Paradise in a paper bag

Oil pastel on A3 mixed media paper (cropped)

My son picked these apples (variety: Paradise Citta) from our little tree. It's still laden down with fruit.

Cartoon Capers with Beenham Wind Orchestra

Last night, I had the great pleaure of attending a concert of cartoon-related music, given by the Beenham Wind Orchestra in the church of St. Mary's in Thatcham. The orchestra were not expecting to be sketched, but seemed quite pleased with it nonetheless.

Cornish beach scenes

I often end up on the beach in Cornwall in the off season, or when the weather is not so fantastic as it was last weekend.

So it was not surprising to find that Praa Sands was thronging with people. I made a number of sketches, and they were all about the people on the beach rather than the landscape or the sea.

The Making of Harry Potter - Studio Tour

Yesterday, we visited the Warner Bros site in Watford, where the sets, props and costumes from the eight Harry Potter films are presented to the public as a studio tour. There was a great deal to see, and while I had a sketchbook in my hand most of the time, I didn't come away with many worthwhile drawings - possibly because the subjects that suggested themselves were exceedingly large or intricate or both.

Steam Locomotive Oulton Hall

The Knight Bus

The inevitable gift shop at the end

Pitt-Rivers dinosaurs, arches and bees

A series of quick sketches of reconstructed dinosaur skeletons in Oxford. All those knobbly bits make Eddy, Trike, Iggy and Rex tricky subjects, especially with children in tow.

The ceiling arches were an easier subject because they were drawn from the café (more time) and bees are smaller and simpler than dinosaur fossils. They did move, though; the Pitt-Rivers has a glass-sided hive (I'm so glad the dinosaurs didn't move!)

Pitt-Rivers dinosaurs, arches and bees

A series of quick sketches of reconstructed dinosaur skeletons in Oxford. All those knobbly bits make Eddy, Trike, Iggy and Rex tricky subjects, especially with children in tow.

The ceiling arches were an easier subject because they were drawn from the café (more time) and bees are smaller and simpler than dinosaur fossils. They did move, though; the Pitt-Rivers has a glass-sided hive (I'm so glad the dinosaurs didn't move!)

Village Rock Fest

 A selection of sketches made at last Saturday's "Kingsclerefest".