Biro sketch for 'A Fantasy Full of Fail'

I once read a story about a vicar meeting a mermaid when I was younger and recently the idea for a drawing in a more adult vein came to mind. This was the idea I had in my head, but I wasn't happy with the fussy composition and the more or less realistic figure proportions. The Biro also could not convey the gloomy, brooding atmosphere I was after. Anyway, I left it unresolved in the sketchbook for a week and revisited it last night with the charcoal and Conté drawing, (next post, above).

Office desktop 091005

A quickie lunchtime sketch at work. Permanent pen on khadi paper with a Quink ink wash plus highlights spotted in with the correction pen shown. The yellowish tinge of the khadi paper doesn't show up too well but is far more interesting than plain old white.

Blue Koi (Khadi paper) 091002

Sold another painting so I thought I'd treat myself to a new sketch book. This one's a handmade Khadi (cotton rag) watercolour sketchbook, rough surface and 210gsm. The sized surface and pulpy paper makes for some interesting effects.

Conté ‘carp on black’ sketch series 3 of 3

I was on a roll with the third sketch and it shows with the looser, more fluid feel. The Conté is blurred by the finger to intimate movement, which seems to work well. Well-composed, it's very much like my earlier post, ‘The Yin and Yang of fly fishing’.

Conté ‘carp on black’ sketch series 2 of 3

This is more like it, not ethe more even black and the soft edges where the Conté pencile embeds nicely in the tooth of the black paper. He looks a little miserable for a symbol of happiness, but I blame the down-turned whiskers.

Conté ‘carp on black’ sketch series 1 of 3

I bought a square format, black paper Daler-Rowney sketchbook yesterday and before sullying its pristine surface with a poor drawing, I did this sketch first on a seperate sheet of paper. In fact this first fish was drawn in white Conté over a black-marker area, which proved not nearly as nice and solid a black (of course) as the black paper which was used for the next two drawings. But still, a worthy trial. When drawing what is effectively ‘in reverse’, i.e with white as the highlight, it’s tempting to draw outlines as you would with a black-on-white example, but that would kill the subtlety, so restraint is the order of the day.

Reading on the train 090915

Was scratching around for ideas for more surreal fishy drawings, but as we fisherman say, I 'blanked'. So I drew this fellow-commuter instead on the homeward train. Black Biro on Cachet recycled sketchbook.

Lucky 7-in-One 090908

Drew this on the homeward train last night. A new take on the well-known big-fish-eats-little-fish scenario. I remember seeing film footage of Australian angler Rex Hunt reeling in a fish only to have it eaten at the boat's side at the last second by a much larger fish, so this really happens. (Okay, not quite as neatly as in my pic). Black Biro and Chinagraph white pencil on recycled sketchbook.

Fishermen’s Thoughts 090908

Inspired by a recent fishing trip to Skye in the Scottish inner Hebrides last week, where salmon fishing was the order of the day. And also the work of MC Escher, who mastered the illusion of negative and positive spaces and interlocking images. Black Biro on recycled sketchpad.

Nude, Fiona 900903

Having loosened up with the previous study, I drew the model with a charcoal pencil and then applied a loose watercolour wash, keeping distracting background detail to a minimum.

Fiona study 090903

A quick charcoal pencil and watercolour wash warm-up sketch, prior to my main painting of Fiona on a recent fishing trip to the isle of Skye, Scotland.