Thumbnails of the twelve figures as mentioned in the last Blog entry. I shall feature them all at a later date, probably after the New Year.

This is one of a series of twelve figure drawings I have done in the last few months. The images are from fashion designs and here I have been exploring images created with certain photography techniques. This white vignetting effect occours in pinhole camera photography. Used here in drawing it is a chance to show a fully developed drawing in the centre and then gradually reveal the stages of development as the eye moves to the periphery of the picture.
All the images are in pencil of varying softnesses (3B -12B) done on 300gsm cartridge. The size of each is A3. I plan to exhibit them as a self contained entity at some (as yet unspecified) time in the future.

Sometimes the boundary between drawing and painting can get a bit blurred. This was drawn in ultramarine watersoluble pencil and thin washes as layers applied afterwards.

There are dozens of headless and limbless statues lying about at ancient sites in the eastern Mediterranean. Its hardly surprising when we look at Greek history over the last two of three thousand years. What with the Phonecians, then the Medes and Persians, the Peloponesian wars to say nothing of the iconoclastic elements of later religious zealots. But the fragments that are extant make for interesting drawings. They've certainly given me an ongoing project to work on.

A couple of Hellenic figures. No comment really, I just fancied posting them from the last Cyprus sketchbook. The standing figure is the famous "Anzio Girl" and the other is simply a "Seated Girl", Γυνηη καθομι.

Harbour at Low Tide. St. Ives.

Drawn using two pages (full spread) of sketchbook. Interesting how the fold is co-incidently aligned with the sea margin.

St. Ives harbour. The beach at low tide. Pencil drawing on 150 gsm cartridge size 10 x 10 cm. I took a small pocket sized sketchbook with me to St. Ives. A handy size when working outside in an Atlantic gale.

I took with me my usual four clutch pencils; HB 0.5 mm., 3B 2 mm., 6B 3mm. and 4B 6mm. This latter functioned as a sort of graphite stick. I had a chunk of putty rubber and a collection of servietttes gleaned from the various cafés I visit.

I usually take along with me a (very) small box of watercolours. I carry the water in an old, small perfume spray bottle that holds about 50 mls. and a plastic medicine measure serves as a resevoir. All very cheap and easy to carry. I do allow myself one expensive item, the brush; it is a good quality sable that closes like a fountain pen. A good sable will shape to a very fine point. Its bulk holds colour well and when squeezed out, lifts excess colour off the paper with ease. The whole lot fits easily into a small satchel or as sometimes is the case, takes up no more room than two large anorak pockets.

Beach Margin No.2. Pencil drawing on A3 size 300gsm paper. I think this is a Mediterranean scene but it could be St. Ives where I will be for the next week or so.

This is the composite drawing I mentioned yesterday in which I used a mixture of paper types ranging from high quality to cheap wrapping paper. I also varied the medium too. The whole figure stands 130 cm tall so is almost life size. This was the first studio project that I got under way during this last stint in Cyprus. I did it, quite frankly, just to get something on to the bare walls. The studio space was newly whitewashed and more resembled a clinic than a studio. It took a couple of days to complete and became the jumping off point for a whole series of pieces on this theme. They were not all of necessity caryatids but the mythical theme was never very far away.

This is the left side panel of the head which is about A3 size ink drawing using a Rotring technical pen on tracing paper.
The right hand panel of the head is a watercolour painted on Bockingford 400gsm paper. The elements here were drawn initially using water soluble clour pencils and was was added later. This is my usual technique when using this medium. This is the most painterly panel on the figure; the rest of it made more use of line, sometimes in marker pen, sometimes paint (acrylic), sometimes graphite and again sometimes charcoal. Basically, if it made a mark, I used it.

Caryatid line drawing. I have been somewhat taken by the sculptures of the Hellenic perion (circa 500BC). Theiraccurate representations of the figure are quite striking. The caryatid is a pillar carved into the shape of a (usually female) figure. She is free standing but as a caryatid has the capital of the pillar sett above her head. I have taken the liberty to omit this.

