Category: Landscape

Montcigoux

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The red tiled roofs are a characteristic of the area. The low roof of the Old Forge is rickety. Mme Sauté cultivates tomatoes in the plastic greenhouse on the left.

Here is Steve’s house. His Audi is parked conspicuously, because he is expecting a visitor, and he told them to look out for the car.

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See all the overhead cables. There is a plan to put all these underground: both the electricity and the telephone cables.

On the Sunday I set out to draw a picture of the Old Forge from another angle. An elderly man trundled his walking frame all across the grass to come and talk to me. He described how Steve’s house had previously been the grocer, café and ballroom. There were dances there. The man had a long career. He was the son of the gardener in the château. He had installed electricity in the local town, Limoges. There was a whole narrative about the maquis,  which word I couldn’t understand in context. I knew it was a description of the land in the South of France: the dried out grass and low bushes. Then, as he was talking, I remembered it was also the word for a fighting force. He had fought all the way up to La Rochelle. This was Resistance fighters in the Second World War.

I had managed only the pencil outline of my picture.

I finished it on the Monday. By then it was raining.

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When I got home I painted one of the tomatoes Mme Sauté had given me.

 

Outer Hebrides 2017

I took my sketching things on a swimming expedition to the Outer Hebrides with Swimtrek. We were on the wonderful Lady of Avenel 102ft square rigged brigantine.

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We started in Oban.IMG_1166

It was raining when I drew this picture, as you can see from the way the pen has drifted a bit, round the chimneys. I coloured it inside the café called “Kranks”.

There was a lot of weather.

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I drew pictures while balancing on the quarterdeck. The picture below was painted with sea water.

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Here is a drawing of the beach at Vatersay. We swam to this beach, and surfed in the waves on the other side. The small dots on the beach are cows.

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Here is an attempt to draw the sails.

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For more drawings of this expedition please see the “Outer Hebrides 2017” gallery.

For drawings from last year’s trip please see the “Outer Hebrides 2016” gallery.

Shetland Sketchbook

Here I am on the banks of the River Dee, looking across to Aberdeen.

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I had just left the overnight sleeper train from London, and was in Aberdeen waiting for the overnight ferry to take me to Shetland. In the River Dee, I saw dolphins. I walked to the Torry Battery, built 1858-1860. In the picture on the right is the “Aberdeen Harbour Operations Centre”.

The ferry docked in Lerwick, Shetland mainland. It was raining.

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I drew this picture in Fort Charlotte, sheltering from the rain under the thick walls of a gate. The shelter was not perfect, as you see from the water splattering the picture.

Bus number 9 from the Viking Bus Station took me to the West Mainland, where I was staying in Burrastow Cottage. Here is a drawing of Burrastow House. The cottage is the small building, in the background on the left.

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I did a lot of walking.

In Lerwick I bought a landscape sketchbook. So I experimented with using both pages. There’s a lot of landscape in Shetland.

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Above, I tried to show the bright yellow flowers, very vivid, in the low light.

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The picture above shows the bay and the village of Walls.

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Above is an attempt to draw the huge cliffs near Burrastow. The peninsula is the delightfully named “Wards of Mucklure”.

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I drew the sea. Above is the view from the door of the cottage. Out there, one day, I saw an otter.

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Above is what the island of Foula looks like, viewed from Cairn 4. I numbered the Cairns.

Here is my numbering scheme:IMG_0933

I also drew the plants.

That picture of the drain hole shows iris plants above dark water. The picture on the right shows flowering sorrel, and iris leaves.

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This is a picture of “The Ned” near Westerwick. It was much more dramatic than the picture. More dark and more light. Maybe the pencil sketch catches it better:

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Here is another sketch of the sea. I tried drawing quickly. Sometimes it seems to work better that way.

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And here is a sketch on the way back to London.

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Brighton Sketches

Quick sketches done on the beach, after my “Paddle Round the Pier” swim.

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Looking west towards Hove
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The West Pier

House by the water: experimental aquatints

Yesterday I experimented with aquatint at East London Printmakers.

These are three very small plates, about 3 inches by 2 inches. Click to enlarge the picture.

No.3 Aquatint + wax crayon
No.2 Aquatint + spit bite
No.1 Aquatint + varnish

Cornwall sketchbook

I just came back from 4 days in Cornwall,  swimming with “Sea Swim Cornwall”.

I also did some sketches.

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Trevaunance Cove – quick sketch

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Trevaunance Cove – sun on the sea
 
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Wheal Kitty: Tin mines in the rain

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St Agnes: the sketch on location

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St Agnes

The Guardian of the Vines

Another collage postcard. I posted this one in London 18th May.

It looks a bit crinkled because the cardboard was damp with PVA glue, and then dried. The white shape on the bottom right is a flake of white paint I found on the ground. It must have been polyurethane paint, because it was flexible and easy to cut. I left the edge ragged, as found. Top left is a map of Crete from the packet of olives. The fence is made of palm leaf. The leaves didn’t want to go flat.

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Here is work in progress.

 

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The journey to the chapel of St Antonis

Here is a collage made for friends in Switzerland.

I posted it at the Post Office in Kalami on 8th May. The official there did not seem to be concentrating very hard. He looked dubiously at the word “Switzerland” on the address. I think I need to find out what “Switzerland” is in Greek.

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The card is made from seeds and bits found on the walk.

Here is the construction in progress. Clothes pegs are an important tool.

Agias Triada, small chapel

We visited the monastery again, before going to the airport. Two large coaches were in the car park.

As I drew the chapel, fragments of dialogue in French and German floated by. A French-speaker was relieved at last to have a call from Yves. He described in detail where the car was, naming the Greek village. He must insist it be ready by Thursday.

A woman with a German American accent told me my drawing was beautiful. I told her I was glad she liked it.

By and large people were respectful and did not stand in front of me while I sketched. But, according to John, a guy with a big heavy camera photographed the drawing, over my shoulder, without my knowing.

After an hour and a half John came to alert me that we should leave in 5 minutes.

Pen and ink. 1 hour 40.

Here’s what it looked like before adding the tones:

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