One Sketch 312) Chicago Streetcar

My kind of trams
Chicago had
Now they're all gone
That's kind of sad.
Simple explanation - today's Sketching Every Day prompt was  Chicago, so couldn't resist taking this tack with it. This is based on a photo from the mid 50s.

One Sketch 311) (Weds 30th January) Westminster Abbey

For a thousand years
My bells have tolled
For kings,
And their dust,
Is my buried treasure.

Not a lot to say, other than I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the good old Abbey in my home town.

One Sketch 310) (Tuesday 29th January) Exeter Cathedral

A house of worship
Laying heavy bonds
On the surly earth,

Not sure what that means either, still, when I posted the York Minster sketch a few days ago, one of my fellow group members asked if I'd ever tried sketching Exeter Cathedral. Have now.

One Sketch 309) (Monday 28th) Carry Akroyd

The fox is always near
Lurking in the long grass, tall grass
Short grass
The fox is always near.
So the hare listens
To the song of the wind
And the song of the scent
For the fox is always near
Yet the hare
Fills his lungs and his heart
And his tune fills the long grass,
Tall grass, short grass
For he has jumped over the moon
And the fox was nowhere near.

Sorry, don't know what that was all about. Yesterday's prompt from Sketching Every Day  was the artist Carry Akroyd. I really liked the original of this, which has the quality of a wood cut. Muggins here did it with ink pen on white paper. Would have been a lot easier to use some kind of white medium on black paper. D'oh.

One Sketch 308) Train sketch

A steam choo choo
As wonderful and almost mythical
As a dinosaur
And pretty much
As extinct

This was the prompt on Sketching Every Day today - train.  I think I've probably told you enough about my love of steam locos in the past so I won't go on about it. What I was pleased with this was the fact that I set myself the task of sketching it REALLY quickly before I went out to the car boot sale - and  I managed it without making a complete pig's ear of it.

One Sketch 307) York with the Minster

Grand Old Lady
Beams down benignly
One the city which gave her
Birth.

I like York. I first visited in 1977. I remember that was the year, because it was on the very same day that Red Rum won the Grand National for a record third time - there were notices up in a supermarket we went into. The purpose of our visit was to go to the National Railway Museum, and let's be honest, I still haven't outgrown my love of trains. Yet there's so much more in York. I was a bit disappointed that we didn't go into the Minster that day. In years to come I would visit the Minster, and because I was studying Old Norse literature I got to visit Jorvik Viking centre. Then there's the Castle Museum, and the Shambles . . . I could go on, but the simplest thing would be for you to go and see for yourself. Go on then, go. I'll wait until you get back.

One Sketch 306) Tintern Abbey

Dissolved, to satisfy
Old Henry's lust
- Yet still it stands,
While that fat git is dust.

Couldn't believe that the prompt today was Wales. Blimey, where did I start? Over the last 2 years I 've made literally hundreds of sketches of Wales. In the end I plumped for one of my favourite Welsh buildings, Tintern Abbey.

One Sketch 305) (Thursday 24th) Tikal Pyramid

I've always been the kind
To flip my lid
For a central American
Pyramid

Maybe you look at this and think Mexico. Well, close, but no cigar. This is actually found in Guatemala, the city of Tikal.

One Sketch 304) (Weds 23rd)Vietnamese Street

Dive in headfirst
To the sea of people

The rompt on Wednesday was Vietnam. Best I could come up with.

One sketch 303) Rhinoceros

It is a beast
I have to say
Of quite exalted rank
It has my admiration
Half animal,
Half tank.

No idea what else to sketch today, so decided on this rhino - shall we call him Neil. Badoom boom ching - I'm here all week, ladies and gents.

One Sketch 302) Usain Bolt

A Jamaican sprinter called Bolt
A sprinter supreme with fault
Who tore down the track
Without holding back
A bugger to bring to a halt

Challenged on sketching every day to match the prompt - the Carbbean - I chose this iconic figure.

Oe Sketch 301) Rohan Daniel Eason

I have to be honest,
I can see it would get you down
Waking up halfway
Between a cyberman
And a clown.