Subsequent drawings have evolved into a more modern looking image but still with that quasi classical look. It is intended at sometime to do some larger work in the future based on this theme. Indeed there is already a multi-media drawing which I made while in Cyprus, - looking at the real thing, - and will show here probably tomorrow. On the left here she has evolved into a bookmark.

The original bookmark piece is a strip taken from a piece of A3 paper so is 42 cm long. I have copied this in to my PC, so copies 21cm long are available if you'd like one. Just let me know.

Arches within arches. Αγιος Λαζαρός church of St. Lazarus in Larnaka. A cloister runs parallel to the south side of the church and it has a vaulted cieling. It is interesting how we come to see more as we draw "from the life." The open arches in the arcading contrast with the solidity of the vaulted ceiling filling the spaces between the ribs. In this case, some of the ribbing is absent and the whole thing is held up by its own dynamic. Unlike English Gothic, the decoration here is minimal.

Solitary stone resting on the sand beneath the waves. While in Larnaka where the sea is warmer than the average swimming pool I often walked to and from the studio along the sea's edge and more often than not would walk along the shoreline but some 200 yards out to sea where the water was still only knee deep. The patterns created in the sand by wave action are fascinating on their own but I was struck by this single solitary stone. Its presence interrupted the flow of the lines in the sand. It reminded me of those zen gardens in Japan where isolated stones are surrounded by sand or gravel. Overlying all this is the bright sparkling reflection of the sun. The light tracery dances briefly over the more static imagery beneath..
I had to draw it.
4B graphite on 300gsm paper. Done in five minutes flat. Totally spontaneous.

Life drawing in Larnaka. I don't normally show my life drawings but this at least illustrates some of the wide ranging activities that take place at CYCA.

"Life Drawing is the last bastion of bourgiose art," I once heard quoted. Sorry but I strongly disagree. I have written my opinions on the other blog which you can see here.

Just as a matter of interest, I used the cloth the model was sitting on for my key refence points and one of the vertical folds as a proportion measuring tool instead of the model's head as a standard unit as is the norm. See Euan Uglow's work to see what I mean.

The Sea at Larnaka. An exercise in pure line drawing. Taken from an A5 sketctchbook.

"Sleeping Amazon" taken from a statue of the Hellenic period circa 400BC.

The sleeping myth image drifting on the Mediterranean tide, nothing solid, just a dream formed from the foam. The Eastern Med seems to do that to me. It plays on my northern European romantic streak.

The work is on 300 gsm cartridge paper, A3 size and line drawing using soft pencils, 4B, 6B and some 9B. An exercise in line only drawing. This is one of several pieces done at the Larnaka studios.

Sunrise on the Med. Water-soluble pencil drawing. This is from last year's Cyprus sketchbook. Finished work as paintings have followed from this in the series "Sea Pictures".
I will be on the bus to Heathrow later today. I will be in Larnaca, Cyprus, for the next month.

A finished drawing of stones on a beach, a logical conclusion to yesterday's image though this is not a finished version of that. Mixed media on Bockingford paper. 21 x 21 cm.

Stones on a beach.... Taken from a recent sketchbook. I do many of these little studies. I am interested in the way random objects lie in relation to each other. They are the still-lifes that occour in nature, whether it be bricks, gravel or a collection of other objects. There should soon be plenty of scope with the onset of autumn.

But I forget one thing: in a weeks time I will be back in Cyprus and will miss the English autumn . I am posting other drawings from the sketchbooks daily during the run up to departure on my other Blog.

Pages from a sketchbook showing forest landscape studies which resulted in a finished drawing...
...called "Faraway." A graphite drawing with charcoal underdrawing done on 400 gsm paper. You can also view the image here.

Window in the ruined abbey at Whitby. Taken from a sketchbook dated 2004.

