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.

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.

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.

Sandbanks to Bournemouth…and back again

In 2010 Debs and I had a baby boy and desperate for a holiday we managed to blag a stay at my uncles flat in Sandbanks.

Samuel was only 6 months old and couldn’t sit up on his own. We took him on the train to Swanage and foolishly we walked from Sandbanks to Bournemouth and back again. It didn’t look far on the map but as it turns out it was a long way.

Samuel slept most of the way to Bournemouth and I was able to dabble in my past time of urban sketching and people watching. On the way back Samuel woke up and I remember carrying him most of the way back as he wouldn’t settle in the pram.

The following posts are the imagined stories of the people that I sketched/watched on the day.

Below are the initial sketches…

A place to stay

Having little experience of hotels in the area we struck gold when we booked the Hermitage Hotel on the seafront. I have heard people (mostly old) quoted as saying ‘Once you’ve stayed at the Hermitage hotel why would you stay anywhere else?’

Bang centre on the seafront there is access to all the amenities straight from the door. Indeed on every stay we have never moved the car from the car park.
The food is excellent, and most evenings you can be guaranteed locally caught fish. It was the in the main restaurant that I first found a love of scallops.

The picture above is Debs sat on our room watching Telly, perhaps not the best likeness but I thin the picture shows the ‘olde’ world feel of the place when we first stayed.  Subsequent stays have been more expensive as the hotel has climbed the star rating ladder.

In quiet times you can get room upgrades that are worth the view of the sea and the pier in all its glory at night.

Roger Dellar interiors in oils

I attended a workshop with Roger Dellar on Saturday I found an interior subject by looking through my sketch books. The image I choose was of a pre-fab building at the Chiltern Open Air museum. I had already worked out the details in the sketch and produced a colour sketch, this is the way I was taught at school. I find this approach easier than using a reference photo that I have never seen before.

The workshop was to be in oils but my water based oils, which I have never used, felt a bit dry and the linseed oil medium had turned to a solid lump. Roger uses only white spirit and linseed oil with both water based and traditional oils. For the workshop I worked in acrylic.

Roger started the workshop by demonstrating his way of working establishing a dark abstract design that he checked by moving his canvas round and checking from all angles for interesting shapes. He checked the perspective of lines and looked for ways to move the viewers eye round his picture. He then moved on to apply grey colours which he mixed by using the colour he wanted plus a complimentary colour to grey it.

I started my picture well and I managed to create my abstract design before I came a little unstuck. I prefer to work from black and white images with no colour reference So I found it hard to mix greys. I took a break from my work and made everyone a drink. While I was standing in the kitchen I had a good view of my work and I found a way to continue, plus Roger also helped by reminding me that I would need to add some green to the image to bring the view from the window into the picture.

Once the grey stage was complete the painting became easier to complete and after watching a bit more of Rogers demo I learnt that his technique is to look for colour and shapes within the image. On close inspection of my picture you will see abstract marks of colour that when you pull back create the shapes that make up the picture.

I was impressed with the final image. I think there are areas that I could improve as I painted myself into a corner with the dark shape on the right. I added some interesting dark shapes to this to suggest movement and to help the eye round the picture. There are areas within the picture that I think I would develop more in a future oil painting.

Rumour has it that Roger will be returning to the Woodley and Earley arts group to do an open air session next year...something I am looking forward too.

Below are the sketchbook drawings.

 

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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

River at Boscastle

I created this painting from a sketch I drew outside the national trust visitor centre in June 2012. I was struck by the way the afternoon sun had lit up the buildings on the opposite bank. It had just rained and the sky behind the houses and above the hill in this view was black with stormy clouds.

I used this sketch to create a stylised contemporary art work. I love the art of Neil Meacher a member of the Royal Watercolour society and I have tried to create a work in my style using his techniques. The image can be viewed here.

It was hard to imagine the devastation that was witnessed by the flood of 2004. The house in the centre of my image was completely destroyed and rebuilt to with-stand future flooding. The rebuilt car park was also raised 12 foot to help with-stand a future flood.

