Feathers & Sketches

A couple of days ago I tidied my desk...that's a bit of a misleading statement as it will never be 'tidy', but I sorted it out, cleaned it up and found a few things I had mislaid.  One was a bag of macaw feathers that we filched from Bird World last year, scrabbling with our fingers through the wire amongst the poop & dirt.  I love macaws, and even their feathers inspire me with their irridescent colours.  I painted a few of the smaller fluffy ones in watercolours, just for fun.

I also came across a couple of sketchbooks which had a few memories hidden away - here's a selection:

 Alderney...

 Alderney...

 Fuiggi, Italy

 Our old dog, Jasper, & an agapanthus, both sketched one summer in our garden.

 Jasper asleep on the armchair.

 Parrots - no idea where or how I did these but I am loving the central one's expression of bliss as he scratches his head!

 An experiment...

 St. Lucia

 A hibiscus painted in St.Lucia and a hummingbird came to feed as I painted - not a great painting of him, I was too excited and trying to gt it down on paper as fast as I could.

 St. Lucia, Rodney Bay

 St. Lucia

 St.Lucia

 Another experiment in watercolour

Some vase of flowers or other!

I often say that I don't do sketchbooks, but that's obviously not true - I think it's that the sketchbooks are never finished, I just have numerous half filled ones.

And now all my equipment is set out where I can see it - better do something!

Memories.....

While clearing out a corner of the living room the other day, I came across an old sketchbook which brought back some happy memories.  This was an experiment in painting teasels and dandelions following a tutorial in a book.

This was sketched sitting in the sand dunes on Braye Bay in Alderney, one of the smallest islands in the Channel Isles.  I spent my teens living here and look back on those years as the happiest in my life.  When I went back some 20 years later, it was incredible to find it so little changed.

The view to the left of where I was sitting for the above sketch.  We used to come down here after school (a couple of minutes walk) for a swim before going home.

Some brief studies drawn in the garden of our current house - can't quite believe I did them, they look a little bit like I knew what I was doing.....

The most poignant of them all, my little dog Jasper (a couple of years dead now) who used to spend all summer long sitting on the edge of the patio gazing into the flower bed.....there used to be a mouse that crossed his path in the evenings and he just sat and watched in fascination.
The agapanthus was one of many that I attempted to grow - never with much success - I buy them, they flower, the winter kills them!

I always say that I don't sketch much - maybe not as much as some artists, but there are these half filled books all over the house and it is surprising how a small pencil drawing can bring back so many memories, more than any photo, probably because it takes time and study to draw whereas a photo is a fleeting glimpse.

I'm in the middle of painting a horse at the moment, and best of all, have just parcelled up and sent off a big box of garter stitch scarves to the USA - perhaps now I will have a few days respite in order to get on with something a bit more interesting!

I'm Not Really One for Sketching......

When I go to the local Art Society painting demonstrations and the visiting artist hands round several immaculate, perfectly executed sketch books, I always feel kind of inferior. I don't really 'do' sketchbooks - I have lots of them, all with the first few pages filled only. I don't know why I have never managed to complete one - possibly having many different ones may have something to do with it, but I just never seem to have the time or opportunity when out and about to get what I want on paper. It's usually easier to photograph the subject from a few angles and sift through the photos when I get home to use them for reference.


These pages are from my Moleskine - I love my Moleskine but always feel I have to produce something a bit special to grace it's pages...not usually what happens however! We had fresh peas from the market the other day - I wanted to get them down on paper, but I wish I'd gone for a proper watercolour instead...


At Marwell Zoo last week, all I managed to sketch successfully was this Maribou Stork - I love these birds, they are so big, ungainly, they eat carrion and with their wispy receding hairline (featherline?) they look like some sinister prehistoric throwbacks. I wonder what it's like to walk when your legs bend that way? I was leaning on a fence post to sketch this, with my family patiently waiting for me to finish - not conducive to concentration!


These were some practice sparrows using a Chinese brush pen and a bit of Chinese watercolour - I'm quite pleased with this page.

But on the whole, my sketchbooks aren't much to show - I prefer to be left alone for a few hours with proper watercolour paper and paint in order to do the job properly. Most of the preparation for my paintings is done in my head - I feel over-sketching a subject makes the final painting tired and lacking in spontaniety. Just my personal view and way of working - I'd probably fail the current GCSE or A level due to lack of back-up work....