Inking ‘Swallow’

Inking the Swallow  © Peter Gander

 A 'bird's eye view' of a work-in-progress shot inking the Swallow, one of a set of new Have a Gander 'Animals' Greeting Card images. The painted image is destined for the rubber stamp maker. Once it's turned into a stamp, we'll individually hand-print them onto blank cards. All a very painstaking process, but the result is a beautifully-handcrafted card with a very special quality worth all the effort.

Valentine’s cuppa

The Valentine’s rubber stamp image  © Peter Gander 2013

Using a proper cuppa as inspiration (ink drawing in corner)

For our Have a Gander business, I drew this design for a line of hand-printed Valentine’s cards for lovers and tea-lovers. The original drawing was done in Indian ink and scratch (dip) pen, visible in the corner. I used a dainty tea cup as reference, colour was added in Photoshop for the mock-up above. The real thing will be turned into a rubber stamp and individually hand-inked and printed onto card.

Simple fish animation

Fish animation  © Peter Gander 2013

East of London Bridge

‘East of London Bridge’  © Peter gander 2013

Looking east downriver of the Thames towards WWII battleship, The HMS Belfast (where my parents once took me when I was about 12) and Tower Bridge behind it, backlit by the low morning sun. The pointed tower of Canary Wharf, where I am currently freelancing at Ogilvy & Mather, seen in grey in the background. A simple combination of two favourite colours, Winsor & Newton Payne’s Grey and Cerulean Blue capture the essence of the morning light. A dryish brush dragged across the tooth of the mould-made paper acheives the sparkly water effect. The shelter, by Hay’s Galleria at London Bridge (south side) is just by the Clipper pier where I get my morning boat to the Wharf, a mere 10 minute ride, despite the fact that the tower looks like it’s a hundred miles away down the snaking river. Winsor & Newton watercolour and waterproof pen on 210gsm handmade Indian Khadi paper sketchbook.

Lottie the black labrador

‘Lottie’  © Peter Gander

Winsor & Newton watercolour painting on 300gsm handmade Indian Khadi paper. 

Unknown Sculpture, Canary Wharf, London

(Unknown) Sculpture, Canary Wharf, London  © Peter Gander 2012

I’ve had my eye on drawing this one for a while as I pass it daily from CanaryWharf Pier. Sadly I couldn’t find a nearby plaque with the sculptor’s name, so I can’t be terribly informative. But it’s quite a raw-looking piece, with cut angles from the sculptors’ knife visible all over, like it’s just been made from a huge block of clay. This faceted look translates well to cross-hatching with the biro in small chunks of light and shade. Drawn at West India Avenue, Canary Wharf, London. Bic biro on card and digital colour.

Canary Wharf DLR (Canada Square)

Canary Wharf DLR  © Peter Gander 2012

I went out Tuesday lunchtime to draw and paint this lovely arched DLR station entrance near Mackenzie Walk but once again rain stopped play. Not only that but I realised I was using a non-waterproof pen, (even if it was an ad agency icon, the lauded Sign Pen). Thus it wouldn’t have been any good for watercolouring anyway, even if it hadn’t rained! Thus I brought it back, albeit bespattered with a few raindrops visible here, and scanned it as a black and white (greyscale) image only. Today I finally got round to adding layers of colour digitally, using a limited and muted palette as it was a grey, overcast day. Choosing to drop in colour in a very cut-out fashion on transparent layers, it has a kind of block printing appeal. I was careful not to try and colour in everything too, so it maintained its sketchy freshness. Pentel Sign Pen and digital colour.

‘Couple on seat’ bronze by Lynn Chadwick 2000. Canary Wharf, London.

‘Couple on seat’ bronze sculpture by Lynn Chadwick 2000.  Sketch © Peter Gander 2012

Strong winds again today but dry at least. Right outside the Ogilvy office is this bronze by Lynn Chadwick. I was surprised to see the date of 2000, having presumed it was a 1970s piece, similar to the Henry Moore abstracted figures that I used to see around Harlow, Essex when I was younger. A ring of tiered seating surrounds this and a fountain, so I had a comfortable sketching position. Drawn with a soft (7B) pencil, the paper’s tooth was rather too rough for any subtle variations of tone, but the wash of  sepia over the top helped with that. Dry pigment on the brush dragged upwards (left figure) lent an appropriately rough texture in places. Winsor and Newton watercolour on 210gsm Khadi (Indian handmade) ‘rough’ paper pad.

London lunchtime sketch: Sasso Cosmico, Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf, London

Sasso Cosmico, Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf, London  © Peter Gander 2012

A grey day in London. Raining, in fact, so nowhere to sit down and sketch but would have sketched this standing up anyway, for the best viewpoint of this dynamic view down to the famous Canary Wharf tower. In the foreground is a sculpture entitled ‘Sasso Cosmico’, by Do Vassilakis-Konig (bronze and steel) 2007. This view will be familiar with commuters like me who get the Thames Clipper boat into the wharf. The very fine rain added an interesting dotty texture to the painting, visible in the sky especially. The woman pushing the pram, lower left, circled the small park continuously for as long as I was there, a good 40 mins! Staedtler Permanent Pen and Winsor & Newton watercolour on 130gsm cartridge paper (the latter was too thin/non-absorbent for such a well-soaked job really).

London lunchtime sketch: Knocker White, West India Quay, London

‘Knocker White’  © Peter Gander 2012

A windy lunchtime today, had to batten down my own hatches with bulldog-clipped pages held down to stop them blowing around in the wind. A few spots of rain too but nothing really threatening. I am currently freelancing in the Docklands area of East London so thought a boat would make a good inaugural sketch for this area. The rust-coloured autumn leaves floating in the water were a good match to the tug’s warm orange paintwork. This little tug sits just outside the Museum of London Docklands and here’s the official history: 

KNOCKER WHITE is a traditional Thames tug, built in 1924 by T. van Duivendijk, Lekkerkerk, Netherlands as CAIRNROCK, for Harrisons Lighterage Company, London. She was traditionally steam-powered. She later passed into the ownership of W. E. White & Sons, Rotherhithe, and in 1960 was renamed with the nickname of one of the White family. She was converted to diesel power with the installation of Petters engines, and alterations were made to both the funnel and wheelhouse. In November 1982, she was sold for scrap, and parts of her engines were removed. In 1984, after a 60 year working life, she was reprieved and became part of the Museum of London Docklands. Source: Paul Brown, Historic Ships The Survivors (Amberley, 2010), updated Feb 2011.

Winsor & Newton watercolour (squirrel mop brush) on 210gsm rough Khadi (Indian handmade) pad (from Paperchase).

‘One for the pot’ (lobster)

‘One for the pot’  © Peter Gander 2012

A poor photo of this painting (at A3 or 42cm x 21cm it’s too large for my scanner), but hopefully you’ll get the gist. The outline was done with a jumbo bamboo dip pen and Ultramarine ink. Watercolour and ink on The Langton Prestige 300gsm rough paper. • SOLD