One Sketch #55) RAF 100 celebrations - Typhoon Eurofighter outside Cardiff City Hall

The grey bird sits
Inert but deadly
Waiting to make its way
Through hardship
To the stars.

In the South Wales Sketchers Chapter Facebook group yesterday Scott, one of the members, posted that today and tomorrow their are a number of historic RAF aircraft on display outside Cardiff City Hall, as part of the RAF centenary celebrations. Well, I am not the kind of sketcher to look a gifthorse like this in the mouth. I made several sketches, which you can see below. The only problem was that there was nowhere to sit so I had to sketch standing up, and the positions I wanted to stand in to sketch were right out in the open, so my neck is quite nastily sunburned. Never mind.

One Sketch #54) Horsey

Racing is a business first
We know that's true, of course
Forgive me if I have to ask-
What's in it for the horse?

In the last 18 months or so I've painted and sold several pictures of racehorses, so, stuck for inspiration I went back to my old faithful subject. Here's some of the paintings made in the last year or so: -

The Home Straight

Racing from Newmarket

Over the Sticks

Frankel

One Sketch #53) Gymnast

I coulda been a gymnast,
Although it may sound crazy
The only thing that stopped me
Was, I'm just too flipping lazy.

Just wanted to sketch some movement today, and I remember that a few weeks ago on BBC's Big Painting Challenge the participants had to paint a gymnast in movement, so I though - now there's an idea.

One Sketch #52) Bubble Car

I think an Isetta
Is really cool
So never mind
The ridicule

Yes, I remember seeing a few of these in London when I was a very small boy, and I've always liked them, and two other German Bubble cars, the Messerschmidt Kabineroller and the Heinkel Trojan very much. Since I sketched my other dream car, the Jaguar XK120 a week or two ago I decided to even things up a bit.

Yes, I did make this sketch on Wednesday, but it's been a busy week. For the last three days I've had to make quick sketches at lunchtime at work, and haven't had time to post them until now.

One Sketch #51) Waterloo Bridge

Where are the Samaritans?

Look around

They are beside you

In front of you

behind

Look in the mirror

And let one look back at you. 

On the way driving home from work yesterday, I had the radio on and was listening to Radio 2, as is my wont. A guest on Steve Wright's show was a very interesting chap called Jonny Benjamin. He was telling of how he was saved from carrying out his suicide attempt on Waterloo Bridge by a passing good samaritan, and of his subsequent internet search for the man who saved him, which forms the subject of a TV documentary he made, and a book he has just published. 

As a depressive myself, I found him, and his work campaigning to raise public awareness of issues regarding mental health, to be quite inspirational. 

Another biro sketch made in a snatched 10 minutes at lunchtime at work.

One Sketch #50) Ant

Alone, I am nothing
But I am not alone.
Alone, I'm worth nothing
But I am not alone
Alone, I achieve nothing.
But I am not alone.
And a million nothings
Are something.

This is actually a biro sketch I made it in work today. The inspiration was the fact that since the weather has become warmer we've developed a little bit of an ant problem here in my house. We found where they were getting in, and my wife bought some ant killer. Now, I have a bit of a problem with this. I don't want to go killing them. So I picked one up, told him what was going to happen, and that poison was being put down, and he had to warn his colony. Since my wife put down the ant killer, we haven't seen any. I can but hope that it's my warning which did the trick.

One Sketch #49) Eurovision

Eurovision Song contest -
I do not mind the singing.
The problem is my waking up
To find my ears still ringing.

Like a lot of people, every year we have a party to watch the Eurovision Song Contest, which took place last night. My kids, grandkids and spouses were all present, and that's a lot of us. Eurovision occupies a unique place in British cultural life, I would suggest. I wouldn't want to try to define exactly what that is, but love-hate just doesn't get it.

My favourite was the Austrian entry which came third, although I like dthe Israelis entry - pictured - as well. Incidentally, this is a sketch I made with watercolour pencils, which I've only ever used once or twice in the past.