Richard Bell's nature sketchbook since 1998
Low winter sun and a sprinkling of snow bring out the colours of the winter walk at RHS Harlow Carr Gardens.
The red and orange stems of dogwood glow against the dark of the conifers.
But perhaps because it was so cold, I couldn’t pick up any scent from the spidery red blossoms of a wych hazel.
There’s a lot to learn about importing and transforming images in Clip Studio Paint, so I thought that I’d make a start with a photograph from Newmillerdam this morning.
More experiments drawing on the iPad in Adobe Fresco (above) and Clip Studio Paint.
After thinking it over for several years, I’ve finally got around to adding a Paperlike screen protector to my iPad Pro.
As you can see from my before and after photographs, the matt finish film hasn’t made my Clip Studio Paint app any less clear but I find the surface more sympathetic for drawing with my Apple Pencil on than the glass screen of the iPad.
Here’s my first Procreate sketch, drawn with one of Paperlike’s free brushes for Procreate from a collection designed by Filip Zywica.
After drawing so many cartoons, I wanted to draw from life for a change, so I picked up a few dry leaves which had blown into the corner by the front door.
As Ralph has his birthday on the run-up to Christmas, I’ve gone for a combined advent/birthday card this year.
Surprises include, in box no. 4, my copy of a Beano-inspired portrait of Ralph’s mum, Abby, drawn by his sister Ivy.
The traditional Selfridges hamper was a Christmas box from work for Ralph’s dad, James. Since the family moved a year ago, Ralph has developed a habit of trying out boxes for size, a human jack-in-a-box.
Drawn at Diana’s this afternoon, sadly P.C. the black cat is no longer with us, as I usually drew him when we visited.
A favourite spot for Horbury’s feral pigeons to gather is the Co-op roof.
I drew these in my pocket-sized sketchbook and rearranged them in Photoshop before adding the tones in Fresco on my iPad Pro, using an Apple Pencil.
With our Christmas finally sorted, it’s time for one our wilder walks around the reservoir at Langsett.
A stable mass of high pressure is starting to establish itself over Britain, forcing the jet stream into an Ω (omega)-shaped diversion right around it to the north.
This morning, the Pennine watershed marks the division between air masses and we can see a large grey cloud hanging over Manchester and rolling over the moor tops to envelop the Holme Moss transmitter but it doesn’t make any progress towards us.
Recent sketches from my 125×90 mm Hahnemühle D&S sketchbook. Tones added in Photoshop.