ellie (red crayon)

Quick sketch of Ellie made during one of our drawing sessions. Ellie supplied the swirling vortex in the background adding a much needed psychedelic element to the image.

Red and Black Crayola crayons, on a loose sheet of A4 printer paper.

ursine aviator

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours, in A4 Daler Rowney 150gsm sketchbook.

hangover

I was really happy with the drawing I made of me with a swollen ankle (see here), so thought I'd try a similar approach and try to capture the rather sorry figure I cut the other weekend, after a particularly heavy drinking session. I say 'particularly heavy', but these days, a pint of mild and a couple of gin fizzes can have the most disastrous effects on a person.

Anyway, I made a good stab at the body but the face caused me all sorts of problems and I had to draw about a hundred versions of it before I was anything like happy with it. Which I'm not, but you have to stop sometime and admit defeat. Capturing a beautiful visage like mine in a few deft lines is no mean feat, I can tell you.

The image at the top is the original double spread from my sketchbook, whilst the one below is a digitally assembled composite made from two drawings.

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours, in A4 Daler Rowney 150gsm sketchbook.

big head

Large self-portrait I made the other day whilst I was in between DIY jobs. The line running through the right eye was originally a guide for the width of the bridge of the nose – the plan was to completely fill the double spread with a more extreme close-up than the one here, but it didn't turn out quite as I'd intended. You can also see that deciding on the width of the face was an issue, one that prompted me to stop drawing but I like the fact that the drawing is 'unfinished'. Sometimes you just have to listen to your inner voice saying stop, no more detail, that's enough.

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink, in A4 Daler Rowney 150gsm sketchbook.

ellie

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink, in A4 Daler Rowney 150gsm sketchbook.

old macdonald (again)

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours, in A4 Daler Rowney 150gsm sketchbook.

turtles

Parker Jotter Pen with Parker Quink ink and pencil crayon, in A4 Daler Rowney 150gsm sketchbook.

"you've made my chin look big!"

Yes, I did. Sorry about that.

british museum sketches pt.395

Various sketches made on a recent visit to the British Museum...

nature, red in tooth and claw

i've got crabs

...in my sketchbook. Dead ones too. A splash of colour would have been most welcome here, but I'm still struggling with materials, specifically trying to find a fountain pen that's nice to draw with and will take waterproof ink...