Simple still life drawing

When the weather is bad or too cold and you have no idea what to draw, just stick a few things together to create a still life arrangement and start drawing.

The sketch here has been formed using lots of loose lines which together create an illusion of detail. It was drawn in a north-facing conservatory and the neutral light source gave very soft shadows making the subject rather tonally flat.

To keep my drawing representative of this flat light I used smooth paper and a fine propelling pencil. This created lines grey lines of equal thickness. With such a thin regular line I had to take extra care not to allow the sketch become too tight.

Still life's are so easy to set up and can teach you a lot a about lighting and shading. Try using to use a single source of light to help create strong stationery shadows.

The best thing is though, apart from the flowers or fruit fading the lighting is under your control and not natures!

September and some brighter weather at last

The wet spell is over and the garden has grown like a jungle. August being so wet, has restricted my sketching to still life in the conservatory.

Not sure if I am alone in this, but I like drawing on very smooth paper, too smooth really perhaps. The down side with smooth paper is it can be difficult to get solid dark areas as the pencil seems to slide across the page creating a grey understated effect, but that is exactly what I like about it.

I have also try to use my pencil like a brush, almost scribbling as if painting, rather than drawing. I don't practice enough, so drawing doesn't come easy to me, even simple items are always a challenge, which is half the fun.

But when you draw, it is so easy to get sucked in by it. Then if you are lucky you can cast away your troubles and enjoy a wonderful sense of detachment and tranquility.

My garden is a jungle

It's July and I continue to be amazed at how well everything is doing this year despite the lack of rain. Even though the ground is so hard and dry the garden is looking more like a jungle every day. Because of this, I have not been able to plant out the cuttings I have ready to give me some colour until the late summer.

So, there is only one thing left to do in the garden and that is do scribbly sketches and think about summer holidays. Like last year, I will try to keep a sketch diary of the places I visit.

The sketch above shows my jungle leaning away from the overhanging branches of a tree in an attempt to get as much sun as they can.

Battle of Beachy Head

The white cliffs on each side of the channel have over the centuries been witness to a lot of history.  On the 10th of July 1690, off Beachy Head, one of The greatest French naval victories over their English and Dutch opponents took place. Funny, I don't seem to remember learning that in history lessons at school.

Luckily, I have enjoyed more gentle events, passing ships, clouds, chalk flints, rain and thought of the impressions made by Monet, Turner and many other artists.

July

Now it is nearly July and I am still transfixed by May Blossom. Using a photo I took earlier this year by the river Ouse near Lewis, I have had another stab at showing the prolific growth of the Hawthorn tree. Every year I am just overwhelmed by both the scent, and the way the bushes seem to just explode into flower. So, armed with a 6b I have tried to put the same energy into my pencil marks. Indicating white blossom and reeds

The Hawthorn tree - bringing home the May

The May blossom just bursts out in casual disarray, and at a time when everything everywhere is so full of new life.

The view sketched here shows the little train station at Southease with its concrete footbridge set midway between Lewes and Newhaven and crossed by the Southdowns Way. It is awash with May Blossom and at this time in spring there is also plenty of audible (and other) activity by local amphibians in the dykes close to the river Ouse. The nettles have pushed up strongly, such a dark, lush contrast with the pale reeds which are almost impossible to focus on as they sway in the wind. All this verdant growth appears to swamp its man-made concrete neighbour.

This really is a great place to enjoy the long lived Hawthorn in spring. Such a long life, if only it could magically whisk you back to ancient history.

My thanks to Glennie Kindred, who knows lots about the May Queen. For more interesting information visit: http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/hawthorn.htm
More about Southease

Cap Sizun

Cap Sizun is one place I have come to love more and more every time I visit it. I think maybe it is its remoteness, the end of the land.

Tourists have to make a special journey to see and enjoy this region. Unlike so many places where you stop off to see a view on the way to somewhere else. Cap Sizun is just a thin finger of land and when you reach the end you have to come back again.

This drawing is a view looking north west from a position near to the Pointe du Millier on the Cap Sizun. Here you see raw beauty at its best and if you want see just how inspiring this part of the Brittany coastline is then visit.
http://www.pointeduraz.com/ it has some beautiful video. For pictures try Image results for Pointe du Millier... http://images.google.co.uk/images.

Monts d'Arrée

The Monts d'Arrée are the remains of an ancient mountain range in western Brittany which forms part of the Armorican massif.

Now the eroded granite mountain range reaches a mere 385 meters at the highest point. Despite this lack of height, the Monts d'Arrée really stand out against the surrounding countryside, which in contrast is so verdant, gentle and rounded.

The ground here is largely uncultivated boggy moorland with just small pockets of cultivation. As the light changes, so does the mood of the landscape. In the winter months the colours change from dry greens and yellows to browns and misty greys. In the low winter sun browns and gingers can often turn a fiery orange.

Wonderful panoramic views can be enjoyed from many high points in Brittany, but views from the Monts d'Arrée are perhaps among the best.

This sketch looks north towards the sea. You can just make out small villages with church spires in the far distance.

The pursuit of likeness

For a long time now I have wanted to learn to draw portraits. I am not used to drawing faces or people, certainly not a likeness. However, to start with, I am making do with the best from a set of embarrassing family photographs taken over the Christmas period in France.


Any attempt I make to interpret a captured moment with a graphite stick, gives me a feeling of both frustration and pleasure all at once.

When I sketch, I am never sure if I am fully in control! My thick graphite stick, as if by magic seems to run out of my control. It slides and scrambles for a better line, searching out both good features and awkward features.

So if I am not in control who is? I wish it could be David Hockney.

The result, good or bad, I feel is a celebration, it leaves me a with better sense of myself and the person I am trying to capture on paper.

I will do my best to carry on the pursuit of likeness, and continue to wonder at the people who are able to achieve this so well.

Happy New Year

What a cold start to 2010. My fingers have been too cold to draw anything so far this year.