June 2016 Sketches

Mousehole Harbour
22 June 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

June has been another productive month for sketching. My focus was Liz Steel’s online sketching class - SketchingNow. I completed lessons 6 and 7 and started lesson 8.

• Lesson 6 is about drawing with minimal or no measuring of relative sizes and angles.
• Lesson 7 is the halfway point in the course. It is an opportunity to put the ideas from the previous 6 lessons into practice. It coincided very neatly with Elaine and my holiday in Cornwall.
• Lesson 8 is about exploring the balance between the amount of ink and colour in a sketch

The sketch at the top of this post is a view of Mousehole. The harbour was a pleasant place to sit and sketch.

A Handbag

1 June 2016

Watercolour and Watercolour Pencil

Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

The sketch of the handbag is one of the minimal setup sketches from lesson 6. I drew a quick sketch in watercolour pencil and then added watercolour and more watercolour pencil to build up texture and tone. I don’t use watercolour pencils very much and I enjoyed this exercise, so I plan to use them more often.

Cottage Roofs

4 June 2016

Ink and Watercolour

Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

These are the roofs of a row of cottages we can see from our back garden. The roofs on the foreground cottages look in need of repair, but they are not quite as wonky as the sketch suggests. This is another minimal setup exercise from lesson 6.

Another Pinecone

8 June 2016

Ink and Watercolour

Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

The instructions for lesson 7 suggest sketching seasonal things. I’ve never associated pinecones with June, but there were a lot falling from the trees at the beginning of the month. This sketch was based on a quick gestural setup in watercolour pencil. I drew the pinecone in ink, painted in watercolour and built up the texture and shadows with more ink, more watercolour and more watercolour pencil.

A Coachman's Posy
23 June 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

This is a vase of flowers in the lovely cottage we rented in Marazion - Coachman’s Cottage.

My Brown Jacket

28 June 2016

Ink and Watercolour

Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

This is a brown linen jacket with a fine blue pinstripe - which you can’t really see. I bought it for my sister Heather's wedding. The sketch is an experiment (from lesson 8) in using more ink line work than I normally do.  I’ve made the fabric look more like corduroy than linen, but I’m quite pleased with the result.

Nice Shorts

29 June 2016

Ink and Watercolour

Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

These are my gaudiest swimming shorts. The sketch is an exercise (from lesson 8) in drawing and painting a complicated pattern. I started with the intention of drawing the pattern accurately, but this was beyond my attention span. The drawing represents the spirit of the pattern rather than the actuality.

May 2016 Sketches

The Natural Way to Draw
19 Mary 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

May has been a productive month for sketching. I've been following Liz Steel’s on-line sketching class - SketchingNow.

I completed lessons 3, 4 and 5 and started lesson 6:

• Lesson three is all about abstracting the world into shapes
• Lesson four is about seeing the volume of things
• Lesson five is about starting the sketch by accurately estimating the relative sizes and alignments in the subject
• Lesson six is about starting with a less precise set-up or no set-up whatsoever

Ready for Dinner
10 May 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

The gravy boat and the pears are both a result of lesson three. In both cases I was thinking about shapes rather than the individual objects.

Pears
11 May 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

The books at the top of this post were drawn as part of lesson four - they are The Natural Way to Draw and Keys to Drawing.

Buy Me
28 May 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Both doorways are accuracy exercises from lesson five.

St. Peter's
28 May 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Who would have guessed that doors are so complicated? These accuracy exercises emphasised how much more practice I need.

A Special Dog Walking Bag
30 May 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

The bag is Elaine’s dog walking bag. It's appeared on this blog before (see January 2015 Sketches). This is the first exercise from lesson six.  I drew a really quick preparatory drawing in watercolour pencil without checking the accuracy of the relative sizes and angles and then drew over this in ink before painting it. I really enjoyed the recklessness of the quick gestural set-up and then going for it in ink.

Ladram Rocks

Ladram Rocks

Mixed Media on Paper

26cm x 18cm (10" x 7") 

Ladram Bay and its fabulous sea stacks are about halfway along the coastal path between Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton.

Elaine and I encountered them last summer when we spent a week in Sidmouth . You can walk all the way between Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton on the coastal path, but we turned inland at Ladram Bay to have lunch at Otterton Mill and then completed the journey walking by the side of the river Otter. It’s an interesting and walk and not too taxing. The walk in the other direction from Sidmouth to Beer is more strenuous and tiring.

