In the Malvern Hills, it’s easy to admire the views. Even in the bad weather, it’s possible to find a spot to draw that is out of the wind. But the weather changes too. I was looking at the North Hill and the sun was shining down on it, quite dramatically, and I was using watercolour and ink to make a picture. When I looked up next, the hill was not there and instead was a cloud of grey mist. I decided to call it a day and started to pack up. I looked back up at the scene and the North Hill had reappeared and the mist had moved off to the east above the town. People were walking over the hill and further away I could see a dog running. The British Camp was next, and this was foggy and beautiful. I don’t mind sitting in the cold drawing, and I like to see the sheep keeping the grass so neat all the way up there.
It must be the heat…
Some illustrations about corruption in subtropical Brisbane during the late 1950s. Images made for a segment for an animated film produced by the PAMA Language Centre. Charcoal, ink, kraftpaper and graphite.
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine…
Is that the time?…
I am very pleased to have received drawings from both Veronika and Viktor in Poland.
Viktor did a drawing of Big Ben, and an English apple tree, and other buildings which I like. Veronika’s landscape and the figure in the centre of it is very beautiful and thoughtful too.
Thank you Veronica and Viktor for your pictures which are now on my lodówka.
Minding my own business…
Happy hours: a supplementary deadly sin.
Pictures at an exhibition…
Postcard Original Project…
Remember the surprise and delight of receiving a postcard in your letterbox… addressed to YOU? Think of your excitement discovering the correspondent has illustrated that card with a drawing!
I used to send postcards every day, covered in drawings – meaningful or aimless – and then, as email and social media intervened, the regularity of my postcard-giving took a nosedive until I was standing one day in a post office trying to recall when I had last posted one. I couldn’t remember.
I love receiving postcards. Beyond the message written on it: the look of the postage stamp, the artefacts of the journey from letterbox to my door (a dog ear or thumbprint, a smudge or tear, the postal worker’s scribble in pencil), the immediacy of the communication is tangible. The card itself always played an indifferent part in the process, and was basically a surface to work on. I was only interested if it had an uncoated surface to the paper, so it would receive pencil, paint or whatever I had in my paint box.
Now that experience can be yours:
Send me your name and postal address, and for £25, I’ll take a random postcard from my collection, turn it over, and add an original drawing on that side. Then I’ll hand-letter your name and address, put a stamp on it and post it to you: anywhere in the world.
Visit the Postcard Original page to order.
(Postcard illustrations shown above are for example only).
Bottle and Flora Show…
Remembering Judith on her birthday…
Apologies to Judith Kerr’s cat.
On the fence…
Thanks to everyone who dropped by on Sunday afternoon to see the railings outside the studio as part of the Primrose Hill Art Trail. Anyone who bought a piece will receive it in the post asap.
Attention garbage collectors: this rubbish is not garbage.