Thanks to a very talented product photographer, Becky Palmer, here are my illustrations as used by National Trust Stowe this year.
I seem to have developed a minor fascination with sketching my neighbours chimneys and rooves, so far all from the confines of my house. However, now the warmer weather has arrived, I may be sketching further down the street. After 15 years living abroad with hardly a chimney in sight, I wonder if it's the novelty of seeing them in their different shapes and sizes. What do you think?
![]() I have just spent the last few days in Barcelona. On Wednesday, I flew over having left my assistant to stay with her dogsitter. After checking into my hotel, I headed straight to MACBA and spent and hour on the above sketch. After the rain stopped, I spent Thursday at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell – Trofeo Conde de Godo. I saw Rafa win amongst other matches, but didn't sketch anything. Friday morning, I headed out for breakfast and had to paint the girl at a nearby table. (below) I went straight in with paint as I didn't know how long she would be there. I had just snapped her surreptitiously, should have moved the menu, when she left. From there, I visited the Fundació Antoni Tàpies and saw some interesting artwork and prints before heading to Passeig de Gracia. Being the day before Sant Jordi (Saint Georges), who is the patron saint of Catalonia, Gaudi's Casa Batlló had been covered in roses. It looked beautiful and still being early there were not too many people, so I sat on the street corner to sketch it. ![]() In the afternoon, I went to see some more art at the CaixaForum, which had an exhibition Impressionists and Moderns: Masterworks from The Phillips Collection. Then went for a walk up to Barcelona's botanical garden. I sat and did a small watercolour, which I really enjoyed painting, surrounded by vegetation, bird song (including green parrots), and little else. Afterwards, I had a wander around took lots of photos of the beautiful plants and flowers. Yesterday was my last day and I spent it catching up with some friends. I still managed an incomplete sketch whilst waiting to meet a close friend for brunch. I wanted to capture some of the San Jordi celebrations, as I did last year (Sant Jordi 2015) but tables and more were still being set up, so started above them... and ran out of time. *Jo dibuixo i tu? is Catalán for I draw, do you? ![]() There's a new challenge over on twitter led by Anthony Greentree (@antsgreentree) called #buildapril, which is is all about buildings and structures in any media. Above is my 1st April sketch of my across-th-road neighbours drawn with a Super5 pen with DeAtramentis ink and painted with Winsor & Newton watercolours in A Daler Ebony A5 sketchbook. Whilst right is a work in progress started yesterday of Bourne Mill. Last month's challenge was #animalmarch, and I started well with daily sketches of my assistant, but then life got in the way. Here are a selection of them: It's almost time to send my spring newsletter.
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About me
I am a nomadic artist travelling the world for inspiration. Here, I publish my sketchbook work alongside my new finished pieces. Tags
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October 2018
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