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. 

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.

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!)

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!

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

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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.

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.

Open Gardens

Cawcutts, pen and wash, watercolour pencil

On Sunday our villages held an Open Gardens Day in aid of Histon Feast, Emmaus UK and Voluntary Service Overseas. In all there were 14 gardens open to the public, and I managed to visit five of them. Cawcutts was my first port of call. This house was originally the home of the Chivers family. Below is an extract from the programme.

...entering the garden to the left of the house, you see set amidst grey stone slabs, some Gertrude Jekyll type planting backed by a shrub and woodland area. Turning towards the main part of the garden there is a glorious rose trellis, and a patio area behind the house designed for dining outIt was a beautifully sunny and warm day and I was lucky enough to find a vacant bench to sit on while I did the sketch above.

Impington windmill, Cambs

© Copyright Rodney Burton
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

A short walk brought me to The Windmill, taken over eight years ago by Pippa and Steve Temple, who are gradually restoring the windmill to full working order and taming...

...a gloriously "romantic" garden decaying through neglect. Gradually replacing the dead trees by new, brambles by roses, clematis and honeysuckles we have created a path through the wilder areas. Maintaining the romance there are beds for different seasons, a wisteria archway, a herb bank, a rose and clematis pergola and underway a bed of grasses, bog gardens and a wild flower bank

Tours of the windmill were also on offer and I rashly bought a ticket. All was well while we were guided around the exterior and even up to the first floor, but one look at the ladder up to the next level was enough to convince me that there was no way I was going any further (I am not good at heights) so I chickened out and went and had a nice sit down and a peice of cake!


Next stop was a relatively new house on an estate at the far end of the village, not all that promising you might think, but this estate was built on the site of Impington Hall (home of Samuel Pepys' uncle) and the beautiful garden contains what was once the ornamental lake, and is flanked by a London Plane tree that was planted by Capability Brown.





Heading out of the estate and across the road brought me to Burgoynes House

The garden comprises three distinct areas, a small parkland area in front of the house, with several magnificent trees set in wide lawns including chestnut, beech and whitebeam. On one side leading off the terrace is an enclosed garden, which is walled down on side, crating a beautiful secluded space.

In this space was an intriguing piece of sculpture which was just asking to be sketched. It is made out of a whole trunk of a willow which had to be felled as it was growing too close to the house. Each twisting branch represents a member of the family and is carved to represent something important to them eg binary code to represent computing.

I just had time to visit one more garden. This was a complete contrast to the stately home type gardens I had seen so far, it was much smaller, and full of quirky ornaments and odd pieces of furniture! The owners say it is a haven for wildlife, but the presence of two cats made me wonder about that!

By now it was 6 o'clock and the gardens were closing, so time to head home. My newly purchased pedometer says I have done 13,478 steps 0r 5.9 miles!

This was the second event of this kind and it is hoped to be repeated biennially. The garden owners and organisers have put in a tremendous amount of effort and hopefully raised a substantial amount of money for the supported charities. I look forward to the next one when hopefully I can get to the gardens I missed yesterday!


Finally, here is the kit I took with me.

The Immortal Stone

Chinese jades from the Neolithic period to the twentieth century

Jades from the museum’s collection covering the most important periods in Chinese history. Included will be jades for burial; animal sculptures and luxury utensils from the Ming and Qing periods and jades from the imperial collection, as well as fake jades from the late 19th to early 20th century. There will be a catalogue available to accompany this exhibition.

I visited this exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge last weekend. My first impression was that it was quite small, the Octagon is not very big, but I was soon absorbed by the exhibits. There is one fascinating exhibit depicting the various forms of forgery that have been used to make pieces of modern jade look like antiquities. They went to a lot of trouble to do this, copying pieces from catalogues and then scorching them to discolour the jade.

As photography is not allowed in the museum I pulled out my sketchbook to draw the horse below, but unfortunately the nib of my pen snapped and I had to complete the sketch with a non waterproof gel pen. I surreptitiously added watercolour using my tiny watercolour box and waterbrush as only dry media are allowed in the galleries, but it is so small that nobody noticed.

The exhibition is on until Sunday 31 May in the Octagon (Gallery 10)
Admission is free

EDM 2 Draw lamp

EDM 2 pen and watercolour

This is the second item on the Every Day Matters list, a lamp at our local Chinese restaurant, The Pheonix. I've got a very long way to go to catch up!

Cactus Monday

Cape Aloe, Cambridge University Botanical Gardens hothouse, watercolour and ink

I have just joined a Flickr group called Cactus Monday and added the above sketch to the pool. It is not strictly speaking a cactus so I've added another one, a sketch of my conservatory windowsill



Conservatory windowsill, watercolour and ink

EDM 1 - Draw a shoe

I've decided to make a start on the EDM list at last, although this is a bit of a cheat as it's a sketch I did a couple of weeks ago. I've got a lot of catching up to do!