I really wasn't expecting this:-

Here’s a turn up for the books, dearly beloved. A couple of weeks ago Steve from Afan Nedd Arts group told me about the Big Art of Swansea competition, which is taking place today. Offering a first prize of £300 you can see that this is a very interesting proposition, basically giving you 8 hours today to go out and about and produce a work of art displaying Swansea’s hidden beauty. Yes, I was definitely interested, but since it clashes with my grandson’s birthday party it’s a real non starter, so I didn’t pursue it any further.

Okay, so, yesterday I was checking in on the South Wales Urban Sketchers group page on Facebook, and there was an advertisement for the Big Art competition. This advert.

Now, if you look at the top right hand corner you’ll see a sketch of Bonmarche and Betfred in Swansea.

My sketch.

This sketch.

Now, while I of course felt flattered that they liked my sketch enough to want to use it, I was bloody furious that someone would just take my sketch and use it without so much as a by-your-leave. Yes, I'm no professional, but on the other hand when people have either commissioned me or used one of my existing sketches in the past, then they’ve always been good enough to ask in the first place, and to pay an agreed fee in the second place.

I emailed the organisers to make them aware that they were using my sketch without permission, and as far as I was concerned, breaking my copyright. I'm no legal expert one way or another. I always thought that once you create something, you automatically have copyright, but whether that is affected by posting it on the net I couldn't tell you. This is what we have lawyers for. But I do think that if you use someone's work to, for example, advertise an event, it's only fair to do your best to contact them and ask if it's ok with you. Looking at the Urban Sketching manifesto – where it says we are committed to ‘sharing our sketches and stories freely ‘- I could if I were being pedantic point to the fact that there are several meanings of the word 'freely' - it doesn't necessarily mean 'without charge' - it all depends on the context. In this context the meaning ' without any pressure needing to be put on us, of our own free will' is appropriate for example. Until my telephone conversation with the organisers, I did not know whether the Big Art of Swansea is a profit making event or not, and this is something which would always be a factor in whether I wanted my sketch to be associated with the event or not.

I would argue that when your work is used without your knowledge then this is absolutely not a case of us sharing our sketches freely - because our own free will has been taken out of the equation. Now, I'm not suggesting for one minute that Big Art of Swansea is anything but a thoroughly reputable event. I have no doubt that it is. But let's say for the sake of argument that a sketch or painting which you were proud enough to have posted on the internet was appropriated by a company or an organisation to which you were opposed. Let's supposed it was used without your permission on promotional material. Personally I don't think that you should feel obliged to accept it just because we are committed as urban sketchers to sharing our work online. Just my opinion - feel free to disagree.

Well, as I said the organisers, to be fair, did ring me promptly and apologise. They were under the impression that this was a freely available image, and offered to take it down immediately, or to credit me. I’ll be honest, my dander was up a bit, and my initial reaction was that this was not going to cut it unless they paid the going rate for my commercial work since essentially this was what they had made out of my sketch. I’m not a professional but I do undertake commission work for a nominal fee. I calmed down though, and we settled the issue amicably between us. 

As a postscript to the above, part of our agreement involved me agreeing to be a judge in the competition. However the event has been postponed due to the inclement weather in Swansea today, and from next Saturday onwards I’m off on my troubles again, so I’ve felt it’s only right for me to withdraw.

One Sketch #124) Holding Hands (Friday 27th July)

I wish you could hold my hand
Forever.
I have seen so much
In my adult years
And could lead you safely through.
Already, though,
You pull and chafe
And let go far too soon -
Just as I did too
When I was 5
Like you.

This is inspired by yesterday looking after my oldest grandson, who has just turned 5 years old. We've been in the middle of a heatwave in the UK which seems to have lasted for weeks, the biggest one since the semi-legendary 1976. However yesterday was dull and overcast in my corner of South Wales, and to be honest we didn't do much else than take a brief walk to the local park. I was just struck by the way that while he was still happy to hold my hand while he walked on the parapet of a low wall, as soon as he came off - woosh - hand pulled back, and no way he was going to hold my hand util we came back past the wall again. He's growing up.

