Sycamore Gap Tree

From what I've been able to find out, "The Sycamore Gap" tree is well known outside of the UK. Located beside Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, England, it gained global fame partly due to its appearance in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. International condemnation was widespread when the 150-year-old tree was deliberately and illegally cut down in September 2023.

A while ago there was a discussion in my Art Forum about drawing trees and how most people felt they couldn't really draw or paint them properly. In response, by way of providing an opportunity for some practice, I decided to choose a tree as the subject for the forums next Monthly Painting and Drawing Project, and what better specimen than the famous Sycamore Gap tree. 

Though most members reached for their watercolours or coloured pencils, I reached for my Pigma Micron Pens. I'm very pleased with the resulting drawing but keep thinking I ought to splash some green watercolour on it. I've resisted so far.

More monochrome tree projects

Canal Cottages

Web sites and stuff

Paynes Greye

Old Railway Shed

Back in 2023 we visited the Beamish Living Museum in County Durham. We had been before, several decades ago, and it was great to get back there for another look round. For those who haven't heard of it, the museum is a village and surrounding area that has been restored back to the early and mid 20th century. Visiting the museum is like stepping back in time.

One area consists of railway paraphernalia including steam engines, wagons and railway sidings and it was there that I spotted this old wooden shed tucked away in a corner. It instantly appealed greatly as a painting/drawing subject so I took some photos for reference. 

Though the shed was old, weather beaten, and smoke tarnished dark grey wood, the door and the boards around the edge of the roof were red. This fitted perfectly with my intention of doing some more ink drawings with a touch of red, as I did with the Lakeside Cottage and Vintage Petrol Pump. I'm very pleased with how it's turned out and happy that I now have 3 pictures in my "Touch of red" series.

Previous drawings in my "Touch of Red" series

Lakeside Cottage

Vintage Petrol Pump

Lion in Ink

 A while ago it occurred to me that I've never attempted a serious drawing of an animal using pen and ink. I searched Pixabay (my favourite site for royalty free images) and found a stunning photo of a lion with a sunset background. It made a perfect reference picture. 

The drawing was produced entirely with a very fine (0.05) UniPin Fineliner. I wanted to use the thinnest nib so that I had more control over the tonal values. It made for an awful lot of mark making in the darkest areas but working the darks in slowly was always the plan. When working with ink we can't add texture marks without adding dark marks, and getting that balance right was paramount. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

More Animal drawings

Rhinoceros

Leopard

I saw him .... and he saw me.

Vintage Petrol Pump

Following my pen and ink drawing of the Lakeside Cottage in which I used some Vermillion drawing ink to highlight the red roof, I felt inspired to find another subject that would provide the same opportunity for a red highlight.

Looking back through my old photographs, I was delighted to come across one of an old vintage petrol pump standing in a cottage garden in the very quaint village of Chipping Campden. The petrol pump not only caught my eye because of it being such a unique feature in a garden setting, but also because it carried very poignant memories for me. As a young boy (9 or 10-years old) my mother worked as an attendant at a local filling station. The fuel she sold was called "National Benzole", and that was exactly the name displayed on this pump. 

I know this is only my second "drawing with red" but I've looked at photographs of our red Post boxes and Telephone kiosks and feel a series coming on. Watch this space!!

 

More Pen and Ink drawings

Lakeside Cottage

Steps at Robin Hoods Bay - 2

Country Home

Lakeside Cottage

Currently my favourite medium is Pen & Ink. I call it Pen and Ink even though I use Micron Fineliner pens. I suspect Pen & Ink usually means a dip pen and a bottle of ink and I'm happy to be put right on that if any of my followers know the answer. 

Though I am usually very comfortable shading and defining textures with a pen, on this occasion I struggled. As can be seen from the reference photo, the ground immediately around the cottage had contours, but little by way of texture. I contemplated drawing every blade of grass but not for long .... that just wouldn't have worked. LOL.

As can be seen, I opted to define the contours with fine hatching lines with the occasional blade of grass here and there. It worked to an extent but I can't say I'm especially happy with the effect.

One thing I AM happy with is my decision to use Vermillion drawing ink to brush in the red roof. My initial drawing is shown on the right.

I wrestled with the decision for quite a while. I've seen black & white pictures with just a single object picked out in red, and I've always like the effect and artistry involved. So with caution thrown to  the wind, I bit the bullet (mixing my metaphors well now), and dipped brush into ink. Initially, that red roof captures the eye and takes over the scene, but gradually the eye begins to wander. I'd love to know what you think.

More Landscapes

Radiating Fog

Smoke

Paynes Grey

Steps at Robin Hoods Bay - 2

A couple of years ago I did an ink drawing of some cobbled steps in the beautiful village of Robin Hoods Bay. So much did I enjoy doing that drawing that I decided to do another.

My idea for that first drawing was to try and create a vignette effect and though it wasn't a complete failure, it didn't quite live up to the image I held in my minds eye. This time I was hoping to do better.

Robin Hoods Bay is the most delightful and picturesque coastal village I've ever been to. The reference photo is one of the many photo's I have of this beautiful place. The scene isn't as pleasing to the eye as the first one but I find the cobbled steps receding into that alley quite captivating. I can't help but imagine smugglers of olde disappearing through that opening with their illicit contraband.

