January 2015 Sketches

A Special Dog Walking Bag
29 January 2015
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
29.7cm x 21.0cm (11.75" x 8.25")

So far, I have stuck with the plan to draw on every day in 2015. There are too many artists to ignore that identify drawing each day as being the key to improving.

Plug It In
1 January 2015
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook
210mm x 149mm (8.3" x 5.9")

I've continued with the focus on accuracy from last month (see December Sketches), but I've started to reintroduce modelling into the drawings.

Kirsty Elson Driftwood House
20 January 2015
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook
210mm x 149mm (8.3" x 5.9")

Marc Taro Holmes (Citizen Sketcher) recommends 0.7 mm propelling pencils as his graphite drawing tool of choice. He prefers them to normal pencils because they eliminate the mess and hassle of sharpening. I have been using 3 mm mechanical pencils with 3B and 6B leads. They are versatile, but they still need sharpening and are probably messier than conventional pencils. So, I've switched to a 0.7 mm propelling pencil and I love it. The 0.7 mm leads are much sturdier than the normal 0.5 mm leads - I haven't had one break yet. The pencil came loaded with HB leads which are bit hard and pale, but I have some B leads which I am looking forward to trying.

Mestle and Portar
10 January 2015
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook
210mm x 149mm (8.3" x 5.9")

It is great to find things that work for you. This month I've also switched from case bound sketch books to wire bound sketch books. Richard E. Scott (Sketching From Square One) recommends them because they are easier to keep open and lay flat.

Mike Lythgoe Mackerel
28 January 2015
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
29.7cm x 21.0cm (11.75" x 8.25")

The two sculptures are both presents from Elaine. The driftwood house is by Kirsty Elson and the shoal of mackerel is by Mike Lythgoe.

Teasels and Grasses

Coastal Path - Teasels and Grasses
Mixed Media on Paper
25cm x 18cm (10" x 7")

The Dorset coast is a wonderful place. This picture was inspired by the teasels and grasses on the cliff tops between Durlston Head and St Aldhelm's Head near Swanage.

I posted a similar subject last year (see Experiments with Acrylic Ink).

Both paintings started as experiments with techniques from Ann Blockley's Experimental Landscapes in Watercolour.

This latest piece was more experimental than the first. The initial wash of watercolour and acrylic ink went crazy when I covered it in cling film. The greens and browns were sucked along the folds of the cling film into the sky.

Teasels and Grasses - Initial Wash

It took some pondering to decide on the next step. In the end, the hint of a stalk of grass next to a large teasel head pointed me in the right direction.

I painted the sky in gouache (see Experiments with Gouache)  and used negative painting to establish the shapes of the foliage. I applied the gouache quite roughly to suggest the atmosphere of a cliff top on a blustery day.

From Abbotsbury Hill

From Abbotsbury Hill
Watercolour on Paper
25cm x 18cm (9.75" x 7")

This view of Portland and the Chesil Beach is based on the sketches and photograph I posted in November (see Portland and the Chesil Beach).

The small building is St Catherine’s Chapel. It was built by monks in the 14th century as a place of pilgrimage and retreat. It is still used for an occasional service.

December Sketches

Ready For Tea
7 December 2014
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook
210mm x 149mm (8.3" x 5.9")

My December sketches started and finished with an emphasis on accuracy.

On 1 December, I spent an hour trying to draw the outline of a fork. You can see the result in the middle of the next spread. I spent the whole hour measuring with an outstretched pencil in an attempt to get the proportions and curves right - I just couldn't do it.

Good Fork, Bad Fork, Elaine
1,2, 3 December 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
29.7cm x 21.0cm (11.75" x 8.25")

The experience was so frustrating; I decided to forego accuracy for a few days in favour of enjoying myself with modelling and tonal values.

On 3 December I drew the fork in the top right-hand corner of the page. I started with a quick gestural sketch that looked about right. I drew a box (in perspective) around the fork with a centre line and made some adjustments based on this. Then I started modelling and shading. I spent less than 15 minutes on the sketch. The experience and the resulting drawing were both more satisfying.

Spaghetti Server
4 December 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
29.7cm x 21.0cm (11.75" x 8.25")

I spent most of the rest of the month using a similar approach with a variety of subjects - mainly kitchen utensils.

Fish Slice
6 December 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
29.7cm x 21.0cm (11.75" x 8.25")

And Christmas decorations and treats,

Christmas Treats
20 December 2014
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook
210mm x 149mm (8.3" x 5.9")

I changed tack slightly after starting to read Sketching (from square one ….To Trafalgar Square) by Richard E. Scott (See http://www.sketchingfromsquareone.com/index.html) - a present from Elaine. The importance of accuracy is one of the central themes of the book.

Battered Dictionary
30 December 2014
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook
210mm x 149mm (8.3" x 5.9")

Richard suggests drawing outlines of simple objects as an exercise for improving accuracy. This became my focus for the last few days in December.

Small Glass Jug
31 December 2014
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook
210mm x 149mm (8.3" x 5.9")

One of my goals for 2015 is to sketch for at least 15 minutes each day, I will let you know how I get on. I am not going to post all the sketches to this blog, but I may put them on Flickr or Tumblr.

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?