Three years ago, my mum, then ninety-six year old, was still with us and we used to take her to the shops every Thursday morning then, if she was feeling up to it, which she usually was, we’d set off to Charlotte’s Ice Cream Parlour, Whitley, for coffee and scones. She so appreciated this view. But […]
Monthly Archives: August 2017
Some Recent Sketches
The end of the long summer holidays seems like a good time to catch up with my online diary. It reminds me of my school and college days, when I realised that it was time to wind up my summer projects and aim to be freshly productive in the autumn term. These sketches are from […]
Hand Lettering
I’ve got a great excuse for practising hand lettering: I’ve been asked to prepare some wildlife sketchbook pages for publication. Although we’re going for a sketchbook format, the spreads need to tell a story, rather than being presented as artwork. I want to try and evoke the spontaneity of a sketchbook page but without the […]
Meet the Author
It’s our great nephew Henry Roman’s christening today and I’ve been collared by Oliver, aged eight, and Ted, aged six. Oliver asks me to draw a snake – I’m going to need a bit more practice with that – and Ted requests a husky, which again I struggle to draw from memory; I definitely wouldn’t […]
Another Waiting Room
Another waiting room, another chair, but, at last, I’m getting signed off after the temporary loss of vision in my left eye six weeks ago. It was most probably caused by a very small stroke, otherwise known as a TIA (Temporary Ischaemic Attack) so now, apart from taking the tablets, I can get on with my […]
Veg Patch Insects
12.30 pm, 23°C, 71°F: On a visit to the RHS gardens at Harlow Carr, Harrogate, I spend half an hour drawing some of the insects that are visiting the vegetable patch. At first, it’s the fly, a house fly or one of its close relatives, basking in the sun on the arm of the garden chair that […]
Squirrel Sketches
I’m drawing some illustrations of red squirrels for my next Dalesman article but, when I visited the red squirrel feeding station at Snaizeholme last October, I concentrated on taking photographs. My aim is to give the impression that my sketches were drawn from life. I don’t think that I’d ever be able to achieve the same feeling of […]