I was at my daughter's place in Wales last week. We weeded a huge garden part of which I did a drawing of here. This was at a halfway point in the weed clearing operation. The image is from the current sketchbook. It is about A5 size.
The garden sweeps up a steep slope and is terraced with drystone walling and in this case, overgrown with bracken and brambles thus making up a chaotic mixture.
Well it did.... but now the weedings done.....

In my other Blog, the posting "Beachcomber" features a day doing just that and associated artistic activity. This drawing was done not on Morecambe Bay but in the eastern Med last year. I was sitting on the beach doing the usual sea studies when I noticed this footprint (not mine) beside a stone also the track of the mountain bike I had borrowed.
Apart from its qualities as a drawing, the image is quite evocative. Memories.

Stony Shoreline. "Sea Pictures" is an exhibition of paintings. This image supports the show in that it is one of many drwings done in preparation.
Observation -> drawing -> idea -> more observation -> more drawing -> painting. Seems a logical process. But it never quite works that way. Often the painting is a retrospective look at the drawing. The drawing shows what I saw. The painting shows what the drawing said.

"Sea Pictures" is now on show at the Art Lounge Gallery in Merthyr Tydfil. You can find the gallery here.
There are thirteen works on show, eleven are acrylic paintins on board, and two are mixed media drawings.

Another of the "new" drawings, part of the series on which the profile portrait was featured last Tuesday. They are featured here as well and on another site here.

New drawings. I am currently making a series of drawings on separate sheets of A2 cartridge paper. I was impressed recently by some minimalist b&w photographs and decided to make a few drawings where only the centre of the field has any great detail and then periphery is considerably lessened. I find the result rather encouraging.

By coincinence, one of our Studio members showed me some photos taken with a pinhole camera. Visual field is almost 180º but what is striking is the white vignetting which looks not unlike what I have been doing. Pinhole photography, by the way, has an aperture around f400 and an infinite depth of field. The exposure time is almost glacial.

But back to drawing. The information on the paper is enough. I think the eye can read what has been omitted. Or the imagination of the viewer can fill in the gaps, perhaps.

Edgar Degas was noted for his portrayals of ballet dancers. Its not only his paintings that are worthy of note, but his drawings too. As can be seen from the above example, he gridded off the paper to arrive at correct proportion. What I find interesting here, is that although the size of the squares equals one "head" as is the general rule of thumb, the rest of it appears at first to go out of the window. Normally a free-standing figure is about seven and a half to eight "heads" tall. But here, the figure only takes up six squares. Yet the thing is right. And the reason is, - foreshortening of some of the limbs. The lower part of the forward leg is correct at two "heads" from foot to knee, but the upper leg is angled away from the viewer. This is neatly hidden behind the dancer's dress. I could rabbit on.....

The message is as always in life drawing, - draw what is really there, not what we think is there.

There is another aspect of Degas' depiction of these ballet dancers; while the dancers themselves create the illusion of grace and delicacy, Degas shows in his work the sheer hard work that goes into doing this. Backstage the grim reality is far removed from the floating dreamworld shown on stage. Indeed some of the "dancer" pictures have a lot in common with his Ironers, a picture of girls working in a sweatshop.

What Degas had to say about drawing: *

"Drawing is not what one sees but what one can make others see".

"I am a colourist with line..... To colour is to pursue drawing into a greatetr depth."

* = " DEGAS by himself " edited by Richard Kendall, Published by Time-Warner Books

ISBN 0-316-72810-1

A ballet shoe. Some time ago, circa 2003/4 I did a series of paintings of dancers, an example can be seen on the Luneside website, click on the image to enlarge.

This drawing is from an old sketchbook. Its about 15 cms square, pen and wash.

Its interesting, is it not, how some of these sketches, never intended to be finished works become such in their own right.

Some of the "Dancer" work is unfinished business. There still are avenues to explore. Perhaps I shall get back to it some time...

Progression #2. Something I did in 2004. It shows the same piece of forest but (reading left to right), increasing density in drawing techinque. Starting with pure line and progressing to full tone. I had planned to show this at Kielder this year but the glass is broken. No time to rectify that now. Pity.

