"Dylan". a well trained dog keeping his owners company in a Hebden Bridge pub. Mitsubishi 'uniball' rollerball pen. A5 cartridge paper sketchbook. February 2016

Asked by someone about obtaining one of my Urban Sketches yesterday, I tried posting some sketched images from last year on my Facebook page, but I'm not sure if that has worked in the way I expected, so I'll show you some here!

 Again in West Yorkshire, and using just a fine rollerball pen, but this time in my topbound Moleskine Reporters Plain Notebook, which I find really useful, as it can be popped in a pocket, and yet opens out to allow an extensive sketch - great!  Here I'm at Sowerby Bridge Canal Basin, sitting in comfort in a pub and drawing the view through the railings!



Still in Hebden Bridge in February, our camper van stuck in someone's driveway for a prolonged sojourn while we waited for a replacement ignition barrel!
This one shows the view from 'Coffee Sauce" in George Square.  A good winter sketching spot!  Again fineliner black rollerball, and I think my moleskine (A6) sketchbook also.  Gradually extending and developing my sketchkit, here I've used aquarelle crayons and a Pentel Brushpen.

Not all Urban Sketches need to be elaborate, 

or of an extensive view, but must be drawn on location

"Coffee Sauce" again, Hebden Bridge, and a stab at drawing someone else sitting in the cafe. February 2016

 I'm really proud of this spread, having managed to set up in a little pop-up shelter by the side of the road.  I had been invited to draw this cow with her two calves , brought down off the hill for safety to graze outside the croft on Berneray, North Uist.

 This was my first response to July's Watercolour Challenge - starting drawing in the morning with a grey fountain pen (fitted with converter) on an A4 tinted pad, and then having to dash off to Jacksons to stock up with tubes of paint, using literally my last penny on an extended sketching trip to London via Yorkshire, beginning  the last lap of my preparations for the wonderful 2016 USK International Symposium in Manchester!

 This watercolour sketch no longer exists as such, as I ruined it when I continued to experiment with my new fountain pen and grey ink, proceeding to ruin my picture - a good lesson learnt thoroughly!

Continuing to refine my materials and sketchkit while

preparing for the Symposium.  Tinted paper, aquarelle crayons, white poster paint.

 Here is the view from our window in the volunteers hostel, Minffordd, Porthmadog.  Regular trains on the Ffestiniog railway passed our window!

 Here is a sketch done from Harbour Station, Porthmadog, before recent extensive works were carried out to add another platform, enabling huge Garrett engines from the Welsh Highland end of the railway to terminate in Porthmadog, and enable travellers to change trains and continue their trip to Blaenau!







My first decent breakfast sketch - using my watercolours on the first morning of the Symposium in Manchester!

I'm very proud of this sketch, carried out at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Bretton Hall, on a sketchcrawl with the Yorkshire Group.

 Maude, the Tigon, Manchester museum. Frustrated with crowds of onlookers, I moved in closer, and enjoyed myself!

Thoroughly enjoyed doing this sketch from the wonderful bus terminus shelter, Berneray, North Uist.  This is also one of the best mobile reception spots on the island, too!

 Done the other day on black sugar paper using a 'Signo' white gel pen. Fellow life class sketchers - the stillness is palpable as everyone concentrates like crazy!

Sketch done after breakfast before getting dressed!  Tinted pad, grey fountain pen, Platinum Carbon fountain pen and ink, Posca fibre tip white pen. Kuretake watercolour brushpen

My painting year 2016

2016 was an eventful year indeed, as I set myself to prepare for the International Urban Sketchers Symposium in Manchester, my artistic efforts have been somewhat skewed towards sketching on location, and generally developing my skills in that direction as much as possible!

What better than to sit down and collect some thoughts on New Year's Day! I'll try to be brief and just pick out highlights! 

Here's Jamie, our two-year-old bouncy rescue Working Cocker Spaniel - now perhaps showing signs of maturing a bit, so it's time I got around to drawing him! This study was made from a photograph, as I very much feel the need for practice!

A pub sketch of a very patient and well behaved dog by the opposite table was made in Hebden Bridge, as we found ourselves twiddling our thumbs for weeks as we waited for a replacement ignition van part while camping in a friend's drive!

A frequent activity of Urban Sketchers, while sticking as closely as possible to the Manifesto, is to draw and paint their sketch kit!  While being really good drawing practice per se, it's also an excellent opportunity to experiment with new and unfamiliar materials.  In the drawing below I was  finalising my kit for Manchester, making it as efficient and brief as possible, while allowing as much scope for experimentation as necessary.

Being my first Urban Sketching Symposium, I really didn't know what to

expect.
New this year for me are forays into the extended use of fountain pens and aquarelle crayons, as well as widening my sketchbook range to include tinted paper.

June found me enjoying the Handmade Parade workshops once again, this time creating a Mudskipper, of all things! My fibromyalgia forces me to protect my skin from touching the withies, so a long sleeved shirt, and experimenting with various gloves became 'de rigeur'!  Latex gloves are usually perfect for most jobs, but here they were a nightmare, continually getting stuck to tape and caught in my clippers! Wet hands would be even more of a problem, so I eventually hit on the idea of cotton gloves on top of the latex ones - BUT how to get hold of some at such short notice? Fortunately the local Boots came up trumps, after I'd been searching the internet for ages.  Phew!Eureka!

 Then of course there was the Symposium in Manchester in July, one of the surprise highlights for me being invited by the excellent Simone Ridyard to join in on one of the wonderful workshops run by Suhita Shirodkar, no less!

Staffin Post Office, Skye

Finished paintings have not had much of a look-in this year, as I've had to fit my painting around our various renovating/moving/decluttering/downsizing operations, as well as creating a website and Facebook page, but I did manage this one of Staffin Post Office, Skye, after an interesting experience battling with the elements while trying to sketch it!

Still, this one is on the shortlist for a new panoramic postcard, and I've had requests for more Skye designs, so I'd better get cracking!
Then there was InkTober, and the wonderful World Watercolour Month in July.......I could go on and on, but I won't bore you further just now!