January 2017 Sketches

Dog Crockery
28 January 2017
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

Hamish came to stay for a few days in January. He is very polite. He brought his own crockery and some flowers for Elaine.

Dog's Rose
30 January 2017
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

He’s an old man now, so I managed to grab a sketch of him while he was having a snooze.

Hambo!
24 January 2017
Ink and Watercolour
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
10.5cm x 14.9cm (4.1" x 5.9")

Mark Taro Holmes (Citizen Sketcher) wrote a recent post about drawing quick sketches while out walking (Personal Trainers Hate this Sketcher – How to lose weight by drawing!). This has inspired me to do the same. I try to take a 30-minute walk most lunchtimes and I’ve added a 7-minute sketch into the routine. It’s been too cold to comfortably hang around for much longer.

Stokes’ Mill from the Foot Path
20 January 2017
Ink
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
14.9cm x 10.5cm (5.9 x 4.1")

So far most of the sketches have been of bare trees, but I’m moving on to buildings and other objects.

Very Cold Finger Post
23 January 2017
Ink
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
10.5cm x 14.9cm (4.1" x 5.9")

The exercises for my latest project (Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone) require some new materials.

Materials for Expressive Drawing
16 January 2017
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

I will share some of the results in the next few weeks.

What Comes Next 2017

Christmas Books - 2016
29 December 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

Elaine gave me Experimental Drawing by Robert Kaupelis and Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone for Christmas. I intend to use these to structure my drawing practice in 2017. The other book in the sketch is Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory. It’s a book I’ve wanted to read for ages and was a present from Julie.

It’s a long time since I’ve thought about what I want from drawing and painting. The last time I wrote a blog post on this was in July 2013 (see What Comes Next).

I enjoy ink and watercolour sketching and I intend to carry on with this in 2017, but I also want something more. Sketching stuff around the house using the same techniques is becoming repetitive, so I’m going to explore some other approaches to drawing and painting.

I’m going to be more experimental in my sketching - use some different tools and maybe even try some collage, but this can wait until the summer. Initially, I am going to focus on drawing and painting techniques.

I know I want to paint, but I don’t know what or how. As a result, I’m not very inspired. Part of the problem is also my lack of mastery of watercolour, so I am going to continue reading and following the exercises from Watercolor Painting by Tom Hoffmann.

I want to make more confident and interesting marks and to incorporate more emotion and spontaneity into my drawings and paintings. I hope to achieve this by reading and following the exercises in the books Elaine bought me for Christmas. The exercises in Experimental Drawing look like they could take a couple years to get through, so I’m going to start with Expressive Drawing - which is all about intuitive mark making. The emphasis is on nonrepresentational drawing which will be a change for me but I’m excited to give it a go.

December 2016 Sketches

Additions to My Sketching Kit
28 December 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

Father Christmas’ helpers were kind to me. Julie (Elaine’s sister) gave me an excellent bag for my sketching kit and amongst the many presents from Elaine, were a couple of pencil cases.

Holly 2016
December 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

In recent years, Elaine’s friend Nicola has kindly donated some holly for me to draw. I look forward to the challenge. Holly is a tricky subject and Nicola’s holly is particularly challenging because not all the leaves are especially spiky.

Fancy Chair
30 December (not September) 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Over the New Year, Elaine and I stayed at the Marlborough House B&B in Bath. The chairs in our room were interesting. I am not sure how old they were, but the castors under the front legs seemed out of place.

Fancy Chair Foot
30 December (not September) 2016
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
10.5cm x 14.9cm (4.1" x 5.9")

I wasn’t particularly happy with the feet in the sketch of the chair, so I drew one of them more accurately and modelled it in pencil. I haven’t done much pencil drawing recently and I want to keep my eyes/hands in.

(I don't know what I was thinking when I dated these sketches - we were probably rushing to get to the Hop Pole.)

Bronzy Looking Plate
31 December 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

The decoration in our room included a bronzy looking metal plate. It was covered in low relief pictures/sculptures. In the middle, there was an ox or horse pulling a chariot which I assume is some kind of sun (or moon) chariot because around it there was a ring of reliefs representing the signs of the zodiac. There was an outer ring of pictures which I couldn’t identify. I thought it might be the Chinese zodiac, but there seemed to be too many of them and I couldn’t find a dragon.

