August 2016 Sketches

Off Springdale Lane
21 August 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

In August I completed Liz Steel’s SketchingNow Foundations course. Since then I’ve been incorporating the lessons into my regular sketching practice.

In the Kitchen
1 August 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Lesson 11 of Liz’s course is about starting with the focus of the sketch. I started this sketch by drawing the fruit bowl and cereal packet and working away from them.

EB Garden Centre Cafe
7 August 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

The last exercise in the course was a cafe scene. I procrastinated over this for a couple of weeks. I set out to do the sketch 3 or 4 times and on each occasion found a different excuse not to do it, but the underlying reason is I felt self-conscious. I enjoy drawing outside, but feel like I’m on show in a cafe.

This time I set out with the intention of completing the exercise, come what may and it turned out to be enjoyable rather than a teeth clenching experience.  I must have a look of unapproachable concentration when I’m drawing because no one ever seems to bother me or maybe I’m just not aware of them.

I was intending to do some setup work in watercolour pencil, but the most striking part of the scene was the barista’s hair and shirt - she wasn’t going to hang around in front of the coffee machine forever, so I went for it in ink.

Gargoyles – St Peter’s
13 August 2016
Graphite Pencil
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

The gargoyles are my first sketch after completing the course. I’d mainly used ink and watercolour during the course, so I had an urge to do some pencil sketches.

Flowery Pot
22 August 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

The pretty little Emma Bridgwater pot is a gift to Elaine from her friend Tracey.

St Peter and St Paul, Shelford
30 August 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

When sketching Shelford's church I didn’t have time to let the first wash dry, so I recklessly added more paint as it was drying (It wasn’t really that risky because I made sure I was adding a richer mix to the drying wash). I painted this using a water brush - which isn’t my tool of choice. I seem to be more careless with water brushes than I am with conventional brushes, but maybe that’s not always a bad thing.

July 2016 Sketches

Those Roofs Again
19 July 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

In July I completed lessons 9 and 10 and started lesson 11 of Liz Steel’s online sketching class - SketchingNow.

• Lesson 9 is about composition. It uses a viewfinder to help frame the sketch and to place the focus (point of greatest interest) according to the rule of thirds
• Lesson 10 is about strengthening the focus and drawing the viewer’s eye to it
• Lesson 11 is about starting a sketch by drawing the most important object (the focus) and treating the rest of the scene as context or background.

Corridor
6 July 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

I’ve enjoyed the exercises, but found lessons 9 and 10 quite challenging.

Elaine’s Side
14 July 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

The viewfinder was great for defining the boundary of a sketch and the relative sizes of things, but I found it difficult to use. The big problem is keeping it in one place. I developed a strategy of using the viewfinder at the start of the sketch to compose the view and to position the major lines and shapes, but to stop using it once they were in place..

Art Books
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Lesson 10 was predominantly about using thumbnail sketches to explore potential compositions. The sketch of the cottage roofs at the top of the post and the sketch of Stokes Mill are from lesson 10.

My intention was to make the windmill look like a monolith. My first inclination was to draw it in landscape, but exploring the subject with thumbnails suggested that portrait was a better format.

Stokes’ Mill
21 July 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Lesson 11 was a complete change of direction from the more analytical thinking in lessons 9 and 10. The approach in lesson 11 is to pick the thing you are most interested in, draw it and then see how the mood takes you.

Essential Kitchen Gadgets
26 July 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

I started by drawing the approximate size and shape of the toaster and some perspective lines for the edges of worktop in a warm watercolour pencil and then I went for it in ink.

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.