Featured artist on Sketching Every Day today is the ultra-brilliant Rohan Daniel Eason. This man is a master of monochrome. This is an inferior copy of an illustration he made for Doctor Who Tales of Terror. All that talent, and he illustrates Doctor Who as well. I'm in total awe of the man.

One Sketch 300 (THREE HUNDRED!) - Murcia Cathedral

We've come so far
Well, what d'you know?
300 down
And 65 to go.

The prompt on Sketching Every Day was - I was here -. Well, this is Murcia Cathedral, and I actually was here, back in August. You may even recall me posting pictures sketched on my day out in Murcia back at the time.

How about that then? 300 days! I'm really happy about it, especially since that second hundred, since that second hundred, between July and October, seemed to take forever, while this third hundred seems to have gone much more quickly. I'm tempted to start discussing now what Effect I think it's had on me that I've made at least one sketch of some kind every day for 300 days in a row, but that would be premature, and it can wait until the end of March when I will complete the challenge, providing that I can keep it up for 65 more days.

One Sketch 299) (Friday 18th January) Photo Portrait Prompt

Look at my face

And see the beauty

of the commonplace.

This does exactly what it says on the tin. The prompt for yesterday was to copy one of a number of photographs provided on the site. I like the photo of this chap, and since it's a wee while since I tried to paint any kind of portrait I thought I'd have a go. Not too bad.

One Sketch 298) Kaunas Old Town

Sleepy streets shiver,
waiting for late spring
To breathe life
Into dusty cobbles.

This is an ink and wash of Kaunas old town which I visited back in April, when I certainly did my fair share of shivering in the springtime. Pretty Place, though.

One Sketch 297) (Wednesday 16th January) Dragon Appreciation!

Although they're not that cuddly
I think I like them most
Although they're quite aggressive
They can help you make great toast.

Silly, sorry. This was the prompt on Sketching Every Day on Wednesday, which is when I made it. It's a copy of an absolutely brilliant drawing I found on the net - this copy really doesn't do it justice, but it's the best that I can do.

One Sketch 296) Anita Klein - Sad Dog

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
What is quite as nice
As a cuddle with
A warm pup?

OK - featured artist on the Sketching Every Day group - artist Anita Klein. I picked a sketch of hers called Sad Dog - you can see my copy of it above. And that's about it for sketch 296

One Sketch 295) Amsterdam Tram

Why don't you be
like I am?
Go to Amsterdam
And ride the tram.

Gotta be honest, I'm getting closer to where I want to be and what I want to do with line and wash. That too on a sketchbook which is the largest I have - which is all to the good, but is so absorbent it's really difficult to paint on.

One Sketch 294) Illuminated letter D

Believe me , it must be quite a sight
To see such lovely letters
Made of light.

Sketching Every Day prompt today - illuminated letter. I copied this D, but I'm not feeling well today with my winter cold, and so didn't have the oomph to try to colour it in.

One Sketch 293) Prague Tram

Want to know why I'm happy
as I am?
Cos it's Spring
It's Prague
And I'm sketching a tram

Well, not now obviously, but I did while I was there, and that was the inspiration for today's sketch. Well, that and the fact that I was so pleased with yesterday's Budapest tram sketch. What, you want a comparison with sketches I made on the trip itself. Oh, go on then, ere you go:-

One Sketch 292) No. 2 Tram by the banks of the Danube in Budapest

By the banks of the Danube Blue
You can ride on a lovely tram too

Blimey, that's a terrible verse. Still, the picture isn't so bad. The scanner doesn't bring out all the colours perfectly, but at least I think you can see that I'm getting more confident in using watercolour in an urban sketching style.

I visited Budapest back in the tail end of 2017. I liked what I saw, but I just wasn't there long enough to really do anything more than think about scratching the surface. I did ride on some trams though! And sketch them too - here's the 2 line sketches I made during the trip: -

One Sketch 291) Tower Bridge

Maybe it's because
I'm a Londoner.
- No maybe about it.

Okay, so, the prompt on Sketching Every Day today was - famous or not so famous landmark. Well, I'm very sorry , but whenever I hear the word landmark, my first thought is normally of my hometown of London. Yeah, I haven't lived in London for over 30 years, but I was born there, I grew up there, and I went to London University. You can take me out of London, but you can't take London out of me. I quite like to compare this to a sketch I made of Tower Bridge last year -

Now, this isn't a bad sketch. I quite like the sky. But I'd like to think I'm now using colour more effectively.

