Trick or treat?

smashing pumpkin

'... you wait for one and eight come along at once.'

I'm trying to get an entry together for the 'Serco Prize for Illustration 2014' and needed some practice at drawing Routemasters.

pickled gherkin

If you can't stand the heat..

Trafalgar Square in London was hosting Diwali celebrations and I sketched this chef hard at work at the back of one of the food stalls, preparing delicious smelling food on a large hot plate.

in the queue at Comic Con

something for the weekend

Sketching fruit and veg...

Sketching fruit and veg... from lineandwash

Sketching cakes and biscuits...

Sketching cakes and biscuits from lineandwash

reflection

An old wok has been recycled in the garden and is filled with water from the recent rain.  I tried to capture the deep shadows of the gooseberry bush and buddliea in the still surface.

it's a jar

Ground Breaking

The people behind ‘The Edible Bus Stop’ project and the ‘Crystal Palace Transition Town’ group embarked on a new urban garden today in a plot adjacent to the Crystal Palace Bus Station in South London. The design, based on a triangular pattern, was marked out and a team of locals got to work with the hard work of digging.  

Manure from the farm in the nearby park was loaded up in wheelbarrows ready to add to enrich the soil.  The plan is to cover the area in membrane over the winter months ready for planting in the spring.  Fruit trees and bushes, hardy herbs and vegetables will fill the area by the summer.  

You can find out more about the project at http://www.crystalpalacetransition.org.uk/ and information on the Edible Bus Stop is at http://www.theediblebusstop.org/

bus journey

mighty reel

Life's a beach

Sketching in cafes...

Sketching in cafes... from lineandwash

bench

rings

lolly

Car Booty

A car boot sale with a difference today on the Southbank in London – all the vehicles were pre-1989 Classic cars.  The first one I drew, as I later found out from the owner, was a Volvo Amazon from 1970.  I added watercolour at home and probably not done justice to it’s lovely colour as I think it was more blue – should have made better colour notes.  I was surprised when the owner also told me that he used it a lot, even to pull his caravan!  I had visions of all these beautiful old cars being carefully preserved in the garages of their proud owners.  The event was organised by Vintage, the brainchild of Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway and you can find out more about future events at http://www.vintagefestival.co.uk/

key

Sketching on the tram...

Sketching on the tram from lineandwash

train sketches

beginning of autumn

harvest

Certainly not enough of a harvest to make even a bottle of 'Chateau Line and Wash' but maybe one day...

Food trucks on the Southbank

Some of the food trucks parked around the Festival Hall area of London on the south side of the Thames.  Weekends have seen the popularity of the  'Real Food' market grow and you can be tempted by all sorts of delicious tasting and smelling food from different parts of the world.

Colourful Island

One of the many new building projects in Croydon is finally getting finished. Situated in the middle of a roundabout, it is catchily called 'The Island'.  I decided that I didn't have enough colour notes to do any watercolour painting so added some colour with Photoshop after using the 'invert' button.

The Island

To be continued...

broccoli

reading

above Superdrug