract
    Acrylic
    #aedm
    Animal
    Art
    Artist
    Art Teacher
    Art Tutor
    #atp
    Barcelona
    BigDraw
    Boat
    Boats
    Bourne Mill
    Brazil
    Building
    Cadbury
    Café
    Calligraphy
    Canada
    Canson
    Catalan
    Charcoal
    Charity
    Children
    Chimney
    Chinese New Year
    Christmas
    Class
    Coffee Shop Project
    Colchester
    ColchesterSketchers
    Coloured Pencil
    Competition
    Countryside
    Course
    Coventry
    Cow
    #creamtea
    Cuckoo Farm Studios
    Daler
    Dance
    Decay Series
    Degas
    Degasworld
    Demo
    Devon
    Digital
    #dlaberasmus
    Dog
    Drawing
    #drawingAugust
    Drinkdraw
    Easter
    Edim
    Elephant
    Environment
    EssexBookFestival
    Essex&SuffolkSketchers
    Etching
    Everyday Matters Edm
    Exhibition
    Experiment
    Farming
    Festivalfaces
    Flowers
    Furry Assistant
    Garden
    Garden Sketch
    Gaudi
    Gelliplate
    Giclée Prints
    Giveaway
    Hydrotheraphy
    #IAAFWorlds
    Illustration
    Illustration Friday
    Infographic
    Ink
    Inktense
    #inktober
    InkyFingers
    Italy
    Laloran
    Landscape
    Lifeclass
    London
    Machinery
    Magnify
    Maldon
    Manchester
    Mersea Island
    Mill
    MixedMedia
    Moleskin
    Monologue
    Monoprinting
    Music
    Musicians
    National Trust
    Nature
    Nature Journal
    Nature Photography
    Oman
    Painting
    Paris
    Pen And Ink
    Pencil
    Pen & Watercolour
    People
    Pet
    Photography
    Pool
    Portrait
    Printing
    Pub
    Qatar
    #recordingCoventry
    Review
    Review & Resolutions
    Rio
    Robin
    RolandGarros
    RomanRiverMusic
    Rugby
    Ruin
    SanJordi
    #sbsexpressing
    Science
    Sea
    Seawhite Of Brighton
    Secondary School
    Selfie
    Sennelier
    Senses
    Silvertown
    #silvertownldn
    Singers
    Sketchbook
    #sketchboookskool
    Sketchcrawl
    Sketches
    Sketching
    Slideshare
    #solitarywanders
    Spain
    Spectrum Noir
    Spring
    StaedtlerPigmentLiner
    STEAM
    STEM
    Stencil
    St Patrick's Day
    Super5
    #TavistockEdge
    #TBT
    Teaching
    Tennis
    Theatre
    Tiptree
    Trainee Teacher
    Tree
    Tutor
    Uae
    UK
    Unicef
    Urbansketch
    Urbansketcheronholiday
    Urbansketchers
    Urban Sketchers
    #uskbcn2013
    #uskparaty2014
    #USkWorldCup
    Watercolour
    Wildflower
    Wimbledon
    Winsor&Newton
    Winter
    Wivenhoe
    Wood
    Workshop

    Archives

    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.