Richard Bell's nature sketchbook since 1998
Testing out my new field guide, Britain’s Insects by Paul D. Brock. I got a good look at the click beetle, which was flying slowly past me, wing cases outspread. I caught it in the palm of my hand and after a few seconds lying on its back it performed its click, springing up from my hand and landing, right side up this time on the ground.
For the small hoverfly I’m going to have to refer to the companion field guide to Britain’s Hoverflies.
We’ve been trying to meet up with Kathleen, my now 93 year-old cousin, since before the pandemic but at last we got to see her today at Bragazzi’s, on Abbeydale Road, a part of Sheffield where my mum grew up. Her local cinema, the 1,560-seater Abbeydale ‘Picture Palace’, built in 1920, is currently being restored.
Ground ivy, growing at on the grassy verge of a path near the river.
I’ve been reading a list of ‘Five Essential Tips for Beginners’ in digital art and number one is: ‘Use a light touch when drawing on your tablet of device. This will help prevent unwanted pressure marks and smudging’.
That’s good advice. Having got through two PenTips 2 soft tips for my Apple Pencil in just a couple of weeks, I’m pleased that I’ve done better with the last remaining one.
I’m hoping that the lighter touch that I’m learning to use will transfer to my regular drawing with a pen on paper.
Another problem that I had with my way of drawing was that I was inadvertently changing the colour of my brush by resting a finger on the screen and invoking the eye-dropper tool. I’ve changed that in preferences so I can access the eye-dropper with a different shortcut.
I’m working on my July issue of my Wild Yorkshire nature diary for The Dalesman using Adobe InDesign and Photoshop to fit everything in.
Being pressed for space I’ve tried to fit the swarming bees into the margin and, to add to the drama, instead of my usual smiling mugshot, I’ve tried a cartoon of Barbara and I on bee alert, blocking holes with steel wool and masking tape. This might not make it into the final cut, but I like to experiment.
I did consider taking acrylics and a canvas to today’s painting workshop at RHS Harlow Carr run by their current artist in residence, Hilary Burnett Cooper, but I stuck with my regular pen and watercolour and it was a chance to try my larger watercolour box on location. I recently updated it so that there are fewer strident greenish blues and earthy browns, replacing those with colours that would be more useful for flower painting.
Hilary Burnett Cooper Landscape, scenic and figurative artist
More PenTips goodies: glove, grip and, my favourite, the PenPad Shortcut Panel for Procreate on the iPad. I’ve used Procreate a lot and gone through dozens of tutorials but there are some shortcuts, such as ‘Cut’, that I have a mental block about. There they all are on the pad, so I don’t have to break my workflow by searching through sub-menus.
I’m still searching for my favourite virtual pen in Procreate. In Clip Studio Paint my go-to pen is usually the ‘Real G-Pen’ but in Procreate with dozens of virtual pens to choose from, I’m still undecided.
Perhaps drawing my chitted potatoes with a selection of pens from the Procreate ‘Inking’ section will help me narrow it down.
I like the extra control that I get with the PenTips 2 ‘Soft’ rubber-like replacement tip for the Apple Pencil but I’ve now damaged two of the three that come in the pack.
Although most of the time when I’m drawing my touch is reasonably light, when it comes to adding colour or erasing it’s a different story. I find that it’s necessary to press on extra hard to squeeze a pool of virtual watercolour from a brush. If I’m using one of the subtler forms of the eraser I can find myself pressing hard to remove a stubborn line.
The PenTip can then stick to the glass and split at the end, revealing the metal core.
The Sand Martin Wall, RSPB Saltholme, 12.45 pm, Friday 21 April 2023
Our favourite coffee (and carrot and coriander soup) stop on our trips to Northumberland and today the view of the lagoon from the first-floor café is quite different to what it was on our autumn visits. Instead of exposed mudbanks and shallows for waders and dabbling ducks, water levels are now raised, creating what appear to be fox-proof islands for the breeding colony of black-headed gulls.
Queen Elizabeth II Country Park, Ashington
This swan breast feather is almost transparent so that you can actually read large-print text through it. I drew it on a dark background as on white it fades into the background.
The new Willow Hide, Hauxley Northumberland Wildlife Trust nature reserve, 1.20 pm, Saturday 22 April, 2023, 15℃ 59℉ in the hide. Rain had passed over, grey skies, getting brighter.
There are thousands of dancing gnats in loose gatherings, especially in the shelter alongside hedges. On the window of the café I can see there’s a mix of hump-backed females and males with feathery antennae.
Teal are dabbling and twirling, picking up insects from the water surface.
The Lookout Café, Hauxley Northumberland Wildlife Trust, 2.30 pm, Saturday 22 April, 2023.
Pea and mint soup with a cheese and beetroot scone, overlooking a corner of the lagoon with teal, gadwall, mallard and Canada goose. Oystercatchers and lesser black-backed gull go over. We see our first swallow, flying low over a field towards the reserve’s lagoon.
Recent sketches from my smallest pocket-sized sketchbook.