Author: Ruth

Starting this week…

Ruth
Detail from Waiting for Balloons Victoria Park

Detail, Waiting for Balloons, Victoria Park

Starting this week, I’m going to have a few more hours to concentrate on live sketching and other freelance illustration. So it’s a good time to book me in to come and record your community event, launch day, wedding, party, or whatever you’re planning (I’ve always had a secret ambition to be a war artist…)

Starting nearer to home, though, I will be at Redcatch Park this Sunday recording Art in the Park between 12 and 5 pm.

Then, as usual, I’m getting ready for Art on the Hill on the 1st and 2nd October, where I’ll be exhibiting during the weekend (venue 17) and then hopefully sketching at Brahms Requiem at St Michael and All Angels Church.

If you want to find out more about the sketching thing, those would be good times for a chat!

Essensuals Clifton

Ruth

Thanks to Philomena and Matt Filsell who let me spend an afternoon sketching in their hair salon at the top of Park Street. It was a real challenge and I’d like to go back. Drawing in a place that’s all about image is interesting to begin with. And hairdressers move, they go round and round their clients at a faster rate than you’d think. Then there’s so much going on in a room full of mirrors.

Thanks to Liz, Rachel, Phoebe and Aimee for letting me draw you at work. And it’s a lovely friendly place with a zen-like skylight over the washbasins and a more extensive drinks menu than you’d imagine!

Essensuals 20/8/16
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Alissa, Philomena, and Rachel

Alissa, Philomena, and Rachel

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Phoebe and Aimee

Phoebe and Aimee

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Liz

Liz

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Gower holiday

Ruth

A little collection of sketches from our usual family Gower holiday last week. We’ve been doing this since 1978. There is always more sunshine than rain.

Gower 2016
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Tide at Pobbles

Tide at Pobbles

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Lucy swimming at Pwll Du (men on boats drinking small beers)

Lucy swimming at Pwll Du (men on boats drinking small beers)

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Reading at Pobbles

Reading at Pobbles

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Llamas

Llamas

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Sandcastle at Rhossili

Sandcastle at Rhossili

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Harbour Festival 2016

Ruth

I’m not sure which was more spectacular; the flyboarders standing high above us on jets of water (much higher than the one in this sketch); or the constant train of thousands all walking slowly in the same direction around Bristol harbour. I was down at the harbour festival today partly to lend a hand to Bristol Channel Sea Scouts who are raising funds to rebuild their HQ in Southville. If you’re in Bristol you can visit them by the Benjamin Perry boathouse tomorrow (Sunday) and have a go on their raingutter regatta.

harbour festival - flyboarder by temporary bridge

I particularly like this one – thanks to the couple who stepped out of the human conveyor belt for a quiet romantic moment on the harbour wall. Will work on this one for Art on the Hill.

Couple on the harbour wall

St Georges Day Parade

Ruth

St Georges Day Parade 2016

The longer you go without posting anything, the harder it gets to do it. It’s not that I haven’t been drawing. At the moment I’ve got three different commissions on the go but they haven’t been delivered yet so I’m not putting them on the internet.

But it’s been too long – so here’s a drawing of the Bristol Channel Sea Scouts marching on St George’s day, a couple of months ago. It’s going on the Annual Report for their AGM which is on Monday.

This is an interesting one because it was impossible to draw all these Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts as they walked past. I had plenty time to draw St Mary Redcliffe Church before they arrived on Redcliff Hill, then a matter of seconds to catch them before they disappeared around the roundabout and into the church.

I always tell everyone I can’t draw from photos. My drawing style changes and more or less dies as soon as I’m sitting at a desk , rather than in the moment and atmosphere of the thing I’m drawing. But on this occasion I tried something experimental. I took a series of quick shots on my phone, then jumped on my bike, got home, transferred them to the computer and drew the figures straight into my sketchbook, just to see if the magic hangs around for a few minutes.

In the end, I think the foreground figures in this image are something of a hybrid. They’re good enough for government work.

Next time, perhaps I could try clicking and drawing straight from my phone in situ. If my eyes are good enough.

Art on the Hill

Ruth

Art on the Hill postcard

Taking a short break from cleaning under the stairs – because it’s Art on the Hill again this weekend.

As always, the sun is going to shine, we will have a new guest artist in our front room, and I will get to say hello to everyone I know on Windmill Hill!

That’s what makes getting five or six new illustrations printed and hung, somehow, on the wall, all worthwhile!

More information at www.artonthehill.org.uk

Mrs Brown's tree 2

Mrs Brown’s tree 2