Andrews Sketchpad (1 Viewer)

[Andrew H]

Sunshine at last, but back to 'Sleepers' again.....

 

[Andrew H]

Landscape

Having a bit of a tidy up in the study, and found an old 'Mouleskin' pad which I had brought for my holiday last year and forgot about.....I only managed to get a few scribbles done, this being the best of them....a view over Penzance from a field above, looking towards The Lizard.....through a stone gateway...... just thought Id give it an airing before this years holiday mood kicks in and takes over again.....Luckily its small enough to carry in my pocket, so a likley candidate for me to carry each day to London, and dive into at lunchtimes.....lucky I found it again

Done with a Permanent Ink pen I think.......

 

[Andrew H]

Field Sketch or Field Drawing.
I'm beginning to notice that I spend too long drawing instead of sketching, but then I look at what Ive done and prefer the drawing over the sketching.....Do we all have this problem or is it just me..?



The avocets are starting to build nests right in front of us, which makes it easier to capture, and makes a change from sleepers.......

 

[nickderry]

wondeful to see that you've popped the sketchbook's proverbial cherry, the swans have all the strong lines you need. There is an avocet amongst these drawings that is spot on and very well done, might I suggest that the next time you sketch the avocets, you try to draw just the outline without the pattern, it forces you to look harder at how the bird is formed - the avocet's pattern is deliberately designed to break up the bird's shape. You've managed to see the pattern perfectly, and that is what you've recorded on these pages, I feel that sometimes the bird itself doesn't fit so well to the pattern. Of course, this coudl be what you're trying to achieve - it is after all what nature intended when we look at the avocet. And your landscapes, I admire very much, you put so much freedom into them, I get the impression that sometimes your birds show inhibitions that aren't there in your landscape work. Keep the little book with you, dive in as often as you can!

 

[timwootton]

Swans are great but these avocets really have a real sense of structure. Just look at how far you've come!

 

[Andrew H]

A decision to step back again and start on fast time sketching, instead of doing 'Field Drawings', this way Ill be trying to pick up on the movement aspect instead of doing sleepers all the time.

Despite the sunshine yesterday, wall to wall cloud and a strong biting wind took over the morning, which made it hard to even start the lesson.....

 

[Andrew H]

I took the day off from the office environment, and headed out to the open spaces and check out the Bluebell Woods.....I decided to have a go at the bluebell vista, but wasnt working, too many dog walkers, so went back to the car, but found this yellowhammer pearched high up on a twig...took a photo (posted on Gallery), but still had time to do a quick sketch or three....Not sure if you can tell what it is by the detail - or lack of, but chucked in some watercolour once I got back to the carpark.......

The little brown thing was a wren, but as ever, too quick to get any detail - remember the small stickyup tail and the pale eye line, think the rest was overall chestnut brown.....

 

[jomo]

Fantastic colour sketches, Andrew! Love the boldness of the shadows, you can really feel the intensity of the sunlight.

 

[nickderry]

I really REALLY like this, I'm sure you can see that there are anatomical anomalies with the bird's head shape, but this captures the character of a singing yellowhammer 100% I think you may have found the right path to go along, artistically, this is some of your strongest work to date, I can hear his "little bit of bread and no cheese" flying off the screen.

 

[timwootton]

Fabulous characterisation here Andrew - the middle top bird is soooo engrossed in his song delivery you can sense the rapture he's in. Agree with Jo and Nick - anatomical anomalies there may be, but as a response to the living bird, these are tip top.

 

[Andrew H]

Given the choice of Avo's, Avo's and a few Avo's...It had to be a page of Avocets sketching - or two.......little else other than the Shelducks which kept their distance....I made a purposeful point of trying to get these done with minimum lines but as fast as possible, even the ones feeding were done after they had moved about abit.....and some colour just to give it a bit of direction and shading


Im so glad that Summers finally on its way.....

 

[nickderry]

some wonderful poses here, and very much full of the action of the birds - the colour on some of them is a perfect rendition of a summery day.

 

[Andrew H]

After the bank holiday Chores.... had a go at setting up in the garden, Not a lot about. Dove, Pigeon and Sparrow on the feeder...


Then Nothing for ages, so I got bored and attempted the Garden Shed at the bottom of the Garden..

 

[Andrew H]

And the last of the day before it started to drizzle.............

Debating now as to wether I can take my gear into work and have time in my half hour lunch break......

 

[jomo]

Phenomenal! The dove is my definite favourite, love the quick brushstrokes and bleeding hues.

 

[timwootton]

. . . bleeding hues.

Always been my problem, too. Super work Andrew - the blue tit is very good.

 

[nickderry]

frenzied energetic sketching - and yes, the blue tit is ace.

 

[Andrew H]

Yet more Avocets this weekend, the first of the young ones have appeared....

Mike was away on Family Taxi Duties, so I had a latter start than usual, but other than the usual Avocets and a pair of tufties, even the shelducks had movd off the scrape....

 

[nickderry]

an absolute delight these sketches, so much action and narrative in them.

 

[timwootton]

Rich vein of form you're in at the moment Andrew - really excellent drawings here.