January 2016 Sketches

Tree near Springdale Lane
10 January 2016
Ink
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
10.5cm x 14.9cm (4.1" x 5.9")

In 2016, I plan to spend more time drawing and painting outside. So far the weather has not been sympathetic to this goal. The tree sketch is my only completed outdoor sketch of 2016 – I've had a couple of false starts when I've given up due to wind, rain or cold or some combination of the three.

The tree is one of my favourites and it has appeared on this blog before in its summer finery (see August 2015 Sketches). Unfortunately, I don’t know what type of tree it is. I suspect it is some kind of oak, but my handbook of British trees relies on leaves to give a definitive identification and so far I've not been close enough to collect one.

New Crockery
18 January 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

These are Elaine’s new plates and bowls - shortly after she excitedly unwrapped them and put them away for the first time. They are a mixture of patterns from Emma Bridgewater. I suppose they’re our new plates and bowls, but I didn't have much to do with their selection or purchase.

Reed Diffuser
25 January 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

The reed diffuser is also courtesy of Emma Bridgewater. I'm not sure whether it arrived in the same box as the crockery, but it was about the same time.

Buddha's Head
28 January 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Winsor & Newton A6 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
14.8cm x 21.0cm (5.9" x 8.25" )

This Buddha’s head is one of my recurring challenges. The face is difficult enough, but the headdress adds an extra dimension. It has appeared twice before (see Outlines and Blind Contour Drawings and Another Modelled Drawing in Ink) and I'm surprised it has not appeared more often.

December 2015 Sketches

Sailor Jack the Mansfield Matelot
9 December 2015
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

It's hard to believe, but I completed the challenge to draw on every day in 2015. These sketches are the highlights from December.

The character at the top of the post is Sailor Jack the Mansfield Matelot.  Elaine's dad (Pete) made plaster casts from Elaine's sailor toy and the Mansfield Royal Naval Association presented them to visiting dignitaries. Jack has appeared on previous posts (see Modelled Drawing and Modelled Drawing in Water Color).

Angel Cat
10 December 2015
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Angel Cat is a Marie Prett sculpture and another regular visitor to the blog. There is a photo of her/him/it on Farewell Modelled Drawing in Water Color and drawings on May 2015 Sketches and Outlines and Blind Contour Drawings.

End of Year Plug
31 December 2015
Ink and Watercolour
Winsor & Newton A6 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
14.8cm x 10.5cm (5.9" x 4.1" )

On 31 December I was unsure what to draw, so I bookended the challenge by drawing a similar subject (possibly the same) to the one I drew on 1 January (see January 2015 Sketches).

Sailor Jack, Angel Cat and End of Year Plug were all painted using Marc Taro Holmes' (Citizen Sketcher) three pass watercolour technique from The Urban Sketcher (see September 2015 Sketches). When I started the challenge I didn't imagine it would evolve to include so much painting.

Mill on Kneeton Road
27 December 2015
Ink
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
14.9cm x 10.5cm (5.9 x 4.1")

The two small landscapes were drawn from practically the same spot in the Trent Hills, but facing in opposite directions.  The ink sketch is a back view of the mill on Kneeton road and the pencil sketch is No Joke plantation. I've not idea why it is called this, but a different view of it it has appeared on a previous post (see Summer Landscape).

Windy Day Drawing
27 December 2015
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
14.9cm x 10.5cm (5.9 x 4.1")

I drew the pencil sketch on an incredibly windy day. At some points I was struggling to stay upright and keep hold of the sketchbook and pencil.

Waiting for the Santa Satellite
24 December 2015
Ink and Watercolour
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
14.9cm x 10.5cm (5.9 x 4.1")

This last sketch was started outside in the dark on Christmas Eve, but I came inside to finish the painting.

I've had a couple of days off since completing the challenge, but I intend to keep up the habit of drawing on most days. I'm convinced regular practice is the key to learning to draw and paint.

Happy Christmas 2015

Festive Pine Cone
Watercolour and Ink on Paper
11cm x 15.5cm (4.5" x 6.25")

Best Wishes for a Happy Christmas and a Wonderful New Year

November 2015 Sketches

Let's Have Tea
20 November 2015
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A5 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 14.8cm (8.25" x 5.78")

I lost my sketching mojo for a while in October and found it again in November. There isn't any obvious difference in the quality of the sketches from October, but the commitment of drawing every day was slightly heavier.

Too Good To Throw Away
30 November 2015
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

The difficulty was mainly in choosing subjects. Once I started drawing I was fine, but picking something to draw was taking too long. It felt like I was repeating myself - I’d drawn everything in the house and it was becoming too cold to draw for very long outside.

