Instead of posting yesterday, I sketched of my neighbours' apple tree from the conservatory. I'm trying out a Canson A5 sketchbook, whilst the paper initially struggled with the amount of water, and took ages to dry due to the cold weather, the paper hasn't degraded and there's little cockling.
This weekend is Heritage Weekend in UK with many interesting places open for free. Yesterday, taking advantage of the lack of entrance fee, I went to the Museum of Power, Langford. The sound and sight of The 'Simpson' Belt Driven Workshop attracted my attention, so I decided to sketch there. With so many machines, belts, and interesting things I chose a small section to focus on and the above sketch is the result. Here is the in-situ photo. This sketch was done with a sepia Derwent pencil in A4 Monologue sketchbook. Whilst the afternoon sketch was Winsor & newton watercolours, Staedtlar Pigment liner in Daler A5 sketchbook. After lunch, Degas and I went to Goldhanger for their Gala Weekend. With a karate demo going on in the churchyard, I took Degas down the road and walked her around the sea wall before heading into the village. As musicians were setting up in the Salty Dogs Tea Room, we headed there. It was the perfect afternoon: What's better than drinking tea (and eating carrot cake), in a beautiful garden, listening to live music, with your dog lying at your feet as you sketch? It was a lovely day. What would make your perfect day?
As a person, I think Christmas should not be thought about, advertised, nor shopped for until at least the end of October. However, as an artist the illustrations for Christmas cards need to be started (if not finished) now. One of my personal goals was to "Produce a series of illustrations to be sold as greeting cards" as stated in my Review & Resolutions post.
Consequently, here is the first one, which is available now in my print-on-demand store on Redbubble (www.redbubble.com/people/suepownallartis) and will be available elsewhere soon. Whilst my sketching mojo has made a small comeback this week, I seem to have lost my words, hence the non-title of this post. On Monday, I had 20 minutes to have a cuppa before a meeting in Somerset House. I sat on the terrace and had to sketch my view of the London Eye. On Wednesday, I had to go to Maldon and with a spare half hour started to sketch an amazing garden-covered barge. I didn't have time to add colour, so I did it at home later. Thursday I was stuck in the hairdresser's for ages, so grabbed my A6 Laloran sketchbook. I'm a bit concerned as I don't recognise that old lady in the mirror. I sketched myself in the same position in 2010. I remember that I didn't wear my glasses and had to squint at the book. Then yesterday, I joined the Essex & Suffolk Sketchers at Henny fete, where I visited a local garden, which happened to be serving cream teas. Using a Daler A5 sketchbook, I sketched it to justify eating it despite my ever expanding waistline. Finally, I did a very quick sketch trying to capture a feeling of the quintessential English fete, whilst my assistant dug herself a hole. As it was so colourful, I used a rainbow pencil by Lyra in my A5 Daler sketchbook. So that was my sketching week. Now if I could only think of a title...
... talking and playing. 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. 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. 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.
Having an invitation to a new fringe event in Devon, Tavistock Edge, I decided my assistant and I would have a holiday beforehand and found a cottage for us just on the edge of Dartmoor. I did lots of sketches throughout the week. I was especially fascinated with the cattle in the next field, as was Degas, so I drew them as she barked at them. Here are the landscapes: Here is a selection of the animal sketches: I'll post the Tavistock Edge sketches next Sunday. What do you think of my sketches? I'd love it if you left me a comment below. It's summer newsletter time.
Will you receive your copy? You can find out where you can see my work and other news. If you haven't subscribed, you can do it here: This year I've been entering a few exhibitions, and have been quiet successful. Last month, I entered and was juried into the Braintree Open AND I won the Braintree Chamber prize. Also, in Braintree, I was chosen to have a painting in the Art Trail. Finally, I had a painting juried into the Harwich Open. So that's where you could find me in June. What were you up to? You can tell me in a comment to this post.
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. 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. 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/ Just over a week ago, I was fortunate enough to be one of eight London Urbansketchers invited to draw at the Silvertown redevelopment site. I didn't realise there were still areas of London Docklands, which were not all sparkly and new. However, Silvertown is a huge wasteland, with remnants of the recent London Olympics, the huge Millennium Mill (previous millennium not this one), a grade 2 listed grain silo, lots of rubble, street art, and wildlife. You can read about the mills redevelopment here on the BBC. We were not allowed into the mill as there is currently a massive operation to remove asbestos, but we decked out in hi-vis vests and allowed to spread out throughout the site. With a Payne's Grey sky and a bitterly cold wind, I wandered around to find a place to start. The mill itself was too daunting for a first sketch, so instead I ended up sat up a grassy bank, part of the old Olympic London Pleasure Gardens, to sketch the silo. With it's predominantly white facade, I started with the Payne's Grey, with a touch of indigo, sky to outline its bulk. The wind was so cold, despite my layers of fleece, I seriously considered leaving, but opportunities like this are rare, so I continued until it was time for lunch, where we all huddled in a patch of sun behind a corrugated fence for shelter. With patches of sunshine, it was time to tackle the mill... I was drawn (excuse the pun) to the street art and decided to try and capture a snippet of that along with the large painted advert on one face of the mill. I started loosely in pencil, to try not to get to caught up in details, then added watercolour. I'm not sure how successful it was. What do you think? Finally, I wanted to capture a little of the current work, sketching the scaffolding and sign, but I was cold and not concentrating by that point, and so it remains hidden in my sketchbook.
Urbansketchers and photographers have been invited to record the redevelopment of the site as it progresses over the years, which is why we were there, and I hope I am one of the ones who gets to go back again. Finally, a big thank you to James Hobbs who organised the day. Check out his report and amazing Silvertown sketches here: Silvertown's Dereliction. |
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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