Drawing Pad

Painting - Evenlode

The study for the painting was done quite quickly in about an hour but the painting was done over a week. I'm pleased with it and feel it represents my current interests, derived from my own sketchbook drawing and ideas about painting. The title "Evenlode" is from the name of the river that runs through the valley in Oxfordshire where my parents live. It's also the name of a William Morris fabric design.

Inspired by Turner

When I was about 14, I went to a large exhibition of Turner's work, including sketchbooks and sketches, at what was then the Tate Gallery and now Tate Britain. I spent the return journey scribbling on a piece of paper as the coach chased the sun down the M4. Today I did something similar returning on a coach from the Turner and the Masters Exhibition.

Top drawing is an imaginative interpretation of the Oxfordshire landscape as seen from the coach window. the sketches below were made from the work in the exhibition.

(click on the images for further info and larger versions)

Provence Painting

I painted this as a birthday present for my sister; its based on memories of a holiday in Provence: Walking in a fields full of wild flowers and travelling through the French countryside on a train.

People watching

Wash brush, pencil, fineliner and fast work

In a New York Bar - wood-cut print

 

Final colour printed today. The original drawing, on which the print is based, was made in a bar off Spring Street, New York, back in October. The print is 9ins x 6ins.

Drawing in the Ashmolean Museum

Pages from my sketchbook made drawing in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Drawing on coach trips

Devon Holiday

We got away in mid August for 3 days to a small place near Dittisham in Devon. We were there last 13 years ago. I was able to do some quick sketchbook work in the wooded valley where we stayed, on the beach and one quick drawing in the bustling town of Dartmouth.

These are 4 sketches I did at the same spot. (There are 3 more which can be found in my sketchbook  album)
We sat on a steeply sloping field; it was warm at the end of a hot day, very close, threatening rain - so know dramatic 'light' (although I took some photos in a different spot the next day when there was a strong raking light.) Fantastic greens and shapes.
It had been a claustrophobic walk to the field up a small lane with high sided hedges. We (I was with my daughter Emma) had clambored up through a hedge in this field to try and get a view back across the valley.

Wash drawing

This is a small wash drawing done on the nearby River Ock. I used it today as  the starting point for this picture and this picture, which I sent as birthday cards for my sister and mum. It's amazing how a small drawing can be used for quite different interpretations. I had to work pretty fast on the small paintings as I had very little time after school before a parents evening.