Just as I did the last time, I was hoping to achieve a sort of vignette effect. It wasn't as successful as I'd hoped last time and I'm not overly pleased with the effect again this time, but for different reasons. On the positive side I find this method of drawing extremely relaxing, absorbing and contemplative as I quietly work over the paper making tiny ink marks, allowing my mind to drift wherever it pleases. 

For anyone interested, I have a full Work In Progress page on my main web site that shows the stages I went through and my changing thoughts as the drawing progressed. I hope you have a look at it.

More views from Robin Hoods Bay

Cobbled steps
(Pen and ink)

Haberdashery
(Pen and Wash)

New Road
(Pen and Wash)

King Street
(Pencil)

Steps to Front Door
(Pen and Ink)

Coastal View
(Pen and Ink)

Artistic Licence or not?

My neighbour recently moved out of the area. She'd been here many, many years but we've only known her since we moved here, almost 5 years ago. I thought it would be nice to do her a drawing of her bungalow as a memento of her time here. I popped outside with my camera and took a photo to use for reference. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the sun was shining brightly.

Though I was initially quite pleased with my effort, the more I looked at it, the less I liked it. At first I was unsure why but then realised it was because of the shadows. The reference photo was taken on a very sunny day with strong shadows and, as usual, I stuck too rigidly to the reference. Those dark angular areas were spoiling the shape of her house. 

Unfortunately for my neighbour there were some delays with her move but that afforded me the time to do the drawing again. This time I used our old friend 'artistic licence' and I imagined the house without the shadows. That left too much white paper so I decided to draw in the brickwork, which I don't normally do other than a few small sections hinting at what might be there. Doing so has separated the house from the white of the paper and allowed the shape of the building to have more depth and dimension. 

I was much happier with the second version so that is the one I gave her, and she was delighted. I'll be really interested to hear how you all view the differences, and which of the two you prefer.

Small boat

One of the projects, or should I call them 'challenges', that I run in my Art Forum, is what we call the Monthly Painting and Drawing Project. This is where I post a photograph of what I hope is an interesting subject, and the members all paint or draw it in their chosen medium. 

We find it an interesting way of appreciating how other artists 'see' the same subject and how they  apply artistic licence to create their own interpretation of it. Every month I create a web page showing all of the submissions so that we can compare all the paintings/drawings side-by-side. This isn't about deciding whose is best but about learning from our peers and appreciating the achievement of others.

As for the subject of the painting, I saw this small boat bobbing on the water in the marina in Torbay. Torbay is an area of coast known as "the English Riviera". There was just something about it that made me want to paint it and I knew it would make a great subject for the monthly project. 

I couldn't decide whether to paint it or draw it, so I did both. LOL.

Other boat paintings on my web site

Scarborough Boats

Boy with Boat

Spurn Lightship

Old fishing boat

"Old Fishing Boat" using Pen & Wash

Boats of all shapes and sizes make good subjects for painting and really old, well worn boats are especially attractive. I don't know if this old fishing boat is still in use today as its badly flaking paint, rust stained hull and rotting wooden boards have certainly seen better days. 

My first version of this appealing subject was actually a sketch using a non-permanent pen and a water brush. Though I don't do a great deal of sketching outdoors (which I intend to rectify), the pen and water brush combination makes an ideal, easy to carry, outdoor sketching kit.

Other boat paintings on my web site

Barmouth Viking II

Fishing Boat

Boat in Torbay

Steps at Robin Hoods Bay

 

 

Robin Hoods Bay is the most delightful coastal village I think I've ever been to. It is set into the Yorkshire cliffs and in the 18th century was reputed to be the busiest smuggling community on the Yorkshire coast. Hiding places, bolt holes and secret passages abound and wandering through the narrow alleyways between the houses it's easy to feel the presence of smugglers passed.

When there a few years ago I took many photographs and this one looking up a pathway of cobbled steps was one of my favourites. To make the centre area around the steps the main focus of the scene I knew I would need to lay in plenty of darks tones, keeping the pathway light but working with ink, that's not so easy. My original plan for this ink work was to produce a vignette-style drawing, but that didn't work out as I'd planned, though I'm not displeased with the result.

For anyone interested, I have a full Work In Progress page on my main web site that shows my progress and my changing thoughts as the drawing progressed. I hope you have a look at it.

More views from Robin Hoods Bay

King Street
(Pencil)

Haberdashery
(Pen and Wash)

New Road
(Pen and Wash)

Steps to Front Door
(Pen and Ink)

Coastal View
(Pen and Ink)

Irish Church

 

Many years ago, we went on holiday to Ireland and stayed in the south in County Kerry. One day we were driving along a quiet country lane and unexpectedly came across this semi-ruined church. It was intriguing because the back wall, where I imagine there was once a stained-glass window, was caved in and yet the graveyard looked recently used. To add to the intrigue, there was a good degree of rubble just inside the caved in window yet all the pews appeared to be present and intact. 

I first drew this church in pencil back in 2010. More recently I was looking through my photo's for a suitable subject to set as the Monthly Painting and Drawing Project in my forum, and this one jumped out at me as we hadn't had a building as a subject for a while. As usual, the members tackled this in a variety of media, but my choice was to try Pen & Ink this time. 

Other Pen & Ink drawings on my web site

Midhope Castle

Boat in Torbay

Scarborough Toll House