Sketching Day: Kensington Gardens - Sunday 26th July 2009

Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall

Serpentine Bridge

Another wonderful day out sketching in Kensington Gardens with the RWS Friends. I wish I had more time to do more drawing, but it became at bit wet in the afternoon....you can see some rain spots on the sketch of the bridge!

After the rain

Pencil sketch

Watercolour sketch

I did a quick pencil sketch while I was at work on Friday afternoon. It had just rained and there were lots of rain drops on my window. You could still see the rain in the far distance, although it was almost clearing out on the east. The colours were very strong and all in the shade, you could only see the shape of things.

Watercolour Solutions

"Le Castella", Calabria (Italy)

"Le Castella", Calabria (Italy)

Birmingham Canal, Wolverhampton

Malus "Scarlett"

Pots

Marie Boisselot

Watercolour exercises from Watercolour Solutions art class. All the sketches are based on photographs.

Trip to Calabria, Italy

Building in front of the Calabro-Lucana station

The harbour seen from Corace

Gulf of Squillace

La Tonnina

Sketches from my recent trip to Catanzaro Lido, southern Italy.

Bordeaux

This painting is based on a couple of pictures I took in Bordeaux last year. I really liked the grilles inside the arch of the door and the balconies. It wasn't as sunny as it is in the pictures, and the shadows were not as much defined.

I followed some of the tips and techniques explained in " Watercolours Doors & Windows" by Wendy Jelbert.

Sketching Day: RWS Spring Exhibition and Riverside Sketching - Sunday 29th March 2009

Blackfriars Bridge

St Paul's Cathedral

Tate Modern

I met with the RWS Friends on Sunday for an outdoor sketching day along the river. We did a tour of the RWS Spring Exhibition at the Bankside Gallery and then Salliann Putman RWS did a talk on Bonnard's sketchbooks. It was a sunny day and we spent the rest of day sketching outside the Founder's Arm.

Canbury Gardens

I did a sketch this morning while seating in the sun at Canbury Gardens. The greens of the trees and the bushes don't mix well, and as I have been having this problem since forever, I did a quick study on mixing greens when I got back home. I started mixing sap green with the blues, the browns and the yellows in my watercolour pocket palette, but I wasn't happy with the results, so I started from the three yellows obtaining much better greens. I must remember all this next time I'm painting landscapes.

Kingston riverside

We spent about three hours on the other side of the river last Sunday. It was very sunny and we enjoyed spending time outside just sitting on a bench. It was a bit difficult to sketch as the colours were drying really fast and I could hardly keep my eyes open as it was too bright and I wasn't wearing sunglasses.

Saturday Night at the Library

We stopped at the library near Picadilly Circus, after meeting with some friends on Saturday. It was so calm and quite inside that it felt like we were miles away from the crowded and noisy streets of London.

North Kingston

I can see North Kingston from my desk in the office. Today was a bit grey and I couldn't see everything clearly. The church in the distance is the Parish Church of St Luke's.

Painting Buildings

I painted this abandoned villa from a photo I took two years ago, when I was visiting my parents in Calabria during Easter. I've recently bought 'The Watercolourist's Guide to Painting Buildings' by R. Taylor, so I thought I would give it a go in applying some of the techniques explained in the book. The results are not quite the same (especially the perspective of the windows on the ground floor, as my little brother pointed out), but I enjoyed the painting overall.

On the train

Friday afternoon on the train to Surbiton, finally going back home from work.

High Holborn under the rain

It rained all day yesterday....but it wasn't too cold. I was able to sit outside Pret a Manger and sketch the surroundings while drinking a hot miso soup.

Bloomsbury Square Gardens

I draw this yesterday during my lunch break. There were still snow on the grass and patches of ice on the footpath. It was very cold, but the sky was clear. I added the colour later at home.

....and more snow

I did this sketch while sitting at my desk at work. This is the view of St Peter's Church in Norbiton covered in snow as I see it from my office. What a shame having to be at work today!

First post.......and first snow!

Just a quick sketch to celebrate my first post on the blog and the first snow of the season.
It had just started to snow when I did this sketch and I had to open the window to see what was going on, but couldn't keep it open for long......it was too cold.