Richard Bell's nature sketchbook since 1998
Harvey is our joiner Simon’s border terrier, so I got another chance to draw him today as work on our new bathroom continued.
Harvey likes two things: to watch the world go by and to find a warm spot to settle down in, so our patio windows are a favourite for him; sometimes snoozing with head hidden behind the curtains for bit of extra seclusion.
After spending time drawing from photographs, it’s refreshing to get back to drawing from life again. Frustrating too of course, because Harvey the border terrier wouldn’t settle for long, however I think that attempting to piece together several poses gives more of an impression of the character of the real, live animal than a carefully studied photograph can.
Who will blink first? Harvey the border terrier has spotted the low slung cat that likes to slink about in our border and keep a watch on the bird feeders. I don’t mind this feline intruder so much as I think that the territorial markers that it leaves in such profusion at the edge of the lawn might have the effect of discouraging any brown rats that are passing through the garden.
Harvey seems to be winning; the cat looks distinctly uneasy and steps out from cover onto the edge of the lawn. It’s only when the cat decides that it’s time to turn tail and run down the garden that Harvey breaks into a volley of indignant barking.
Harvey, a border terrier, is the sort of dog that likes to sit and watch the world go by, so sitting at an outside table at the Caffe Capri suits him. Unfortunately as I’m sitting with a latte drawing him there’s a hail shower. The waitress rushes around clearing the other tables but luckily we’re under the canopy which gets pummelled by the grit-sized hailstones.
In the dentist’s waiting room I’m a bit too far from the aquarium to draw the goldfish and I’ve drawn the chairs on a previous occasion, so it’s back to my standby subject, my left hand.
Deciding on a change from watercolours, I start with a ‘flesh coloured‘, that is Caucasian flesh coloured, crayon then add a touch of blue for shadows around my veins followed by light shading of orange and a wine red before working into the shadows with the brown and a touch of black. I add a hint of yellow to the highlights. The only colours in my selection of twelve Stablio Swano thick colouring Trio pencils that I don’t use are the two greens, and I don’t remember using the purple.
