RIP Tom 2005 - 2016

It's a week since I had to say goodbye to my beloved black cat Tom. I still can't quite believe he's gone, he was such a character and is very much missed by all the family, including our other cat Biscuit. He went from his usual scatty, silly, happy go lucky self to a point of no return in a little over 48 hours. He was off his food for a day which prompted a trip to the vet , where he was found to be dehydrated and suffering from repiratory and urinary infections. He was given antibiotics and put on a drip overnight and we fully expected to find him bright eyed and bushy tailed the next day. Unfortunately he didn't respond to the antibiotics and the  drip sent water to his lungs and worsened his breathing. To make matters worse the vet had discovered a growth in his abdomen that needed surgery, something he wouldn't survive in his weakened state. Perhaps it was time, she said, to say goodbye. Reluctantly we agreed.

 He liked to hang out with his best mate.

 And find interesting places to sleep.

Ink and watercolour

Ink sketch

Ink and watercolour

 And model for me.

A shady place for a catnap

 We bought him home and buried him in the garden, in one of his favourite places.

Mill Road Winter Fair

Mill Road Winter Fair ink, watercolour and coloured pencil

On Saturday 5th December I joined the Cambridge Urban Sketchers to sketch the annual Mill Road Winter Fair. A few hardy souls gathered at the skateboard ramp at the Parkside end of Mill Road at midday before settling off to find a sheltered spot to sketch. I settled on a spot near The Broadway and perched on my camping stool until I could hardly feel my fingers anymore. Discarded coffee cups and escaped balloons swept past me as I was buffeted by the wind and I finally gave in and headed off to Romsey Mill Community Centre cafe to meet up with everyone else and thaw out with tea and cake! I added a bit more colour when I got home and got my fingers unfrozen!

This was my first trip out with Urban Sketchers since breaking my ankle in September and I hope to join the London Urban Sketchers next Saturday in Trafalgar Square. 

Marking Time by Eithne Fisher

Grey Bridge oil on canvas by Eithne Fisher

On Thursday I attended my friend and fellow artist Eithne Fisher's preview of her new exhibition Marking Time. The exhibition of paintings and drawings is in rooms above The Plough pub in Shepreth, a pretty village about 10 miles south of Cambridge. The Plough closed its doors in 2010 and was due to be converted into a private house but dedicated campaigning by local people led to it being reopened last July as a community space for music and art as well as continuing as a traditional pub.

Upper galleries at The Plough, Shepreth

The rooms above the bar appear to be a work in progress as some of the light fittings are not yet installed, making the smaller of the two rooms a little dark, but the larger room is a good size and the white painted walls show off the artwork well.

Eithne is showing thirty three works, about half are abstract oil on canvas and the rest are a mixture of drawings and photographs split over the two rooms and the lobby. Eithne describes herself as "a painter and drawer", and drawing is the basis of her work.

Drawing from Noss Mayo 3
by Eithne Fisher

Eire Figure 1 and 2
by Eithne Fisher

"Drawing and painting can be descriptive in many ways, and colour in particular is sensitive to many influences. I believe that everything is connected and visual marking responds not only to what is seen but what is heard, felt and imagined. These thoughts carry my work, which is a journey to an unknown end. The beginning, however, is drawing."

Two works had already been sold during the morning and two more got their red stickers while we were there, including
Untitled Seascape 15-1, my favourite! I also particularly liked the Eire Figures and Noss Mayo drawings.

Untitled  Seascape 15-1 oil on canvas by Eithne Fisher

The exhibition continues during pub opening hours until the 31st May at

The Upper Galleries,
The Plough,
High Street,
Shepreth,
SG8 6PP

Mill Cottage

Last summer during the NGS open gardens I visited Impington Mill, to do some sketching and produced this drawing.

I have since made a watercolour, pen and coloured pencil version, which I intend to be the first in a series of paintings of local landmarks. I'm going to visit the mill again next month to draw the windmill itself. Impington Mill will be open during National Mills weekend 9th and 10th May from 10.00 to 16.00. I believe it will also be open for Histon and Impington Open Gardens on Sunday 14 June.

Botanic Garden Sketches and Jade Vine

View of the hot houses

 Last week I spent a couple of days sketching in the Cambridge University Gardens. The first day I didn't take my folding stool so had to wait for a seat to be vacated! When I started sketching I was in the shade but as the sun moved round I was getting hotter and hotter.