One Sketch #123) The Duke of Wellington, Cowbridge

Here's an offer
Too hard to refuse
Quaff a pint
Where the Iron Duke took his booze

Yes, day two of the school holidays, and with no family commitments I went off to follow my nose and see where to sketch today. I mentally flipped a coin and it came up heads, as in let's head off East. I've been meaning to pay a visit to Cowbridge to make a sketch or two for a while, and so that's where I went.

Cowbridge is an interesting place. It has retained a lot of fine buildings dating from the Victorian and Georgian periods. There is a story, possibly apocryphal, that the reason is because the town's elders refused to have the railway. Back in the early days of railways in South Wales, so the story goes, Cowbridge was a far more important town than Bridgend, and the builders of the main line from Cardiff to Swansea wanted to build a station there. Supposedly the town elders refused, and so the station went to Bridgend instead. That's why Bridgend became the large and important town that it is, and why Cowbridge stayed the absolutely charming place that it is. Well, that's the story I was once told, anyway.

There is actually a blue plaque on the front of the Duke of Wellington. This commemorates the fact that the building dates back to the 17th century, and has been an inn throughout this time. There is also a story that the Duke of Wellington himself once stayed there overnight during a visit to the town.

One thing I can say for certain. Up until maybe 6 or 7 years ago there used to be a very good quiz on a Wednesday evening which took place in this pub. My dear friend John and I used to play every other week. Why only every other week? Well, thereby hangs a tale. I think that we've probably known each other long enough, dearly beloved, for me to reveal a little of my ill-spent past. From the start of 1988 onwards I became more and more serious about quizzing. I was lucky to have a friend through whom I became involved in quiz leagues, and came to play for the best team in the local area. Although this petered out in the early 1990s, through a combination of circumstances I started playing for a tea in Neath in about 1995, at the same time as which I became of the regular question setters for the weekly quiz in the Aberavon rugby club.

As I said, I became more and more serious about my quizzing, ad eventually even started applying to appear on some serious TV quizzes. In 2007 I won a very prestigious (although into at all lucrative) BBC individual quiz show, which involved winning a heat, a semi final, and a grand final.

Over the next few years my best quiz friend, John and I came to learn that whenever we found a new pub quiz that we liked, we'd often be welcomed with open arms the first couple of times we played. However, if we started wining on a regular basis - which we often did - then the welcome would often turn to bad feeling from some of the rival teams. Hence we only went once a fortnight, which ensured that, at most, we would only win once every other week.

Unlike a lot of other places, bad feeling didn't actually drive us away from Cowbridge, merely the ending of the quiz on the Wednesday. So I still have a lot of affection for the Duke of Wellington. As regards quizzing, well, when anyone asks me about it now I tend to tell them that I am semi-retired. I no longer play in any quiz league, and only attend one quiz a week, which is the quiz in the Aberavon Rugby Club, where I still take my turn setting the questions now and again. The only serious quiz I ever play in now is Brain of Mensa. Thankfully I won that a couple of years ago, and so I can just play for fun now.

Which is why I stopped playing in the majority of quizzes. It just wasn't fun any more. The other teams in the league in which I'd played for 6 or 7 years weren't getting any better, and there was a significant amount of bad feeling towards my team which came out from time to time. Not fun. One pub quiz we attended in Bridgend saw us win 4 times in a row, after which they cancelled the quiz. Not fun. In the last pub quiz I played other than the rugby club, having never lost we turned up to find that we only had 4 questions wrong all evening, and yet still came last. Not fun.

All of which is rather ironic considering it's Thursday, and therefore quiz night. Should be fun. I'll maybe let you know if it's not.

One Sketch #122) The Parting

A last kiss,
From a slowly moving train
I wonder,
Did they ever meet again?

First day of the school holidays, and I've had a lovely day. Still, one thing which my mind has been turning over is the fact that a few good friends, with whom I've taught for many years will not be coming back after the holidays, and so this idea of parting has been very much on my mind. Another blue monochrome special, and once again, though I say it as shouldn't, I really rather like the results. As I've said before, I just don't really get colour - but for some reason, if I stick to monochrome blue I come up with something I can live with.

OOH - I've just realised. This being sketch/day 122 - I've completed my first third of a year. I propose we open something fizzy to celebrate. Mine's a pepsi max thanks for asking.

One Sketch #121) Remo's Aberavon - Sponsored Walk

Last day of term
A sponsored walk
After weeks of sunshine
We got soaked.
Divine retribution
-or sod's law?