Ladram Rocks

Thumbnail Sketches

Before starting the painting I drew a few thumbnail sketches to experiment with the composition. They might not mean a lot to anyone else, but they helped me to make decisions about positioning the rocks and tonal values for the painting.

April 2016 Sketches

Peace Lilly
5 April 2016
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Ebony Sketchbook
14.9cm x 21.0cm (5.9" x 8.3")

My sketching took a change in direction this month. I have started to follow Liz Steel’s on-line sketching class - Sketching Now. The course covers a number of skills that I want to work on and improve.

Lesson one was about making friends with your equipment and drawing good lines - lines with a definite beginning, a definite end and that are drawn in a continuous movement without any hesitant stopping and starting.

Brushes in my Sketching Kit
17 April 2016
Ink
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

The first exercise involved drawing your sketching equipment in ink, using good lines and without too much focus on accuracy.

Lesson two was about edges. The first exercise was blind contour drawing:

Look at the subject and imagine the pencil is touching it, slowly moving along its edges and contours - your eyes follow the pencil on its imaginary journey and you draw the object without looking at the paper.

Point to Point Contour Drawing
19 April 2016
Ink
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

The second exercise was point-to-point contour drawing. In this exercise you look at the subject (not the paper) while you are actually drawing, but re-orientate yourself on the paper at every major change in direction. This is similar to the contour drawing exercise in The Natural Way to Draw (see Contour Drawing).

Point to Point Contour Drawing

25 April 2016

Ink

Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

I find it difficult not to cheat. Once I let myself look at the page, I keep taking sneaky peeks. I really want to develop the ability to draw without looking at the paper, so this time I am interpreting the rules very strictly and will repeat this exercise even after I have moved on to other lessons.

Point to Point Contour Drawing

24 April 2016

Ink

Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

These roffs have appeared on a previous post, I drew them in the dark on Christmas Eve (see December 2015 Sketches).

The Old Mill on Kneeton Road

The Old Mill on Kneeton Road

Mixed Media on Paper

26cm x 18cm (10" x 7") 

This view of the mill is based on a sketch I drew in December (see December 2015 Sketches). Before starting the picture I drew some thumbnail sketches to explore possible compositions.

The Old Mill on Kneeton Road
Thumbnail Sketches

The colour scheme and approach were influenced by the first demonstration on Chris Forsey's Pushing the Boundaries of Watercolour.

March 2016 Sketches

Wine Delivery
2 March 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Elaine and I were teetotal for most of March, so we sensibly organised for a case of wine to be delivered on our second day of abstinence.

Top of the Lane
12 March 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
14.9cm x 10.5cm (5.9 x 4.1")

The weather has improved sufficiently for me to get back into the habit of drawing 5 minute sketches while Elaine and I are out walking. I usually add paint to one or two of them when we get home.

TV Corner
4 March 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
10.5cm x 14.9cm (4.1" x 5.9")

I’ve tried a few quick sketches inside as well, but without imposing a strict 5 minute limit. I want to be able to sketch more quickly because sometimes you don’t have much time for a drawing and sometimes quick sketches look more spontaneous and engaging.

In the Bathroom
22 March 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

This sketch of male grooming paraphernalia was an experiment in painting darks. I find darks in watercolour very difficult to get right. It is too easy to create a thick drab paste that just looks horrible and sucks the life out of a painting. In this picture I deliberately kept the darks relatively light and intensified the variations in colour.

A Friend for Nelson
27 March 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

At the end of the month, Elaine was pleased to become the proud owner of a second Joanne Cooke sculpture, but she hasn’t named it yet. We will have to adopt a real dog at some point.

St Agnes Lighthouse

St Agnes Lighthouse
Mixed Media on Paper
28cm x 18cm (11" x 7") 

The lighthouse on St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly no longer contains a light, but is still the most prominent landmark on the island. St Agnes is a wonderful place to spend an evening. Elaine and I have twice celebrated my birthday in Hight Tide Seafood Restaurant. The food, wine and views are excellent, but it has to compete against the Turks Head - which is a great pub. What a choice - you just have to spend two evenings on the island.

I started the picture using oil pastel to add some colour and to resist the watercolour - as suggested by Chris Forsey in his DVDs. The scribble in the centre of the picture is a bit unnecessary, but the blue flowers in the left foreground have worked well.

The painting also makes use of a technique I am learning from regular sketching in watercolour – don’t fiddle or correct. It’s a difficult lesson to learn, but I'm finally beginning to realise that you rarely improve a watercolour painting by trying to correct things. You are best to leave your original marks because they at least look spontaneous and heartfelt.