One Sketch 290) (Wednesday 9th January) Cathays Cemetery

While all around
The dear departed sleep
Carved in stone above them
Angels weep

I rather like cemeteries. Didn't used to, but then that's hardly surprising is it? Cathays cemetery in Cardiff is a very good place to go if you're looking for a bit of peace and solitude, and some fine statuary to sketch as well.

One Sketch 289) Sir Quentin Blake - Dragon 3

What a sight indeed
A dragon who likes
To read.

The prompt on Sketching Every Day today was featured artist - artist of your choice. I didn't want to pick an artist whose work I've already copied, so that ruled out Thomas Nast, Sir John Tenniel and Norman Rockwell, all of whom I absolutely love. I considered going for a classical 'fine' artist - ad believe me there are plenty whose work I love - Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, and the greatest English painter, JMW Turner to name but a few. But well, with time a consideration I plumped for someone whom I also love, but whose work I could make a reasonable copy of in one evening.

Sir Quentin is probably best renowned for his work illustrating the works of Roald Dahl, whose unique works he so memorably brought to life. In 1999 he was the very first Children's Laureate in the UK. Incidentally, in the 1970s, he became the first person other than Dr. Seuss to illustrate a Dr. Seuss book.
This is a straight copy of Sir Quentin's Dragon number 3. It's a one of a series of ten drawings that he made in 2014 for the corridors of the Dragon Centre which treats young people and children in South London.

One Sketch 288) Sir Paul McCartney bobble head

What a thing I've sketched today
Just like the bobble head
Of Dorian Gray

Okay, yes, you're quite right, this is a response to another prompt on Sketching Every Day. The prompt was 'bobble head day'. Now, when I saw the words bobble head, I immediately thought back to an episode of the TV show "Pawn Stars". I don't know if you've ever seen it. Basically it's a reality TV show which centres on the day-to-day business of the Gold and Silver Pawn shop in Las Vegas. I'll make no bones about it, it's a show I enjoy, mainly because I tend to think that Rick Harrison, being an incorrigible history buff and knowall is cut very much from the same sort of cloth as myself.
In the particular episode of the show that I was alluding to, a customer brings in a set of Beatles bobble heads, one of many, many items manufactured when Beatlemania hit the USA. This gave me the idea of sketching the Paul McCartney bobble head, but, as a twist, sketching his face as it looks now, more than 50 years later. Cruel? Not intended to be, just struck me as an interesting thing to do.

One Sketch 287) Aeolus statue

What's he got on his head?
Must be often said

This gentleman here is Aeolus. Today's prompt on Sketching Every Day is Wind Chimes. Well, I gotta be honest, that left my boat unfloated and my candle unlit. Still, I did enjoy sketching the statues as part of my stamp design yesterday, so my imagination did start working on how I could combine sketching a statue with the general idea of wind. This was the best I could come up with.

Aeolus is an interesting character. At some times he is depicted as a man and at other times as a deity- at some times a personification of wind, and at others as the keeper of the winds. He's probably most well known for featuring in Homer's Odyssey. In this he is a man, the keeper of the winds. On his way home from the Trojan War, Odysseus stopped off on the isle of Aeolia (in the Lipari - or Aeolian - Islands off the coast of Italy), after his escape from Polyphemus the Cyclops. After being blinded, Polyphemus cursed Odysseus and begged his father Poseidon, the God of the Sea, for revenge. Poseidon was told by Zeus , King of the Gods, that he may not kill Odysseus, but decreed that Odysseus would not be able to return home until all of his companions were dead, and ten years had passed.

Odysseus stayed for a month in Aeolia, at the end of which Aeolus promised him a west wind to carry him home to Ithaca, and tied up all the other winds in a bag which he gave to Odysseus. This is presumably the bag that the statue is holding. After several days they come in sight of Ithaca. Odysseus, who has vigilantly guarded the bag night and day, falls asleep, and the inquisitive crew open the bag thinking it may contain gifts and valuables. The winds let loose blow the ship all the way back to Aeolia. Seeing that Odysseus was obviously not favoured by the Gods, Aeolus refused to provide any further help. Which is all to the good, since the Odyssey would have been a much shorter poem otherwise.

