Own work: Trees

      A selection of sketches of trees and vegetation from my sketchbooks.  Various media.  Chronological order.

Own Work: Pages from a Sketch Book

      Just a few pages from an old sketch book I found this morning while having a sort out. Mostly architectural: some sketches towards finished paintings and finally three architectural daydreams: a design for a street of houses; a reconstruction of the nave of Elgin cathedral, and sketch design for the rebuilding of the choir of the abbey church at Holyrood in best Late Scots Gothic. A bit presumptuous of me really.

Own work: from my sketch book

     Thought I'd briefly share this drawing I did the other week of one of the trees at the back of our house - inspired by the tree studies of John Constable and Samuel Palmer. I find the form and shape of trees deeply fascinating particularly in winter where they are empty of leaves; I also like the sound they make in the wind. Like the sea. However I've always held back from drawing one feeling my skills weren't up to snuff and I have to admit it was a tricky thing, loosing my way a few times, but over all I would count it as a success.

Own work: Daily Drawing

     I'm endeavouring to draw every day.  How long I will keep this up is open to question. That said I rather pleased with Saturday's drawing. Feeling inspired by David Hockney it was to the kitchen and my pencil crayons.

Own work: Aberglasney

     I have to admit I'm rather pleased with this sketch.  Not that I had thought it would turn out stylistically quite as it has. I simply didn't sit down and consciously conceive of making a drawing in the Edwardian manner. It just happened and I'm glad it did.

Own work: Sketch Book

    Just a few pages from my latest sketch book.  Mixed media one and all.

Sketch books

   Today's post - a small selection from my sketch books.

Kersey Rood Screen

    My recent post on Kersey reminded me of a sketching trip there in the mid-nineties when I was working in Suffolk.  I've dug out the watercolour sketch in question from my 'archive'.  It shows part of the one the four (I think) remaining panels of the Rood Screen dado.  This panel represents the Holy and Victorious Martyr Edmund, King of East Anglia. 

    Before I launched this post I thought I'd better check the details in Munro Cautley.  H Munro Cautley (1876 - 1959) was an architect and historian.  His magnum opus is 'Suffolk Churches and Their Treasures', Norman Allard & Co, Ipswich, 1937 (2nd & 3rd editions: 1938 & 1954).  He was surveyor to the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.  Off the top of my head I could only think of two buildings by him:  Lloyd's Bank in Wisbeach (Cambs) and St Augustine of Hippo, Ipswich.  They both seem somehow at odds with a love of East Anglian Perp; the bank is rather good Neo-Georgian, the church monumental and perhaps a little heavy, but researching of  this post I've found plenty of other buildings by him, some I have known for years such as Lloyd's Bank in Cambridge.  I think you could say that his work is variable in quality.  There is a flickr page dedicated to him, and not surprisingly there's quite a lot about him on the Suffolk Churches website: www.suffolkchurches.co.uk
    Enough of that discursion.  Here is my watercolour drawing of Kersey Rood Screen:

And here are a couple of other drawings from that same sketch book I thought you might like: