Day 3 - Doodlewash February Challenge

 Today we are back with the Bloop's. This time swinging on time, and enjoying every second. I don't think there is any more puns to have here.

February Doodlewash Challenge

 I've decided to do another month of Doodlewash challenges. Not sure what inspired me but I do like daily painting. Todays image is of my new character the Bloops. These little guys will get into to all sorts of mischief. This is the prompt - Reflection.

A New Year of Ideas

 Happy New Year everyone. I have decided to start the year by publishing 3 video tutorials using my watercolour technique. It's a fairly simple 4 step process. 

1) drawing

2) initial wash

3) add dark tones

4) details

The equipment I use is simple, a matchstick pen similar to the one Edward Wesson would have used, A large mop brush and a limited watercolour colour palette consisting of warm and cool colours - windsor yellow, quinacridone gold, colbolt blue, ultramarine blue, burnt Sienna and permanent rose. 

All the details are in the video.

If you enjoyed the video please subscribe to my Youtube channel and give me a like. 

COVID Birthday

Been stuck in Lockdown and unable to shop properly we rely on a friend to get us treats from Marks and Spencer. On my birthday to my surprise I had a nicely brought shop card. In handing me my card Debs announced that I owed my friend £14 for a selection of cards... 

Whistling throw

 

Seeing through on a promise to Samuel I brought him a toy for being good. Debs was in the toilet and I was guarding the handbag and stuff. The whistling toy was just inside the shop and I gave Samuel the money to buy it himself. I could just about see the shop counter and he managed brilliantly.

On the beach the whistling toy worked great, but it was a really hot day and we kept dipping our feet in the sea to cool dow

Debs drank coke leaning against the rocks.

 

Coppet beach location sketches

Little red ice cream van

 

Walking from Wisemans bay to Saundersfoot is hungry work. We stopped daily at the little Ed ice cream van and sat to watch the tide. It wa a handy half way stop to the heritage park where we were staying.

The pathway itself is the old narrow gauge railway that took coal from hertiage park to the harbour at Saundersfoot. I imagine the pathway has been made wider with the sea defence, but the two tunnels that you pass through on the way are 100 per cent original. Apart from the LEDs in the path.

Location sketch of Wisemans bay.

Crocs on rocks

 

It was a windy day when we stopped on the south Tenby beach in front of the harbour. The tide was coming in and the jelly fish were collecting on the sand.

It turns out I'm not great with heights and when three young lads stated to climb the rock on the beach I became queezy. The fact they were wearing crocs didn't help. Who wears crocs to climb? Bear feet would propbably be better.

Fortunately they made it to the top and down again without any incident. I'm thinking of buying some crocs to see if they help my fear of heights.

Location sketches of Tenby harbour.

 

High tide

 

The town of Tenby is split into a north and south beach. The yellow sands stretch a far a the eye can see almost drawled by the towering cliffs that the town sits on. Even the holiday brochures highlight the magnificent beaches.

It was with high expectations that we took our locally made pasties to that wonderful beach. Which seemed everso slighlty over crowded. It was high tide at Tenby and the beach had all but disappeared. We found a very small place to sit and eat lunch as the hundred odd steps back to the top of the cliffs seemed like an incredibly long journey.

A sketch of the steps that I did after lunch, listening to two medical students discussing their morning...

 

Bottle top glasses

 

There is nothing like fish and chip when you are on holiday. Saudersfoot has 2 marvellous establishments and we found ourselves waiting forever in the main one on the harbour front. This led to some serious people watching.

The main person serving had the biggest glasses that I have ever seen, and I lived through the eighties. Along with this she has an eye watering squint and the ability to see into next week. I lost my train of thought several times as I tried to stare into her eyes and realised I was having to look through my ear.

The old woman serving in the back ground was mainly holding boxes while a shirted man shovelled chips in rapid fire. It was a well oiled machine with orders flying into the restaurant and to the take away point. Pity then that our order had been forgotten and we sat and waited for theee quarters of an hour.

I'm sure this was revenge by the squinty-eye girl who found my staring quite obnoxious.

Walk to Saundersfoot

 

Wet Wales, that was what I was told to expect. We packed warm clothes and summer outfit. I the end we spent the week in t-shirts and shorts. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Our plans to explore the green countryside vanished as we spent the week walking along the old tramway coastal path from Wisemans Bridge to Saundersfoot.

The most spectacular part of the journey was a walk through two man made tunnels carved through the cliffs. It was dark and damp but the temperature was wonderfully low and a great escape from the scorching hot summer sun.

 

Paper planes

 

Paper planes sketch

Oscar and his little brother were frequent visitors to our cabin.

To stop them reengineering Sam's Lego and because we had started origami in the evening - I made three paper planes for racing across the room. I mean where is the danger?

Chaos quickly ensued as the first plane landed in the lampshade. The competition soon changed to who could land the plane in the lampshade.

Swiftly followed by, 'oops my plane has landed in the washing up bowl...and it now flies like a brick.

Polka dots

 

Being lost for words is not something of which I suffer, but while Debs was off buying ice cream - lost for words was how I was...

Walking up the beach at first I thought 'how very daring a young woman deciding to brave the elements and throw caution to the wind, perhaps a bit of skinny dipping.

Sadly the closer the woman got, and the more curious I got , the truth became more scary.

The woman who had looked young, became old. The caution to the wind became a rather small pair of flesh toned polka dot bikini bottoms. Swiftly followed by the heavey pounding of gigantic chubby legs.

However she seemed happy.

 

Dave had made some money finding car keys, but what he really dreamed of was Dorset Gold!

During our Epic coastal walk – which might have been as far as 6 miles! – you get to see all sorts of people.

Nothing amuses me more, (well other than people falling off of water skies), than watching people using metal detectors on the beach. Pecking around like chickens searching for feed, finding only bear cans and metal buttons.

The National Geographic website can only be blamed for encouraging these people, follow this link to see the most unusual finds including a model T ford – I Bet the AA even managed to restart it, after they emptied the carburettor of sand.

Skip had been following his nose all day when he realised that his master was not at his tail.

 

Skip was a little white Westie that I saw on our epic walk from Sandbanks to Bournemouth – and back again.

I used a sketch of a life buoy and rocks to add some drama to the scene.

His actual owners were not far off behind him but like most dogs he had run off ahead. At the sound of the crashing waves he would look back to check he was still being followed.

I had a black Heinz 57 dog that had a similar disposition. She never treated the fences of our back garden as a deterrent against escape. In the first year that we had her we received a constant flow of phone calls from neighbouring roads where she had escaped over our back fence. She also managed to turn on the gas in the kitchen one time but that’s another story.

We also had a Yorkshire Terrier that disappeared on Brean Sands in Somerset in search of some liberated Fish and Chips.

I guess we have a history of badly behaved dogs!

Before the Evening Tide

This painting was produced at a workshop with the talented Chris Forsey. It is a mixed media technique using watercolour, acrylic and pastels. The composition was taken from a site sketch I produced while on holiday in June 2012.

I went on to produce a more stylised version of this painting using techniques from Neil Meacher. The image can be viewed here.

This was created on a very wet day after a visit to Tintagel Castle. I can remember visiting this area in the 1990's and I sat eating an ice cream on the harbour wall. During the flood of 2004 this harbour was left littered with cars some of which were washed out to sea. Read the story here. The afternoon was sunny and hot but there was a stiff breeze blowing from the sea and this was where I got the idea to produce the picture Blue Fisherman.

The various steps to achieve this image and it's sister Blue Fisherman

A Christmas Gift or Special Occasion?

Are you looking for something different for a Christmas present?  Why not challenge me to produce a cartoon for you?

Do you have a family story which could be illustrated?

Let me know and I'll produce a cartoon for you. I use watercolour and the images fit within a normal A4 frame.

Here is an example of my work plus a recommendation.

 

I'm dead chuffed that I managed to keep quiet beforehand (it was a struggle). And, when he saw it, Husband was also dead chuffed. It's not often I've managed to give him a complete surprise or something that's unique. At least, not something he's liked. Helen Gazeley read the full review here

Pimms at Woodcote Steam Rally

What's better than a pimms on a hot summer day? A pimms served from a converted mini van.

Initial wash of watercolour.

The original pen sketch.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Parrots and bouncy castles at Woodcote Steam Rally

The parrot man is the UK's only travelling parrot show. I forgot to make a note of his website but he was very entertaining, especially when his untrained parrot bit him. On a more serious note the parrot man owns a parrot sanctuary where he re-homes birds. He goes round schools and entertains the children.

So with an airshow, classic cars, traction engines and the parrot man, what did Samuel like the most at Woodcote steam rally? The bouncy castle.

There were 2 bouncy castles and for a few quid you got 15 minutes but a notice quite clearly said that everyone must pay with no exceptions. I over heard one parent say, 'I'm not paying 3 quid to get my son off of that and the bloke knows it, he's on to a good thing.'

Samel enjoyed the bouncy castles and it did prove difficult to get his attention to get him off. And no I didn't pay. I waited patiently for half an hour. The I bribed him with an ice cream.

 

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Woodcote steam rally

Years ago I used to visit the woodcote steam rally as an exhibitor with a traction engine that my dad built. In recent years I have become a regular paying visitor. There are 2 types of weather at woodcote, hot and wet. This year I was lucky that the weather was hot. Too hot.

At the same time as the steam rally there is usually an airshow that is kind enough to do a fly past over the woodcote rally. This year was the turn of spitfires and a Lancaster bomber. Samuel was a bit concerned that the planes would be too noisey and actually hid under a table at lunch to avoid the noise.

More interesting, from my point of view, than the planes was the expressions on people's faces and the way people were using their phone cameras to take pictures. It would seem gone are the days when people shield their eyes from the sun to watch the action, it's now who can take a picture and put it on Facebook first!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Appley Tower, IOW

This is a sketch of Appley tower on the Isle of Wight.

 

Posted with Blogsy