davy jones (and squirrel nutkin)

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

peter tork

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

mike nesmith

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

even more daredevil

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

salami

Two different types of salami, the view from the balcony of the apartment and a conversation between myself and the Junior Marvel that made me laugh.

Me: Did you have a nice time today?
E: Yes.
Me: What was your best bit – oh hang on – I think I know what your best bit was. The merry-go-round, right?
E: Yes. But I didn't like it when the girl went on the pink horse before me. It destroyed my heart.
Me: IT DESTROYED YOUR HEART?!?
E: Yes. It chopped it in half.

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

tomatoes

Last week, we were in Caorle –  a beautiful resort town just outside Venice. There are brightly coloured buildings everywhere with painted wooden shutters, narrow alleyways that lead to cobbled squares surrounded on all sides by cafes, restaurants and ice cream shops and in the centre of town, a bell tower dating from the 11th century. The seafront has a long promenade lined on one side with large boulders into which sculptors have carved all manner of things – dolphins, lizards, faces, hands etc. – and at the far end on a promontory is The Church of the Blessed Virgin of the Angel, a pretty little church overlooking the sea.

So what did I draw? Some tomatoes and a workman's orange van.

In my defence, the only time I could find for drawing was just after lunch when everyone else went for a siesta. Unfortunately, the sun was at it's highest point then and there was very little shade anywhere. I managed to find some shelter by a wall, but this was the view I had and drawing en plein air that day was very uncomfortable, so the results aren't great. It's safe to say that my drawing mojo abandoned me during my holidays which was very frustrating given that there was so much to see and draw.

The tomatoes (from Fede's dad, grown in his own garden, with a fantastic flavour) are the best things here – drawn indoors, sat at a dining table in a cool shady kitchen. I left a blank space below, intending to draw other lovely foodstuffs we ate whilst we were there – breads, cheeses, courgettes, olives etc., but didn't get round to it. Probably too busy stuffing my face to stop and draw...

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

ottica

First of a series of (bad) drawings made on a recent trip to Italy.  Once again, I'm having to scan these on my crummy A4 scanner at home and the Stillman and Birn sketchbook doesn't quite fit on the glass so I have to make two scans and then stick them together with digital glue. The problem is intensified when I scan a double spread as I have to do it in four parts which takes FOREVER and looks pretty ropey. Still, it doesn't matter too much, as the drawings themselves are poor and no amount of quality scanning could redeem them. Well, YOU try drawing in 34°C with sweaty hands and a sore arse from sitting on a hard street whilst mosquitoes nibble on your extremities. No-one knows the pain I feel (sigh)...

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

crocosmia (and other flowers)

Flowers from the back garden, Highdown and Southover Grange.

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

leaves

I uploaded a version of this to my website recently. I tried lots of different background colours – greens, blues, reds – and couldn't make a decision on which I preferred. I opted for red leaves on my website and am posting an alternate version here.

The image of the woman is from my sketchbook and I like it despite the fact that her lack of eyes is a device I've used a little too frequently of late. I drew the leaves on a separate page, printed this and taped it to my lightbox where I used it as a guide to draw the highlights. I made two attempts at this, the first with a brush and Winsor & Newton Indian Ink and the second using a Copic brush pen. The Copic version was deemed 'best. This drawing was then digitised, layered over the original 'leaves' image and the illustration of the woman added as an additional layer. Finally, the whole thing was coloured using electronic crayons.

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and Copic brush pen on Stillman and Birn Alpha Series paper. Digital colour.