One Sketch 286) Llandaff Cathedral Postage Stamp

Cathedrals
Stone poetry
and
Music, frozen in time.

The challenge,as you might guess, from Sketching Every Day, was to design your own postage stamp. Well, I'll be honest, I wanted to go urban sketching again today, and so I took the opportunity, and just added the Queen's head, 1st, and perforations after making the sketch. I like Llandaff. It's a nice area to be anyway. Claim to fame? Well, apart from the Cathedral, it was also where Roald Dahl grew up, unless I'm very much mistaken. The green statue is actually outside the cathedral, but not in that position, and the Madonna and Child are in the interior.

One Sketch 285) Eltz Castle

The stuff of fairytales
Made flesh
and bones
In stones
And slate.

This is Eltz Castle, a real place, rising above the River Moselle between Trier and Koblenz in Germany. Now, today's prompt in Sketching Every Day is castles. Well, one thing we're not short of in wales is castles. However I've sketched and painted several Welsh castles before, so out of perversity I decded to say stuff it, and go for something from a bit further afield. When I found a couple of photos of Eltz Castle I knew that this was what I wanted to go for.

Right, I'm a firm believer in being honest about your own work. Without being destructive, it's important to be able to look critically at aspects of your work you'd like to improve, and to admit it to yourself. The other side of the coin is to allow yourself to admit it when you've produced something you're happy with. And I have to say that I'm really happy with this. I exaggerated the perspective of the castle buildings, leaning inwards to point up at the sky, and that's given me an effect that I like. More than that, though, is the use of colour on the buildings. As usual my scanner hasn't really quite done the original justice, but it's a good enough scan that you can see what I did with the brown and violet merging on the buildings, and the blue and violet merging on the mountains. This is approaching how I'd really like to be able to use colour on urban sketches and is much closer to what I admire in some other urban sketchers. Yay!

One Sketch 284) The Secret Life of Butterflies Zine

The Secret Life of Butterflies

Each is a MASTER of disguise

each is a Ninja Glider

and loves to drink rough CIDER

They love to go to Discos

and fly to San Francisco

They knock on People's doors

- and when they sleep, they SNORES!

Basically, if you fold a piece of paper into 8, and cut it in the right place, you get a wee booklet of 8 pages which we can call a zine - from magazine, I'm guessing. I didn't come up with the idea. The nonsense rhyme on it, and the pictures, now, they're mine. I've loved butterflies since my youngest children were very little - about 20 years now - and so this was what occurred to me. The butterfly in the pages is based on the Peacock (Inachis Io) which is my favourite species.

One Sketch 283) Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl

Grand Pavilion Porthcawl
Home to the Porthcawl panto
Oh no it isn't
Oh yes it is
Oh no

Yes, another urban sketch from Porthcawl. This is certainly one of Porthcawl's most notable buildings. It was opened in 1932, and built in ferroconcrete, like the original Wembley Stadium, and details of its art deco styling do remind me to a certain extent of the old place. I grew up just a few miles from Wembley and used to go there to Wembley market every Sunday morning.

One Sketch 282) Featured artist Fernando Botero

How wonderful

How calm, serene,

How beautiful, how wise you are

You'll always be the same to me

Whatever shape or size you are.

OKay, so today's prompt was the work of featured artists Fernando Botero. This is a watercolour and watercolour pencil attempt to copy is own reworking of Leonardo da Vinci's Monda Lisa. I like it. Well, Fernando Botero's, I mean. This copy of it is a bit pants, although the photo of it does it not favours. Trust me, the scan of it looked even worse. I'd probably have been a bit better off trying to render it in acrylic, but there we are, pushed for time a bit today, and to be honest I was feeling a bit crook. My wife's mother and stepfather are staying with us until the 8th January, and my wife and her mother are both suffering from viruses (should that be viri?), and I'm starting to feel the onset of it myself. Fear not though, I have no intention of not completing a sketch of some kind tomorrow, even if I don't get round to actually posting it tomorrow.