Old Mill Creek

Old Mill Creek
Watercolour on Paper
24cm x 34cm (9.5" x 13.5)

Old Mill Creek is about a mile upriver from Dartmouth. Elaine and I walk past it on the way to Dittisham. It seems very pleasant and peaceful from the shore, but this is not the case from the water. When Adrian, Sarah, Joe and Alice canoed up it, they found it was covered in an unpleasant layer of oil.

This is the painting I started at the end of October (see It's All About Preparation). I eventually found time to finish it in this quiet time after Christmas.

Best Wishes for the New Year

Happy Christmas 2014

Christmas Trees
Watercolour and Pastel on Paper
10cm x 14.5cm (4" x 5.75")

Peace and Happiness for Christmas and the New Year

November Sketches

Holly Branch
24 November 2014
Gouache on Paper
12cm x 18cm (5" x 7")

November has been a productive month for sketching. I've already posted some of the sketches (see Portland and the Chesil Beach and Practicing Linear Perspective) and there were more to select from for this post.

Holly Leaves
17 November 2014
Watercolour on Paper
18cm x 12cm (7" x 5")

Elaine’s friend Nicola kindly gave us some holly and this has been the subject for many of the drawings. Holly leaves are challenging; their gnarled spiky shapes are difficult to model convincingly. I've wanted to draw some more since I sketched some in September (see September Sketches).

Young Holly Leaf
27 November 2014
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook
210mm x 149mm (8.3" x 5.9")

The younger leaves make easier subjects. The twisted spiky side of their personality seems to be something that develops as they get older.

Bananas
13 November 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
29.7cm x 21.0cm (11.75" x 8.25")

The picture at the top of the post is another go at Nathan Fowkes Poor Man's Impressionism - which I experimented with in October (see October Sketches). This time I used gouache instead of watercolour.

Sweatshirt and Chair
12 November 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 29.7cm (8.25" x 11.75")

The sweatshirt and chair are a favourite subject. They are the same sweatshirt and chair I drew for Exercise 6E from Keys to Drawing (see Keys to Drawing - Chapter 6). Until recently, I tried to avoid drawing the same subject twice. I now realise it is unavoidable, enjoyable and good practice to make multiple studies of the same subject. It is Elaine's sweatshirt. I  think I drew it first about 5 years ago - I wonder if Elaine realises how old it is?