Winter sketchbook - more trees

In the woods by the canal, Hyde.

Looking over to Houghton Green.
Dark and muddy walk home...

 

More old portraits (1980s)

Martin

    

Mark

Neil

Old Stuff...

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A highly colourful portrait of Dad - about 1983. Probably when I was at Leeds Polytechnic (now Leeds Beckett University, I see.) Dad was very tolerant, but grew his beard around this time. Probably nothing to do with my ruthless portrayals.  

 The life model at Chelsea School of Art, 1983/4. Can't remember this striking-looking girl's name. I like the vigorous mark-making on the hair. Maybe because I didn't know her, I felt less constrained. 

 An early life-drawing from Leeds Poly - probably 1981. Beginning to realise that I had a facility. Didn't know what to do with it though.

A drawing from around 1999, when I was still the artist-in-residence at MMU Didsbury, in the Printmaking department.

Sketchbook this Autumn.

                                                                                                           


Ink and pastel. By the Peak Forest Canal (Hyde), looking towards Houghton Green.





Charcoal & ink.Not a very good photo of it.




Colour added. Better before?

 



Coombes Rocks

This one is from Coombes Rocks last Sunday... 27th July and some from last Autumn, Spring, last year. What a magnificent place - great, sculptural forms, stark shadow shapes, brutal masses.The changing light making concave into convex - you have to work fast. The wind blasts in from the West, from the Irish Sea, across the Cheshire Plain and batters this first high ridge at the edge of the Peaks. Apart from the last two, these are all from sketchbooks. 

Diary notes

 

Visit to Centre for Chinese Cultural Arts with kids from school - curating their upcoming exhibition, inspired by the Stanley Chow 'Takeaway' exhibition, which is on until June 22nd. Fab stuff. 

Took a 5 minute walk around the block from the CFCCA,  in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. It was like Porto - warm sun, people drinking coffee pavement side, old and new buildings side by side. Cool.

Weekend in Ludlow - friends' beautiful communal garden.

Jazz on a summer's day, by the river, in Ludlow.

Book bought on Ludlow market. Never know when you need to know these things.

Pages from sketchbook

None of this is of a professional standard yet -
I know that! I'm trying to find my process as
 an illustrator. I can't just do my usual doodles.

Trying to make this image work. The moment
where satellite gets blasted and Spacebub
saves the day!