Well back home again after a super trip. Lots of sketching in Sidmouth with also two hours working in Exeter squeezed in for good measure.

Apart from much enjoyment and a super time with my wife and a friend, the trip was also quite significant in other ways.

Street sketching is always a difficult discipline, which needs to be practised regularly to keep the necessary skills up to scratch.  Firstly the use of the pen in the open air, then secondly being able to recognise and draw perspective in a flash, without to much thought. To sharpen myself up, I did not allow the use of a pencil. Therefore incorrect lines cannot be erased, that is demanding as forethought is required for every line before its application. It worked, even if it is the hard way of doing things; it is a good way of learning and to boot, I am relatively pleased with the work done.

A commission was given to me as I sat on the pavement in Sidmouth, promptly I toddled round to his house and drew it for him. One very pleased customer; its nice to be appreciated.  

Lots of folk chatted to me as I sketched; made many friends and generally feel encouraged; we all need that. 

Sketching in Exeter presented different challenges, read my next blog.

Sidmouth is it's usual relaxing friendly self. Yesterday was spent sketching in the village, did eight nice ones, picked up a commission to sketch a locals cottage; that's done and handed over to a very happy client.

Today went for a short walk in the local woodland, saw an amazing old oak tree trunk; it was massive. That was a very big and old tree before it's demise.

Joan Collins and Pixie Lock are filming a musical by the Connaught Gardens, so we are seeing lots of film crew and eating caravan units at that end of the seafront. Haven't seen either of them; but to be honest I didn't look very hard.

Tomorrow looks like a little rain may appear, so we are planning a standby wet weather program.

The above water-colour which was painted last year, it shows the beginning of the Jurassic coast as it leaves Sidmouth towards the east.

Occasionally milestones are reached and today was one of those days. This project of looking at trees and the amazingly complex symbiotic relationship which they have with their surroundings has reached the grand number of 225 completed images. Today book number five was filled and the project gets bigger and bigger all the time; where will it lead me. Maybe I should join the Aborealist Artistic Society.

A couple of days ago Liz and myself went for a short canal path stroll along the Basingstoke canal to break in a new pair of walking shoes; the result a big blister over my right great toe.

However being positive, a couple of super tree related photos occurred; after being worked up, the above is the end game of one of them. It is of the canal as it passes West by Fleet.

Liz and myself lead busy lives, as such in a couple of days we are off to Sidmouth for a very short spell of r and r. It is an old fashioned, quaint, Devonshire seaside village, at the Western end of the Jurassic Coast; we never tire of the place. We will relax, Liz will read and talk endlessly with a friend who is traveling with us; whilst I sketch and take photographs. Reading will be apart of my stay as well; my current book is a lovely thick one about the Plantagenet's, Henry the second and all that! Nice relaxing stuff.

One more day looking at still life and then onto other things. The above ink and water-colour is a recent drawing from the trees project.

Method,

1 Paste leaves to the paper, nice and flat.

2 Splatter paint the background plus leaves with several colours, in many layers of water-colour paint, to create the seasonal or other effect which is desired.

3 Allow to dry properly. Remove leaves with a sharp knife, this leaves the leaf shapes in white profile, against the background.

4 Draw leaves with ink, using a very light cross hatch and smudge technique (more about that another day). Drawing the leaves by the application of many layers of this carefully applied ink work.

A rather lengthy but rewarding method, which is excellent for all this need to begin looking at things properly and by the time three sycamore leaves had been drawn, I was beginning to understand how they are made.

Good morning and today another still life image, this one being totally different.

The medium is oil pastel and the technique is rather simple. Use a heavy weight paper or the work will fall apart during the process.  Keep the pastels warm so that they almost melt in your hand (the warmer/softer the better), smear them onto the paper richly and thickly, constantly adding pure white onto the paper, and mixing them together with your fingers. Then comes the messy fun bit; push the colours around with your fingers until the desired effect is reached. Great fun, very messy and I think worthwhile. But I will let you be the judge of that.

My next entry will be yet another way of looking at still life, but that will be next week.

The other day a still life image was posted on this site. However often still life imagery is a very wide subject which is much maligned undervalued and even ignored; for example look at this image.

One of my passions is microscopic nature photography and the above image is of a moss seed. The whole seed is approximately 2mm in length. The cap show is approximately 0.2mm or smaller. The picture was taken in the field with a lot of heavy equipment; showing the seed towards the end of summer, when it is about ready to fall off the parent plant. We have all walked passed millions of these seeds, yet look at the crown cap, it is beautiful. Still life is about looking at, being aware of our surroundings with the realisation of  that we all are a part of all this great wonder, called creation.

Being an artist is about looking at things and trying to be aware of what is before you. As a result I spend a lot of time just looking. One of the best ways of developing looking skills is in the practice of still life painting; which is very close to me heart.

The above drawing of a whisky glass, two plumbs and an apple.is about exploring the reflections, refractions, various tonal values and textures; it was done with one pen. Glass is great fun to replicate, even if a little challenging.