A recent walk in the Cam/Dursley area and a very good day for it with my good friend Richard. Starting at Cam Peak which from the small car park is an almost vertical climb to the top, or seemed like it. The usual comment on such challenges was “ Whose idea was this” spoken rather breathlessly. I’d like to say it was downhill all the way after that but there was considerably more up on the walk. Worth it for the views. We were advised that it was a two and a half hour stretch, but it took us in … Continue reading A lot of up.

I was reading the other day about the stress an artist put himself under when completing an incredibly detailed colour drawing of a bee on a flower. He had spent weeks on this painting and the result shown was quite incredibly hyper real. It was even more real than the photograph he’d used to paint it from, I hope he took the photograph. He was almost finished and with his fine brush ( probably a brush with all but one hair taken out ) he was about to declare the work as finished. Which is a familiar scenario to any … Continue reading The tension in art, or not?

I see that Rishi Sunak, our soon to be possible unelected Prime Minister, has made it known that students should have ‘ proper’ degrees from ‘proper’ courses at places of higher education. So, he’d prefer us to have degrees in what are called proper jobs. A degree in graphic design or philosophy might then be on the margins of what is acceptable to his “Unelectedness”. Drawing cartoons is of course, not a proper job. Writing about the meaning of life, or even about our future Prime Minister, might also be deemed “unproper”. Odd really, when the previous incumbent as PM … Continue reading So is that a proper job?

I’m keen on soup. Our weather generally suits soup. We’ve not had soup for ages. A lot of lettuce and no soup, been far too hot for soup. Lettuce is not good for soup. Cold soup? No, no, no, please don’t. Gazpacho? No. Sounds like a Spanish sneeze. I like to make soup, but have not even been remotely tempted to try one of late. It’s now gone a little cooler and soup might be on the horizon. I’ve been reading a small book by Dylan Thomas, looks to me like he just pulled out random words and then re-ordered … Continue reading I don’t remember soup.

Early start on another landscape. This one is the old Cirencester Road from a photo again, the actual location is near the small village of Miserden on the top of the Cotswolds. The drawing is at the first stage, that is: get some colour on there and see how it goes, then revise and revise until you come to some sort of logical conclusion. That logical conclusion can be to tear it up and start again. In this case, not just yet, it’s going ok, but plenty of time to foul it up. I know what I want to do … Continue reading Plus moth…

Continue reading My brain is at fish finger level

Continue reading Scrap?

I got a text from my water company telling me we’d not had any decent rain. Is that really what they meant to say? We like our rain around here to conform with acceptable moral behaviour which means only falling at night time giving us the day to enjoy the sunshine, and not having to water the garden. It’s indecent to do otherwise. Continue reading “Decent Rain”

You know when you have one of those itches that won’t go away, nothing will stop you from scratching it. Not even a plotter approaching. On a blazing hot day it’s no wonder you get an itch.Excuse my language a I shooed him off. He’s a regular around here. Continue reading Itchy Fox

This is one of five big drawings, each about A1, that I’m doing on stage 1 and 2. Stage 3 is to try and get it right. If you’ve not tried drawing with chalk pastels then give it a go: very therapeutic, until it all goes wrong then you need a therapist to calm you down. There are parts of drawings that one thinks that “this is ok as it is”, and there’s a temptation to stop there. Perhaps you should, or in this case, perhaps I should. The answer is to do several versions of the same picture, and … Continue reading So far, so what?

Taken a couple of years ago, as you can see from the little movie below there was plenty of water around then. They have probably put a plug in it since then to save a bit of water. No sign of rain yet in our area. This is a photo taken from Google maps taken more recently, same spot, less water. Continue reading Plug?

I’ve had all sorts of tries to get all sorts of landscapes on paper and they go back a few years. I’m aiming for a new approach now. They will probably the same images as I’ve used in the past as I attempt to do the scenes some sort of justice. I work from my own photographs ( occasionally borrowing from my friend and fellow walker: Robin, but I don’t want to encourage him as he is prone to speaking ‘art bollox’ about his creations in the middle of a walk ) Where to start? My grandsons from the States … Continue reading Dipping into landscapes…again.