Happy New Year. I intend to keep up the ink and watercolour sketching in 2017 and to explore some other aspects of drawing and painting.

Happy Christmas 2016

Christmas Tree 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Wishing You Peace and Happiness for Christmas and the New Year

November 2016 Sketches

Not even Advent
21 November 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

My festive indulgences have started earlier than ever this year - I normally wait until at least December before starting on the mince pies.

Merryteaser
27 November 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

This wasn’t my fault. Someone left it for Elaine at work and she doesn’t like Maltesers - who else was going to try it.

Elaine with a Sling
2 November 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Elaine had carpal tunnel release surgery on October 31 and had to keep her arm in a sling for 2 days. She’s not a very patient patient and wanted to be back to normal straightaway.

After the Operation
9 November 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

She was heartbroken when the dressing came off. The scar was very red and angry. She had visions of ending up with scars like Brenda, but they are already disappearing. (Brenda is a character in a series of books by Paul Magrs http://lifeonmagrs.blogspot.co.uk/)

We Buy Flowers Too
17 November 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

This vase is a favourite subject, but I only seem to post the results when Sally has bought flowers for Elaine (see September 2015 Sketches). Note to self – Buy more flowers. Note to Sally – Thank you for the flowers.

Two-Layer Geometric Sketch

St Peter's For Bob
Two-Layer Geometric Sketch
Watercolour On Paper
26cm x 18cm (10" x 7")

The two-layer geometric sketch is the second “exercise” in Watercolor Painting by Tom Hoffmann. It is another study that helps to reveal how much detail is needed in a painting. The five-value monochrome study explored the importance of tone. The two-layer geometric sketch introduces colour in a simplified form, so we can evaluate where more detail is needed.

The instructions for the exercise are to simplify each of the major shapes into a basic geometric form and assign it a colour. Paint each shape with a simple wash representing its lightest value and add a second layer where needed - primarily to indicate shadows.

Tom suggests using a limited palette of 3 colours – a red, a yellow and a blue. You can mix them, to create a green or purple, but if they don’t make a good green or a good purple, too bad. The intention is to ignore details and to treat colour simply. The result is supposed to look like a collage made from coloured paper.

I used the same subject as for the five-value monochrome study. Once again I failed to simplify things as much as Tom suggested - I did not reduce the subject to simple geometric shapes because the drawing is one of the challenges I’m trying to sort out.

The exercise helped to clarify some problems in the composition, but it also reassured me that my objectives for the painting are possible. I want the church and memorial to appear imposing, but the overall atmosphere to be positive and full of light.

I can see the background buildings and the church porch do not require much detail, but the foliage, even in the background, will need more texture. The church and the monument needed to be taller and darker.

My next steps are to finalise the drawing and use some thumbnail sketches to explore options for colours.

October 2016 Sketches

Cod & Lobster, Staithes
16 October 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

Elaine and I spent a weekend in Staithes as part of Elaine’s extended birthday celebrations. Staithes was full of artists with easels painting every vista. On the Sunday morning, I couldn’t find a quiet place to sketch, but a heavy rain shower drove most people away. When the sun came out I had my choice of subject. I picked the Cod & Lobster because of their magnificently overfilled crab sandwiches.

In October, I participated in the InkTober challenge to draw (in ink) on every day of the month. I didn’t quite make it, but it’s a long time since I’ve had the pick of 27 sketches for a blog post.

COLLECT
3 October 2016
Ink
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

There was a prompt for each day of the month - which I didn’t always use. The prompt for the third was COLLECT. I’ve never been much of a collector - I collected stamps for about a week as a child and that’s probably about it, but since starting painting I’ve built up a massive collection of brushes - this is a very small part of the collection.

LITTLE
21 October 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

I couldn’t resist adding some colour to the iPod. I thought I’d worked out the route through the tangle of wire from the iPod to the headphones, but there are some disconnects - if you want to look for them.

SLOWly Infusing Sloe Gin
23 October 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Kilner jars are one my favourite challenging subjects. There are multiple ellipses and the complicated clasp. This is sloe gin that Elaine has been preparing since 15 June.

I Only Wanted My Lunch
27 October 2016
Ink
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

The can opener gave up the ghost instead of opening a can of soup for my lunch, at least I got a sketch out of it.

You can find all my InkTober 2016 sketches here https://www.flickr.com/photos/125850908@N07/albums/72157676208277075.