1 Brookside

I returned the following day armed with my stool and settled down to draw 1 Brookside, just inside the entrance, but although the sun was shining it was distinctly cooler and I soon retreated to the Garden Cafe. I will finish both sketches in the comfort of my studio desk in the corner of the living room!

I can never visit the Gardens without going in the hot houses and this time I was rewarded with the magnificent Jade Vine in bloom.

Drawing with London Urban Sketchers

Yesterday I joined the London Urban Sketchers for the first time. We were to meet on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral at 11 o'clock but I was late and so after catching up with the organiser, Katherine Tyrrell, I headed down to the river and sketched the view across the Thames to the Tate Modern.

View across the Thames from just right of the Millennium Bridge

We all met up again on the roof terrace of One New Change to sketch the fabulous views and pose for a group photo. We also gathered all our sketches from the morning together. It was great to see
everyone's different styles.

The dome of St Pauls

Materials and equipment used, left to right. Winsor and Newton 
A4 sketchbook, Moleskine large watercolour sketchbook,
 Winsor and Newton Bijou watercolour box ,Uni Kuru Toga
 mechanical pencil,Uni Pin fineliner, Pentel waterbrush

Sketchbooks!

Group photo in Paternoster Square 

 We met up for a final time in Paternoster Square for another group photo (including a photo bomber, far right!) and another look at everyone's sketches. After saying our goodbyes a few of us repaired to a nearby coffee shop to compare the contents of our sketch kits!

More sketchbooks!

All in all I had a fantastic day and I can't wait to do it again next month when we are going to Kew Gardens on the 16th of May! Details of future London events can be found here.

Thanks so much to Katherine Tyrrell for organising the event. It was great fun and I made some new friends! Urban Sketchers London post about the event is here.

London Urban Sketchers

London Urban Sketchers' Sketchcrawl - Sunday 26th April 2015

Pen and watercolour sketch of St Pauls.

I'm going to join the next London Urban Sketchers Sketchcrawl which will be at the Millennium Bridge North Bank, St Paul's Cathedral, and One New Change - The Rook Terrace. All the details are on the Urban Sketchers London blog. This event is being organised by Katherine Tyrrell and details are also on her Travels with a Sketchbook blog.
The sketch above of St Pauls was done a few years ago from the cafe of the Tate Modern.

You can find out more about Urban Sketchers at their main blog at urban sketchers dot org.

"Urban Sketchers is a network of artists around the world who draw the cities where they live and travel to. Our mission is to "Show the World, One Drawing at a Time." Visit our main blog at urban sketchers dot org for more information."

Sketching the Market Square

It's too cold, wet and windy at the moment for sketching outdoors (for me at least), so I've retreated to the Cambridge branch of Marks and Spencer over the course of a few days to sketch from the cafe. The tables by the windows on the second floor offer a splendid view of the Market Square and St Mary's the Great church with Kings College chapel in the background. The aspect I chose to sketch looks across the market stalls and down St Mary's Street toward the Senate House lawn.

Market Square pen sketch

Getting a window side table to sketch from wasn't easy! The cafe in Mark and Spencer is very popular and everyone wants to sit by the window. I had to lurk for about 20 minutes, surreptitiously browsing home wares while waiting for a table to become free. As soon as a table became vacant I dumped my bag and coat and went to queue up for a pot of peppermint tea and a delicious cheese scone, but the service was not the fastest and by the time I came back to my table my coat and bag had gone! Seeing my look of alarm an adjacent diner told me that a staff member had taken them for safekeeping as she thought they had been left behind by a previous occupant. My things were quickly returned to me and no one else had taken the table so no harm was done and I was grateful to the staff for their vigilance. On the next visit I got my tea before sitting down at a table as close to the window as I could and waited until a table became free. It took longer this time as I needed to get the same table as before to continue sketching the same view.

Market Square pen and watercolour sketch

So lessons learnt on this trip.

• If sketching from a popular eating venue get there early to ensure the position you want. (This also allows more time to complete the drawing, I had to return to the  same spot to finish my sketch as I hadn't allowed enough time and the light was fading.)
• Get your food or drink before you sit down even if the seat you want isn't immediately available. You can quickly switch seats later. 
• If possible reconnoitre the venue first to check the best view, time of day etc. 
• Be prepared to wait! (You can always sketch your fellow diners while you wait!)

Pet Portraits

I have just updated my website www.suesmithart.com, with a new prices page for commissions. I am taking orders now for Christmas, please take a look. You can contact me at suebellhill@gmail.com.

New Facebook page

I have a new Facebook page! Please take a look and Like!

