Tuesday 2 September 2008

Memories



Le Merlet (Pentel mechanical pencil, A5 sketchbook)

This is for Illustration Friday's brief, Memories.

In June 1992 I went on a walking holiday in the Cevennes. The previous year I'd been walking in the Tarn and the Pyrenees and had enjoyed it so much, I was looking forward to doing it again.

When we got there, it had been raining for 18 days straight and it never stopped longer than an hour or two the whole time we were there. One of the stops was at the farmhouse at Le Merlet, where we should have been able to rest up and take a gentle stroll round the area, before setting off again the next day. The rain made it impossible, or at least too uncomfortable to leave the farm, and since it was supposed to be Summer, there was no heating and it was terribly cold.

To console myself I took out my sketchbook and spent an hour or so escaping into wherever it is I go when I'm drawing. The lack of anything much outside the window is due entirely to the rain.

8 comments:

kathy hare said...

a lovely study Harry, I find that when I look at some of my own sketches they take me back to the moment with absolute clarity..

harry bell said...

Thank you, Kathy. That's one of the reasons I'm trying to re-establish sketching as a regular habit.

vivien said...

You have caught the thickness and feel of the old stone wall beautifully.

We stayed in a lovely old farmhouse high up above the Tarn gorges and froze - it was HOT in the day lower down but absolutely ICY at night!

INDIGENE said...

Wonderful pencil work!

www.indigeneartforms.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! I'm enjoying seeing your old work, Harry. Tweaks memories of when I used to draw a lot and makes me think I should take it up again.

harry bell said...

Vivien -- I was pleased with this drawing,but then I was able to lavish as much time on it as I wanted. Nothing else to do!

Indigene -- Thank you :)

Marja-Leena -- I'm hoping that by the time I get to the end of showing my old drawings, I'll have started to produce new ones. That's the plan, anyway :D

Connie said...

Beautifully drawn and so full of mood. It quietly says 'memories'!

harry bell said...

Thank you, Connie. I'm glad it proved so effective.