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Deckchair couple (Coloured in Photoshop)
I spent Saturday in Blyth where some of the tall ships have gathered for the Tall Ships Regatta. It was difficult to get anywhere close enough to photograph the ships and would have been even harder to find somewhere to draw, but then, that wasn't why I was there.
Pat was singing with Heaton Voices in the South Shore Bandstand as part of the Regatta celebrations, so while I looked after her bag and listened to the songs, I had a little time to make this drawing of a couple in their deckchairs, enjoying the music.
Deckchair Couple (0.5 marker in A6 sketchbook)
I have to say drawing in an A6 sketchbook is rather fiddly, but now that I've added some colour in Photoshop I'm quite pleased with it.
Last Saturday's Sketch Crawl drawing pulled into a square, then run through Photoshop's Watercolour Filter to cut down on the linear effect of the coloured pencils.
On the Wear (Coloured pencils in A5 sketchbook)
Looking at a Facebook Memory for this day eight years ago, I find I was "feeling ... disconnected." Without drawing any inferences (because there are none), I note that I was feeling something similar yesterday. Maybe it was the weather; after all it's the middle of August in England, so naturally it would turn wet and windy for our latest Sketch Crawl.
On the Metro going to Sunderland, I met up with Richard and we chatted about things while the sun shone on the landscape outside. By the time we got to St Peter's Metro Station, however, it was greying over. Richard was keen to show us some of the techniques he'd learned at the International Sketching Symposium in Manchester recently, so we gathered round a table in the Glass Centre and listened with interest. Then off to try out the techniques.
Or not. I realised very quickly that doing thumbnails in the sketchbook (the suggested technique) is what I do already, but I do it in my head. This is partly why I always take so long to get to started - I'm working out the best composition and deciding what the focus will be.
As a result, in the 45 minutes allocated to the thumbnail exercise, I found that although I'd started a thumbnail in the smaller of my two sketchbooks, it quickly moved into a full pencil drawing. And then it started to rain.
Back in the Glass Centre, we compared notes and thumbnails for a while then set about finding something to draw that didn't involve going out in the rain. I discovered that by creeping along the front of the building I could find an area, complete with pigeons splashing about in a big puddle, where I could at least make out the boat I'd drawn as it slowly raised with the tide further upriver. Digging out my little box of Rowney coloured pencils bought years ago, I made my best effort o colour the drawing. There are areas where I feel it became a bit overworked, but it's acceptable, even if, for some reason, Photoshop refuses to represent the greens accurately.
Unusually, I think I may have drawn something that will eventually become a painting.
[Next Sketch Crawl: Durham Market Place, 10 September, 1pm]
After the withdrawal of my Partner A from our exchange, I wondered if things would grind to a halt, but no! I have a new Partner Lynne who, for her sins, now has my Sketchbook to add to.
Before it went I thought I might add one more new page to those already shown here, so this is a quick collage made up of brown wrapping paper, a small paper doily, a magazine page showing a tie pattern, one of my "hands" printouts and a piece of a paper bag. All in an A5 sketchbook.
Is it finished? Probably not, but we shall see ...
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