More trees

Trees. Pen and watercolour pencil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few more sketches from my local walking excursions. This time I grabbed a mixed bunch of watercolour pencils, some Prismalos, Faber Castells and Derwent Inktense. 

 
This sapling was in a fairly exposed spot so I didn't draw for very long!

Trees

Woodland. Pen and gouache.

This week I have taken several walks between Histon and Girton, where there are numerous footpaths through fields and newly planted woodland. I have been trying out a set of Caran D'ache Fancolor gouache paints (which I intend to do a review of at some point). I think they are really childrens paints but I wanted a set of gouache pans to take out and about as an alternative to watercolours. I also took a handful of Neocolour 2 pastels and some tube paints as I wasn't sure how strong the pans would be.

Sketching in Spain

Fruit Sculpture

Shadey Corner

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Last year I spent two weeks in the village of Tamariu, on the Costa Brava in Spain.

While there I managed a few sketches. The three below are sketches in the Botanic Gardens in Cap Roig, Calella. This bowl of fruit is a quirky water feature

.

Femme du Jardin

Villa in Calella

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                                                   Palafrugell

Palafrugell Market

 

Tamariu

 

The road into Tamariu was precipitous to say the least but worth it for the view. Calella is a short distance along the coast and Palafrugell is the nearest large market town. I came here many years ago as child and am happy to say it is much the same as I remember it, beautiful and unspoilt.

I'm back

Mixed Veg

After a long absence I have come back to my neglected blog. Due an ongoing medical condition which I won't bore you with here I haven't been able to post anything for a while. But I haven't been entirely idle and am delighted to announce that my painting Mixed Veg has been accepted by the United Kingdom Coloured Pencil Society's Annual Open International Exhibition. The exhibition will run from Monday 13th September until Friday 1st October at the Stamford Arts Centre. I will be attending the private view on the 13th and look forward to meeting some fellow artists that I only know through forums and blogs in the flesh.

I also have a new website, Sue Smith Art at www.suesmithart.com. This very much a work in progress so any comments gratefully received.

I have some sketches which I will post shortly, some of them are on the website under sketchbooks

Sketchbooks

A few weeks ago I visited my local art shop in Cambridge to stock up with my favourite Winsor & Newton sketchbooks. I was disappointed to find that the familiar blue covered hard back books were no longer on display, and that the only Winsor & Newton books had black covers and a different weight paper - 110gsm instead of 170gsm. The shop told me that W & N still made the heavier weight books but that they had changed the colour of the covers from blue to black, and that they could order some for me, which they did. I collected my new books expecting them to be the same quality as the blue covered ones I have used for years, so was sadly disappointed to find that they were not. The paper did not respond well to wet in wet watercolour or heavy washes, the surface breaking up and going fluffy.

Since then I have experimented with different sketchbooks - a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook and a Fabriano Venezia sketchbook.

Meanwhile I wrote to Winsor & Newton to ask if they had changed the paper, and if so, why? This is the reply I received last week.

Dear Sue,

Thank you for your email to Winsor & Newton and apologies for the delay in responding to your complaint. I’m sorry that you have been disappointed with your recent purchase of our sketchbook and I would like to try and explain some of the recent changes that have affected this product.

The paper industry has been struggling for some time and we are aware of an increase in the number of paper mills going out of business. It’s likely that the increase in digital media and technology is partly to blame but also we notice that mills are closing down because it’s very hard to compete in this acutely price sensitive market.

This has had a knock on effect for us as we need a supplier who can help us produce a competitively priced, good quality sketch book. In 2007, our original paper supplier increased their prices making the books no longer viable from this source. As a result we searched the world for an alternative supplier who could offer a similar paper at more competitive prices. However, because the paper is from a different mill some of its characteristics were slightly altered which may be more obvious when painting with heavy washes and I think this is what you have noticed.

I’m sorry for your disappointment with our current product but as a gesture of goodwill I would like to send you some replacement Luxury Water Colour Hard Back Sketch Books (265 x 210mm) which have 200lbs NOT surface paper. Please email me your postal address and I will arrange for these to be sent out.

Kind regards,

Tom Groundes-Peace

I am very impressed by Winsor & Newton's response. I did not request replacements or a refund, merely an explanation and information, both of which were sent. The offer of new sketchbooks was entirely their idea and very generous on their part. I have received two of the new luxury hardback books containing 200lb watercolour paper (far too good for sketching!).

I am still on the lookout for the old style blue sketchbooks, they were such good value. I think it's still possible to find them online.