Guest Room
25 November 2015
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
10.5cm x 14.9cm (4.1" x 5.9")

In November, I fell back on the tested technique of walking into a room and drawing the first thing I saw. The rationale for this approach is that it doesn't matter what I draw - the point of drawing every day is to practice drawing – no one else has to look at it or like it.

Tea Towel
14 November 2015
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

I don’t really pick the first thing I see in a room, I usually pick a subject that either continues a theme from the previous day or contains different complexities, but I don’t spend long thinking about it. If I start to dither, I just pick something.

Store Cupboard Staples
9  November 2015
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

The challenge to draw on every day in 2015 is almost complete. It is a new experience to measure progress by the number of full sketchbooks.

October 2015 Sketches

Birthday Pear
21 October 2015
Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

Month 10 of the challenge to draw on every day in 2015. Sketching seemed easy in the summer, but it’s required more effort in October. The main challenge has been finding time. It's been a busy month and as a result some drawings have felt hurried and unfinished.

But it hasn't just been one long rush - the pear at the top of the post was in our fruit bowl when we took a short break at Ragdale Hall to celebrate Elaine's birthday.

View from Joan's Kitchen
10 October2015
Ink
Winsor & Newton A6 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
14.8cm x 10.5cm (5.9" x 4.1")

The view from Joan’s kitchen window is the most ambitious sketch I've tried without a pencil under drawing. For a change, I started with the tree and drew outwards instead of first defining the boundaries of the scene and sketching in the major shapes.

Apple
14 October 2015
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A5 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 14.8cm (8.25" x 5.78")

I drew the apple with a 0.7mm propelling pencil with a B lead. It is good practice, but it’s a challenge to build up tones with a relatively small lead. In November, I am going to treat myself and use a 3mm 6B lead for some drawings - woo hoo.

Do These Go In The Dishwasher?
29 October 2015
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

The salad server fork is missing a tine - probably because it wasn't meant to go in the dishwasher.

One Of These Acorns
4 October 2015
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Pine cones are amongst my favourite subjects, but for some mysterious reason I've started calling them acorns. I asked Elaine to look out for acorns and couldn't work out why she kept pointing at acorns. “You say pine cones. I say acorns”.

September 2015 Sketches

Gunthorpe Toll House
5 September 2015
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

This is another view of the Toll House at Gunthorpe. It is one of my favourite subjects and has already appeared in a couple of posts (see  Reflections and Shelford Group of Artists Easter Exhibition 2012).

It is the most ambitious subject I've painted outside and it provided an introduction to some of the pleasures of painting in the great outdoors. Usually I sit on a bench or the ground, but this time I stood and used the top of a fence post as a shelf. It was a bright autumn day, but after 45 minutes I was cold. The wind spotted my situation and gave me some exercise by blowing my palette off the fence post into a grasping patch of brambles and nettles. A bit later a bulldog clip flew off the sketchbook and cleared two fences to land in some more nettles, growing in a cow pat next to some angry geese.

Conker in Colour
10 September 2015
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Conkers (horse chestnuts) and their shells are another of my favourite subjects. They have so many contrasts: soft/hard, reflective/matt, dark/light, smooth/ spiky, bright greens/muted browns. What more can you ask for?

Conker - Black and White
15 September 2015
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A6 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
14.8cm x 10.5cm (5.9" x 4.1" )

The sloe berries are my first experiment with Marc Taro Holmes’ (Citizen Sketcher) three pass watercolour technique from The Urban Sketcher. The three passes work from light to dark colours and from larger to smaller shapes. Marc calls the steps Tea, Milk and Honey to reflect the thickness of the washes. The three passes correlate to the three steps of his three pass sketching approach (see May 2015 Sketches).

Sloes Foragin
12 September 2015
Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Beta Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

The sloes looked pretty ropey after the first pass and didn't really come together until I added the final touches.

Flowers From Sally
21 September 2015
Watercolour and Gouache
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

The flowers and pepper are also based on the three pass approach. The flowers were a gift from Elaine’s cousin Sally, but we bought the pepper for ourselves.

Red Pepper
5 September 2015
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

It is hard to believe I'm three quarters of the way through the challenge to draw on every day in 2015. The year is passing so quickly and drawing every day is turning out to be more of a luxury than a challenge.

Reflections

The Toll House At Gunthorpe
Watercolour on Paper
18cm x 23cm (7" x 9")

Yesterday I attended my first meeting of the Shelford Group of Artists in 2015. Tony Slater's theme for the day was Reflections.

The picture is a view across the Trent on a bright but cold February afternoon. I've painted a similar scene before (see Shelford Group of Artists Easter Exhibition 2012). The buildings and some of the boats are the same, but the viewpoint is different.

It is interesting to study a painting from before I started The Natural Way to Draw. I'm glad there is an obvious increase in proficiency, but the more important differences are in how I draw, paint and see.