Yes, dearly beloved, the end has come. Well, the end of this school year, that is. Am I sorry? Am I hell as like. Still, we had a nice event this morning to bring things to a close - a sponsored walk to Aberavon Beach in aid of Alzheimer's charities.

One Sketch #120) Del Boy

Effervescent he (that means bubbly)
My opinion of the show?
Lubby jubbly.

I may have mentioned this before, but just in case I haven’t, let me start by saying that my ‘day’ job, as it were, is that I’m a teacher in an 11-16 Secondary School in South Wales. Not an Art teacher, no. I have no qualifications in Art at all. I do, however have a Postgraduate Certificate in Education – a PGCE, which is one of several qualifications, any of which enable you to teach in the UK. I also have an honours degree in English, so that’s what I’ve spent a little over 30 years teaching. Today (Monday) and tomorrow are the last two days of this academic year, after which we have a break of just over 5 weeks until the new year begins.

I know that the long summer holiday for teachers is a bone of contention. I may come back to this before I’ve finished this post. Still, once you get to the last couple of days, a much more relaxed attitude sets in. For one thing, attendance takes a nosedive. My first class today is usually one of my more ‘challenging’ classes. (translation from teacher speak –challenging = bloody awful)There were just 4 of them in school. On the principle that Art has charms to soothe the savage beasts, I gave them each a piece of paper, and told them about my challenge to make at least one sketch a day for a whole year, and showed them some of the pictures on this very blog. I asked them if they had any suggestions for what I might do for today’s sketch. One of them suggested a V12 Dodge Charger. Now, okay, I don’t have anything against sketching vehicles in general, and cars in particular. However, this just didn’t really light my candle. Then another of them suggested Del Boy. This surprised me a little, but it does at least show the lasting affection for the series “Only Fools and Horses”. I mean, these kids surely weren’t around when even the last Christmas Special was broadcast. 

There’s a couple of things I remember with great affection. I remember in one episode when Del’s father turned up from Heaven alone knows where, and Del, very much against the old rogue, described him with the memorable phrase “He sold his soul for half an ounce of Old Holborn!” Both my younger brother and I fell off our chairs laughing at that one, since we had often used such a phrase to describe our own father. Long story. 

When my kids were a lot younger, the only family holiday we could afford was taking the 26 hour bus to Calella in Spain, and staying in a ‘2 stars and lump it’ hotel. The drivers had a deal with a transport café somewhere in the south of France, and would stop there at stupid o’clock in the morning on the way there, and stupid o’clock in the evening on the way back. Well, the last time we took most of the kids must have been about 2005. The bus happened to stop while it was halfway through showing the 2002 Christmas Special of Only Fools and Horses. There was a mutiny. Seriously, all the passenger refused to get off the bus until the DVD was finished, even though these later specials weren’t really as good as the series had been in the 80s. Just my opinion, feel free to disagree. Finally, in 1985 I took my then girlfriend, who has been my now wife for the last 31 years, to meet some of my extended family in Brighton. As we were walking out of the station, who should we pass in the street? None other than David Jason. Sir David, I hope that you appreciate the way we smiled and nodded, but didn’t ask for autographs, or stop you to talk to us, or jump up and down shouting OMG it’s Del Boy etc. 

Hmm, I'm burbling again. I might say something about holidays tomorrow.

One Sketch #119) Llanelli Town Hall and Llanelli Library

Even under grey and glowering clouds
Such civic buildings still stand tall and proud.

So, yesterday I was out and about making a couple of direct watercolour sketches of Kidwelly Castle. Not quite so far west is the town of Llanelli. It's a interesting place. The most sizeable town between Swansea and Carmarthen, it has its fair share of impressive civic buildings and chapels which have survived for over 100 years - even if, like most towns, it has some rather crappy modern ones as well.

I decided to go back to have another go at line and wash with these. Unfortunately the particular pens I used, unlike my Faber-Castell favourites - ran when I applied the watercolour. I think that the Library especially is actually better than it looks here. For some reason my scanner sometimes has problems with colours, and here it has accentuated the greys, and hasn't given the actual tone values of the browns. Compositionally though I rather like this as a page. My Spanish sketching adventure is coming ever closer, and if I can aim to produce pages like this in my sketchbook , then I won't be unhappy.