Not far from where I live is a boat business, which involves moving large craft out of water; their sculptured shapes can be quite spectacular: this one  I have drawn and painted three times. Awesome, majestic, but also strangely vulnerable, like an aged lady who suddenly finds herself stranded in the hospital where I work:

 

watercolour A5 rough

 

Today as I did some drawing in the etsuary I saw the remains of a vessel, decomposed in the mud: echoes of Graham Sutherland's forms and the Good Friday liturgy: "behold the wood of the cross whereon the Saviour of the wrold was hung".

 

 

fine-liner sepia on cartridge paper A6

 









I'm much in awe of Ian Sidaway's fine liner drawings, and look forward to each new post he puts on his blog; the confident lines, the feeling of "less is more " yet the cross hatching shows how much work has gone into those images. So it is with some trepidation that I post these two drawings done in nib pen and fine liner: this one (above) is" zoom-in"to a scene I sketched in Portsmouth harbour.  Ihad started out with the intention of drawing the barge "Alice", but berthed alongside her was a yacht with people getting ready for sailing. I included them and then realised I was more interested in their poses and movement than the rest of the scene, hence the above drawing.  The original sketch with notes is below:

 

It was a bright but very breezy day. I had tucked myself away behind a "Figure head" ,but it was cold and the hurried look shows in the lines!

Close encounter!

Drawing and painting "plein air" can attract observers; they don't trouble me often but one encounter two days ago was amusing. I was trying to catch clearing skies and low light over the creek leading into Portsmouth harbour.

This is the final version, a small watercolour. What preceded it was the coloured pencil sketch below:-

 

It is very much unfinished, because just as I was getting into it lady and husband arrived. I heard her from a distance of 100 yards. She arrived, peered over my shoulder, "ah yes, that's good--drawing in crayons" "Thank you, no they are coloured pencils!" Undeterred, she carried on, and proceeded to tell me about her drawing and painting and how she loved using crayons too. "They are pencils " I persevered. Finally, overwhelmed with her information I left, the light and the moment gone. AS I moved away I noticed that husband, who had said nothing wore a hearing aid. I wonder whether he keeps it switched off!

I moved onto another site not far away, but of view. Someone had given me a card reproducing an etching of the Castle early last century. -

I did a quick sketch from as close to the location viewpoint as possible, but it's not possible to get to the exact spot; it is now overgrown with trees. The watercolour tries to capture the late afrtennon light hitting the walls. Immersed in the preliminary drawing I suddenly became aware of her voice, two hundred yards away----getting closer.---- I fled!

Line or colour?

This is watercolour A6

same view Ink line with watercolour wash A6

same view again ink line with coloured focal points

and then for something completely different:

D36 at Spithead; watercolour A6