This is the second time I have been to Boscastle I recorded my first visit back in 1990. You can read about it here.

Below is the original sketch book sketch and studio painting

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

Afternoon Stroll through Boscastle

Afternoon Stroll though Boscastle is inspired by our holiday to Cornwall. We were walking back towards the town from the docks and having come out from the National Trust information centre the sun made a last desperate attempt to pick put the buildings on the opposite side of the river.

This watercolour painting (400mm by 300mm in a light oak frame) is for sale £110.

Blue Fisherman

 Blue Fisherman is inspired by a trip Boscastle, Cornwall. The harbour was busy with boats and there were people fishing from the banks. Although the sun was out there was a harsh wind cutting though the valley.

This watercolour painting is for sale £110.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Lazy Sunday Afternoon is inspired by our holiday to the Isle of Wight where we spent a lot of time on the beach near Applby Park in Ryde. There were rows of beach huts along the seafront and people sat outside them

This painting  (watercolour 400mm by 300mm in a white frame) is for sale £110 Please contact me if you are interested in this image.

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!

 

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Buckets of water

Using my three experimental colours (quinacridone red and gold plus Windsor violet), I aimed to find the lights and darks in my sketch of Samuel on the beach at Ryde. The nice thing about these colours is, they are all transparent and rarely, for me, produce muddy colours. I used a layering technique to get the darks and the final colour I layered in was q.gold to add brightness around the image - particularly on the back of Sams jacket to enrich the orange.

 

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Digger

Quick sketch ready for a watercolour of Samuel on a toy digger from our holiday in Cornwall.

 

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What you looking at?

 

My son and his little friend Chloe looking at something at Chloe’s parents wedding. I always look for different things to take pictures of when I am at gatherings, people’s expressions can be really great. I have tried to simplify the faces down to basic light and dark areas. I think this has worked apart from Chloe’s eyes which I wish I had not made so detailed. I am also a bit unsure of the proportions of Samuels arm!

The original Sketchbook entry 9 May 2012

Clovelly Nets

I love the seaside and especially fisherman’s clutter that can be found lying around. In Clovelly I was inspired by the lobster pots and the colours that shone through the netting material. I tried to work out if I was painting the netting or the holes. The rough cobbles created a regular pattern to help draw the eye into the picture.

 

While I was painting this picture I read an article in the artist and illustrators magazine about gouache resist. So I thought I would give it a try. Using a piece of mount board I drew my image and then proceeded to paint gouache in the areas I wanted to keep white. When this was dry I painted over the whole image with Indian ink.

Then after a night of drying I washed the image under a cold tap to release the gouache paint. Then I added some watercolour to the image…

I have read other versions of this technique and I might come back and explore them one day…Stay Tuned.

Clovelly fishing pots image from my sketch book.

Room 28b Royal Brompton Hospital

Apologies to all sketch fans on the world wide web – Martinsonlinesketchbook has not been updated due in part to illness. BUT I am on the mend and here is the proof a sketch from my latest hospital admission in the Royal Brompton Hospital.

This is a respirator called the Bird and it is used to help get air in the to the lungs and this helps to clear sputum and infection. I must admit when the physio said she was going to give me the bird I thought I’d right royally upset her! The machine is connected to a supply of neat oxygen to help expand the lungs when you breathe in. Surprisingly it works really well and I think ever home should have one, purely because neat oxygen gives you a bit of a buzz.

This is the view from my hospital bed looking out onto Chelsea, London (look up sw3 6hr on google maps). My room is directly opposite a night club called 86. This was quite loud at night.

The IV pump on the left became my best friend for the first 10 days of my admission as I was attached to it non-stop. This did present some difficulties, particularly when I needed the toilet. The little wheels had a mind of their own and the tube connecting me was just long enough to be an inconvenient distance.

I did get to see the Olympic Road Race, both the Men’s and the Women’s and I managed to make some sketches of the spectators which I will post in the next few days.