Category: Essex&SuffolkSketchers

Tiptree Sings at Christmas

13/12/2015

I love going to see choirs sing at Christmas, so last night I went back to Tiptree to see a friend sing in the choir she belongs to. The setting was St Lukes church, which I have only drawn from the outside, so made sure I had coloured pencils alongside my sketchbook.

My first sketch was of some of the female choristers chatting before the concert. They were very animated and seemed quite excited which I hope I captured in the sketch. What do you think?

Listening to the lovely singing, I sketched the top drawing showing a section of the choir and the church.

I forgot to take the proof of on-location sketching shot until the choir was about to start singing in the second half of the concert, but hopefully gives a little idea of my view.

Other news: I was very flattered when Simone Ridyard asked me to contribute to her architectural sketching book, Archisketcher. Yesterday, I received my copy and the whole book is fabulous! I would thoroughly recommend buying it for your shelves because of the fabulous content, not because of my contribution :)

Finally, due to logistics the Essex&Suffolk Sketchers have renamed themselves Colchester Sketchers. The FB group is here: Colchester Sketchers

Have a good week everyone.

DrinkDraw Chappel

27/9/2015

This is as far as my first sketch got. ©SuePownall2015

My assistant.

The railway viaduct at Chappel has been on my "to-sketch" list for many years, so on Friday I arranged for the Essex & Suffolk Sketchers to meet at the Swan pub. With quickly failing light and the temperature dropping, I sat on a bench in the Swan's car park and quickly tried to paint it. It was difficult to tell the colours I was applying as the light changed and dropped. Above is as far as my first sketch got.

Heading into the pub to warm up, I think the guys having bar snacks got drawn by everyone. As usual, I spent more time chatting than drawing, so these two were all I did. Plus, Degas got bored and decided when it was time to go home.

I was sketching in an A4 Monologue sketchbook with Winsor & Newton watercolours & Inktense pencils.

Bar snacks. ©SuePownall2015

Drinking and drawing...

2/8/2015

... talking and playing.

3rd Essex & Suffolk Sketchers DrinkDraw event.

Here I am sketching.

On Friday night, I had arranged for the Essex and Suffolk sketchers to have a 3rd DrinkDraw evening. These evenings are proving to be very successful and we had a good turn out again.

We went to the Rose and Crown in Wivenhoe, which has this great quayside beer garden. The above photo shows us hard at work sketching the estuary, boats, pub and more.

I spent most of my time chatting and/or playing with my assistant, who likes the drinkdraw evenings out, than painting. oh well there's always next month.

Lowtide on the River Colne.

More talking than sketching occurred last Saturday too. It was the #48th Worldwide Sketchcrawl day, so I arranged to join the Drawing London on Location group at the Geffrye Museum in Hoxton. Unfortunately, my sketching mojo didn't come too. I was ready to sketch on the train but... it was packed as the Norwich train had been offloaded onto the train I caught. I found a seat, got sketchbook and glasses out and... the man next to me proceeded to tell me all about his life as a cruise ship pianist. Arriving at the museum, it was one of those days that the scale of the building was intimidating and the gardens stunning but... nothing grabbed my attention. I decided a cup of tea was the solution, which it was as I loved the organic lamps and was lucky enough to have the people I was drawing stay as long as I sketched.

The Geffrye cafe.

After another wander around looking at the exhibits, I chatted to a few other sketchers, then decided to head off to look for my sketching mojo elsewhere. As my lack of results on Friday show, it hadn't come back by then. Fingers crossed I relocate it this week.

Urban sketching in Halesworth, Suffolk

21/6/2015

My day's sketching kit.

Yesterday, was the 2nd meeting of the Essex and Suffolk sketchers out at the picturesque village of Halesworth. The venue was chosen as a member had an exhibition there.

We were very lucky with the weather as the rain didn't start until we were on our way home. We started at the church and then I found a seat outside the White Swan, where I sat and drew the old alms houses. I think the wonky perspective is partially due to wonky building and a lot due to the cider. Next up was a quick sketch over a bowl of organic asparagus soup, then it was time to meet and share our sketches over a cuppa.

Lunchtime sketch at Focus Organic.

There are lot more sketching events coming up. You can see the Essex & Suffolk ones here: Essex&SuffolkSketchers
or you could send me a message.

A Jumbo Start

24/5/2015

Recently, Sarah from The Connection Magazine and I started a new urban sketching group the Essex & Suffolk Sketchers, with the aim to become an official chapter of the UrbanSketchers.

We decided to start big, drawing at Colchester's old water tower, locally called Jumbo, and the first meeting was last Sunday. It was a lovely sunny day, albeit cold in the shade, and we had a great turn out. We spent the first part of the day sketching around Jumbo and the Mercury Theatre, then after a lunch break moved onto the grounds of the Colchester Art Centre. It was a lovely day and everyone seemed enthusiastic about sketching again soon.

Below is a slideshow of my sketches and photos from the day. I'd love to hear what you think in a comment below. Thanks.

Essex & Suffolk sketchers. Find and like us on facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/EssexAndSuffolkSketchers/

Next meeting is June 20th, 12noon St Mary's Church, Halesworth, Suffolk IP19 8LL

Tiptree Sings at Christmas

DrinkDraw Chappel

Drinking and drawing...

... talking and playing.

Urban sketching in Halesworth, Suffolk

A Jumbo Start

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