This is a fore runner of the sea series such as the example here. [Please click.]

"Fade" is a large drawing 100 x 70 cm done exclusively in pencil with the exception of the centre foreground tree which was prepainted in watercolour. Compelted in the summer of last year it now hangs in the Studio Gallery of the Dukes Theatre in Lancaster.

Pencils used ranged from HB to 9B.

The title fade refers of course to the way the background recedes into the mists; a common feature in dense forest. Easy to get lost but despite this, there is beauty to be seen here. But if one does get lost, then finding a way out or getting one's bearings can override appreciation of the forest's aesthetic charm.

Patterns made by sea foam over shallow water. Long sunny days spent filling a sketchbook and observing these patterns, how they shift and change. If the water stays calm long enough, the pattern holds itself. Then even the slightest ripple changes the whole thing. Fascinating to watch, - frustrating to draw accurately from the life. This is where the camera comes in. An instant in time frozen for more detailed study later.

This image was drawn using 3B and 4B graphite sticks and a fine point 3B pencil. Image is 21 cm square. This was drawn into a sketchbook while outdoors enjoying the summer sunshine. 25ºC here in North-west England. It could have been Cyprus!

A rotting gatepost in Wales. While wandering the hills above the valleys that run south from Merthyr Ttydfyl last March, I came across this wooden gate stook lying in the grass. It had been replaced by a new wooden one and this one was left to rot where it lay. The cavities had become filled with leaves and the grass grew around it. But the grain of the wood lent itself to a whole abstact concept.

So here, it is drawn as a free-flowing form, but fixed by the fine mesh of straight lines that make up the background.

Graphite drawing; three pieces, 10 x 10 cm on 180gsm cartridge paper.

Profile Head. This is of the same ilk as the one posted on April 25 but more influenced by fashion illustration, - whose images bear no relation to actual fashion/clothing as worn.

What interests me here is the juxtaposition of natural and goemetrical forms, viz: the hatched rectangle about the face and the further juxtaposition of monochrome black and white against colour, - an area explored in other work such as the sea and the forest.

Mixed media is used here; ink, pencil, watercolour and gouache. The work is on an A4 sketchbook page.

Andromeda - one of the mythical series from Cyprus. As mentioned in the previous posting I spoke of super-imposing contour made with tracing paper. This is the original water colour sketch idea. This is a contour drawing of the model's head. She is not bald or shaven headed by the way. The outline of the cranium needed to be gauged. I did the contour drawing on cartridge in the normal way then later traced the image.
And here, we have the final result with the traced drawing over the painting.
I did this the old fashioned way with papers and inks etc. I am experimenting with Corel Draw and Corel OCR Trace with this idea. Some of the results are proving interesting as some of the program functions can be a bit unpredictable. Besides, drawing with a mouse is a bit like trying to draw with a brick with a pencil pushed through the middle.

One of a number of figure studies in my current sketchbook. This drawing has been tidyed up on Corel Photopaint. The grey rectangle behind the figure is in gauache but the brushwork is visible. I have used the software to eliminate this. The rest of it is "as drawn".
There is an idea germinating in my mind to make an artist's book of figure images. The ideas are manifold if not a little nebulous. For example, a series of maiden/nurse-like images as above, (this imagery has occupied me off-and-on for the last ten years or so), or perhaps ballet dancers, - derived from a series of paintings I did some four years back in which there are a number of undeveloped sketches, or again, more recently, grecian figures developed from my trips to Cyprus.
What I have in mind is a painterly image covered by a removable piece of tracing paper with a line drawing of the figure.
I will post an image of this idea at a later date.

My seven year old Grandson in Wales showed me some of his work. He has put together a portfolio for me to look at. I must admit to being quite impressed. This first image is of his home and the back garden. The garden is an elongated affair and at the time of drawing had a pile of large logs at its far end.
This next one shows a flower of some sort. He told me it is a venus Flytrap. It does resemble one. He drew it from memory after visiting and exotic park. I think he has a good eye for form for his age range.
Most striking, is this drawing of a dinosaur. (He has done lots of drawings of various dinosaurs. He is rather "in" to them just now.) This drawing is remarkably accurate when compared with the original illustration he worked from and featured below.
This illustration is from the "Collins Book of Dinosaurs" published by Harper Collins.

Like my grand-daughter featured on Jan 28, he too has artistic ambitions. I find that most encouraging. Perhaps its a sign of the times. If there is an active artist in the family, the younger element seem more encouraged. I can remeber my childhood when drawing was actively discouraged as time wasting, both at school and at home. All I wanted to do was draw, - anything.

Cornish Engine House. Done in 2003 and as the note says, it is a composite. As I recall, I was on a bus along by Zennor and Pendeen way and we passed several of these ruined buildings. It was a good excercise in speed drawing but I didn't have to try too hard to remember what I'd seen as successive engine houses hove into view. They are dotted all over western Cornwall.
In a way I suppose you could say, "When you've seen one, you've seen 'em all." But you can say that about a lot of things. Whatever, this image is somewhat evocative I think. A sort of snapshot.

Rooftop study done along with the previous Slaidburn drawing shown earlier. This one turned up in an old sketchbook from 2003. I was having a bit of a "ratch" (Cumbrian word) through some old stuff when this one turned up. That period in Slaidburn Youth Hostel was a one of long hot lazy summer days with good light that clearly picked out every detail. Again, the tinting was done in cold tea. You can just about visualise it, sitting there in the sun with a cup of tea, drawing this and geting absorbed in the activity of drawing. My teas goes cold. Can't waste good tea... use it as a drawing medium.

This little drawing was done some three years or so ago while I was wardening a youth hostel in Slaidburn, near Clitheroe in Lancashire. "Slaiburn" which is the title of this piece is a real olde worlde type of village. The view from the back window which is only about a foot of so square, if that, is of old roofs and chimneys. It was asking to be drawn. I did this in watersoluble pencil and afterwards applied a wash of cold tea. No wash was applied to the window frame so as to preserve the original whiteness of the paintwork. The use of unconventional materials, like cold tea, wine dregs and whatever else is to hand at the time can create interesting effects. It probably doesn't show up too well here but cold tea is rather like water colour raw umber. Is there a tannin pigment I wonder?

Another version of the patch of shingle featured earlier. As I hinted, I have drawn this using a Rotring pen. The technique is tighter definitely. What is also interesting is the way these objects seem to have something of an organic element to them.

" Shingle Drawing" - for want of a better title. 27 x 27 cm pencil drawing on pre-tinted Bockingford paper, 250 gsm. I laid down a watercolour wash and after it had dried I drew on it using 8B watersoluble pencil on the coloured area and washed it in and a 6B normal pencil on the rest. I worked from a photograph I took on a beach in Corfu some two years ago.
What is interesting is what arises during the drawing process. The first part of the actual drawing involved setting down the contours of the individual pebbles. In a way I would have liked to have stopped there. But the original concept was to arrive at some sort of photorealistic image but at the same time have part of the work with the colour bleached out to highlight the drawing element of the work. I think I have managed that to some degree where it is full colour at one end and monochrome (B&W) at the other.
However, I think I will be doing another version of this showing contour only. I shall probably do the initial contour drawing in pencil and finish with an ink drawing using a [Rotring] technical pen. It seems to demand a technical drawing element. Certainly calling for a somewhat tight technique. What do you think?

New drawing taken from a fashion photo. There is some retouching of the dark area to the left of the upheld finger done with photoshop. The dark area is as intense as this but the black graphite surface, being smooth, reflects the light giving it a silvery appearance when photographed.

Image is A4 size on paper at A3 size, 180gsm. Drawn throughout in soft graphite. No charcoal used. This whole picture is simply an exercise.