Update on my personal project

Some experiments with different media for my personal project which I talked about a couple of weeks ago.

With these pieces, I painted some pieces of cartridge paper with watercolour, let them dry, then painted and drew on top.

I particularly like how this one turned out.

I did some straightforward watercolour.

Also some very loose watercolour pieces on Fabriano paper.

Even tried a little collage although my cutting skills are pretty poor!

Some sketch book ideas, focussing on little details. 

That's all for now!

Giving a talk to the Society of Graphic Fine Artists

I was recently invited by Lyndsey Smith and Les Williams to give a short talk at the Society of Graphic Fine Artists (SGFA) AGM. The venue was the Conway Hall, situated in the corner of Red Lion Square and my topic was Urban Sketchers (USk).

I showed a PowerPoint presentation which featured some of my sketches and work by some of the international USk community. There was also a short video showing Gabi Campanario, the USk founder, at work on the streets of Seattle. I took along some of my own sketchbooks too, plus artists books which I have collected over the past few years.

The SGFA have been going for over one hundred years and value drawing, so it was an honour to be asked to come along and speak. It seemed to go well, with interesting questions and discussion at the end.

The SGFA hold regular exhibitions and drawing events and you can find out more on their website - https://www.sgfa.org.uk/

I had a chance to peek into some of the SGFA members sketchbooks too!

Making and using recycled paper sketchbooks

Last year I started collecting paper bags and carriers with the view to recycle them into sketchbooks. This is the first attempt. Very rough round the edges! Also will need to think more about the materials I use to draw on the paper as it is quite rough where I have stuck bits together. I'm hoping it will be an interesting project. See the photos below for how I went about making the first one and some of the initial drawings in it.

I've been collecting paper bags and carriers for a year or so.

I choose to use a few with a similar colour palette.

Cutting down to the right size.

Some glueing.

Top view of the finished accordion book.

Showing some of the pages.

First outing of the book in 'Italo' in Bonnington Square.

One of the views from the roof garden at 120 Fenchurch Street

Leadenhall Market

Leadenhall Market