by Chris | Mar 20, 2018 | Sketchbook Musings
A day out to Hereford with Gill, and as usual I am parked for an hour with my sketchbook while Gill goes off to the shops. It’s a happy arrangement and I thoroughly enjoyed sitting in this quiet corner enjoying the Autumn sunshine. I coloured it as well on the...
by Chris | Mar 20, 2018 | Sketchbook Musings
This is one of my favourite views of Great Malvern town. Looking across the amazing jumble of rooftops that make up the precincts of Malvern Priory. We only moved to Malvern in the last year (2017) so I was keen to make a start on sketching, just as soon as I had...
by Chris | Mar 20, 2018 | Sketchbook Musings
This is a sketch I did from a photograph, specifically for a demonstration evening at the Solihull Society of Arts. It was entitled ‘Holiday Sketching’ and I chose the view as I wanted to show how to simplify what looks like a complicated scene, and...
by Chris | Oct 13, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
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by Chris | Sep 15, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
Yikes! My solo annual exhibition of paintings in the Westwoods Centre Northleach is only three weeks away! How did that happen? Will I pull it all together in time? I always get pre-exhibition nerves at this point, as it feels as though my soul will be on display to...
by Chris | Aug 19, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
I’ve been meaning to produce a painting from a sketch of Assisi I did in May. But where to start? The photo I took at the time was very flat and colourless as it was raining most of the day! However the view was lovely and in my minds eye I could see it in early...
by Chris | Aug 7, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
There are many reasons that compel people to travel. For some it is pleasure, or a holiday; for others it is business. Young persons will spread their wings on gap years; older parents will visit their offspring who have started families abroad. I love to travel to...
by Chris | Jul 6, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
I was in London a week or two ago, seeking inspiration for painting. It must have been the only day for weeks that was NOT sunny! But still there is something about drawing directly from life in cities that I love to do. These are three of the sketches I came up with,...
by Chris | Jun 7, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
From ‘Impressions of the Cities of Umbria’ In the city of Orvieto, Southern Umbria, Italy I had to admit I was lost. The twelve sided tower of Sant’ Andrea was what I was looking for, and although I had been there earlier in the day, the light had been against me. Now...
by Chris | Jun 3, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
Writing this back at Perugia Farmhouse in early evening, sitting on a chair in bright sunshine overlooking a magnificent hilltop view across Perugia and the hills. Awoke this morning to a clear blue sky, and a warmth that was to last the day. I decided to return to...
by Chris | Jun 3, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
With only one week’s sojurn in the Umbrian landscape I have been necessarily selective in the places to which I have been. EH went on to Cita della Pieve (for the sake of Perugio, his birthplace), Foligno, Montefalco, Fabriano, and even Urbino, which now I now longer...
by Chris | Jun 2, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
Promising morning, and wind my way across country to Orvieto, but on reaching the outskirts a moment’s inattention causes me to be swept on the toll paying Autostrada from Rome to Florence! After 23 kilometres of drumming my fingers on the steering wheel I come off at...
by Chris | Jun 2, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
Rise to bright sunshine! A wonderful surprise and I’m parked in Todi by 8.30am. Do the sketch on this page immediately as it was irresistible (if not in EH) the hill top church of S.Fortunato to the right, and below Santa Maria della Consolazione. I am immediately...
by Chris | Jun 1, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
Rise early, and out at 7.30 (check out of farmhouse) and head for Assisi. Easy drive, and park in probably the most expensive farmhouse in Assisi. Then an expensive coffee and pastry sets the tone for the day. Still, the farmhouse cost less than expected as it was...
by Chris | Jun 1, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
…After the last entry, still spitting with rain, manage to draw very quick perspective of the Via delle Occhi (in sketchbook) and finish off in the car. Houses and all very similar to plate in EH, but neater and tidier, and a tree to the left, which helps the...
by Chris | Jun 1, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
Last night I was fed up, so I went to bed early, finished the ‘difficult’ sudoku from last Sunday’s Independent, then slept for ten hours to 8 o’clock this morning (but for the usual call of nature in the dark; the sleeping hills all around look wonderful at night,...
by Chris | Jun 1, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
..and just finished a cheap bowl of lasagne at a cheap tourist café. I just can’t get the hang of Italy. The rain stopped, but had robbed me of half the afternoon. I returned to the view across to Assisi and did a pen and wash impression based on the pencil drawing...
by Chris | May 31, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
Well, last night was good value. After two more beers at the ‘Bar Olympia’ I was best friends with ‘Salvatore’, an enthusiastic local who engaged me in conversation; his English not much better than my Italian but we were helped by the girl behind the bar who had...
by Chris | May 30, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
..and the usual fun and games to the start of the trip. What did I expect? Why to arrive in sunny Italy, find a bus from Perugia airport to the main city centre, thence to get a bus to the ‘Perugia Farmhouse Backpackers Hostel’ as directed to on the website. Then...
by Chris | May 30, 2010 | Sketchbook Musings
Sunday 16 May At the airport (Stansted) Security checked, breakfasted, and texted to next of kin. On finishing my breakfast (in Frankie and Bennie’s) the Italian waiter commented “It’s good you are flying this morning; the airport is due to close again at 5o’clock...
