Another French house in the same location as the previous two posted here. What to make of this? Looks like a rather elegant French birthday Cake with the max security disguised as rather elaborate over wrought iron. Again this house looks out over the Atlantic and the beach. I’ve lived in loads of houses, none like this, and am endlessly fascinated by them. The longest I’ve ever lived in one house is 14 years and that was when the offspring were young and was in the middle of lush green Cotswold countryside. My parents lived in loads of houses all … Continue reading House 5. A French neighbour, the Flying Scotsman and pastry.

Its a sort of contradiction really as a dry stone is very rarely dry in Derbyshire, especially recently. We have a fair few dry stone walls here in Gloucestershire but this drawing of one in Derbyshire just illustrates how much I like them. It’s early days with this drawing and unlike some I think this one will benefit from colour.There are times when I ruin a perfectly alright drawing by fannying about with the colour and I’m determined that it won’t happen with this one. It is lovely to see these things being built and I suspect it is very … Continue reading Derbyshire dry stone wall, usually very damp.

I’d never been to the South Downs until earlier in this year when we went down there for a couple of days walking and then strip to Southsea for a birthday party. Good time had by all and the walking was great. We chose a day when there were a fair number of runners on the route. It was hard enough for us to walk it but to run it seemed to take it to another level. It was a bright sunny day, but some of the runners looked anything but bright and sunny. Some had that look in their … Continue reading South Downs, avoiding the runners.

This lovely looking modern place overlooks the beach on the West Coast of France in the Charente area. There are a huge number off places in the area that are used just a for few weeks in Summer. I really hope that this is not one of them. This is in a row of rather grand houses of an older style but exudes confidence and I suspect is a little more efficient than the draughty looking neighbours. I suspect whoever lives here has stylish furniture in a minimalist surrounding with white walls and plain floors with perhaps the odd piece … Continue reading House 4. French Modern

I’m undecided about this drawing, wether to re-work it or to plough on and see what happens with the colour. Robin, my sometime walking companion was checking his phone making sure, no doubt, that we were not lost out there on the Cotswold Way, some months ago. That band of white behind him is a field of oil seed rape. I’m reticent about showing you the original photo as you’d probably prefer it to the drawing. The location here is on the way from Chipping Campden to Broadway, two places that are popular with tourists wanting to see some typical … Continue reading Robin and the Cotswold Way

This place is just a few doors down from the previous ones that face the Atlantic on the west coast of France, but light years away in feel. Well looked after, I suspect that it’s full of books, perhaps even has a library room. I suspect the owners take as much care of the interior as they have the outside area. I hope they have some lovely paintings on the walls and perhaps the odd family photograph on the grand piano in the sitting room. I doubt they ever have a take away meal and probably dine out regularly at … Continue reading House 6. Another French neighbour

The Cotswolds near Cirencester and a sunny day. This is not far from an ancient Roman settlement and one would think that the poor Roman soldiers sent here all the those years ago might have seen a similar view across such a beautiful landscape. A considerably better posting than Hastings Wall, which if you have not visited is many miles North and was meant to keep the unruly Scots out of England . Both places worth a visit but I digress into travelogue speak. Taken from a photo the drawing is in my usual Indian ink, applied with brush, sometimes … Continue reading This image has two lives

I’m not sure if this place is still there but is distincly weird, perched over a cliff top in the only place in the UK with an exclamation mark in it’s name. It looks like no one lives there and this image was taken some years ago now, so it may well have changed, but when this was taken there was someone in residence. To say they keep themselves to themselves was something of an understatement at the time. There’s a story there that I don’t know, I hope it has a happy ending but suspect that it might be … Continue reading House 3. Westward Ho!

It’s up above Cheltenham and there on the top is the back way to Leckhampton Hill. This is part and just the start of a series of drawings I’m doing of landscapes. They start like this as simple line work and then get the digital treatment from then on. Indian ink on coated board and perhaps a bit of whiting out here and there, but in this case none, this is just the line work. It’s actually quite big drawing, around A2. I’ve done a few of these now and plan to do more. There’s something very therapeutic about sitting … Continue reading Leckhampton Hill from the back.

This one is in Sicily and is used as the house for the Mafia chief in the Detective TV series Moltalbano. A programme that is popular enough with me for us to take a trip over there a few years ago. We stayed in Ragusa, and hired a car to get us around and see stuff, including this place. The hiring of the car was the bravest part of this as the driving over there was ‘creative’ to say the least, and when it rained one day in the manner of a massive downpour, it got even more ‘creative’ but … Continue reading House 2. Mafia connections?

I do a card every year for a local garage who specialise in mending trucks. They are great clients, easily amused by my drawings and very loyal, they come back every year. I thought I’d share the progress of this year’s card. First of all the boss gets in touch and reminds me that he’d like me to do one again this year. I put my thinking cap on and try not to replicate previous ideas but I have to say that I have done a lot of Santa/Rudolf/Sleigh type drawings in the past. I sent them a number of … Continue reading From here to here, a Christmas card journey by truck.

This is the first of another series, this time on houses. This one is in my hometown of Cheltenham and although a typically English house, is not really typical of Cheltenham which has many regency houses, both terraces as well as occasionally detached. Detached sounds to me like it’s cast adrift, not wanting to speak. I used to take a walk past this place and it’s always stuck me as well-loved and with it’s sunny aspect that’s not really surprising. Houses have an aura. I’ve looked at many over the years and lived in quite a few. My parents moved … Continue reading Houses.