One Sketch 228 (Thursday 8th October) Henri Rousseau tiger

Tyger , Tyger,
Burning bright
Don't look now
Your tail's alight.
(with thanks to Spike Milligan)

A Sketching Every Day prompt again. We were set the challenge of doing something inspired by or connected with Henri Rousseau, le douanier. Well, I was tempted to do something with The Lion and The Gypsy ( or vice versa) - you'll know the one, it must be his most well known work. Instead I plumped for this tiger. Still, we had inspectors in work all week, so I didn't have time of an evening to do a sketch AND paint it AND post it. Which is why I'm only getting round to posting these today. You'll have to take my word for it that they were made on the days that I said they were ( but they were.)

One Sketch 227 (Weds 7th October) Pineapple

We all have our favourites
Pineapple is mine
Just so long as it's
More apple than pine

Yes, dearly beloved, we were set the prompt on Sketching Every Day on Facebook to draw a fruit, and so I plumped for my favourite fruit, the pineapple. I'd forgotten how much I love pineapple, so on Thursday I took some slices into work to have with my lunch. Absolute heaven.

One Sketch 226) Vincent

So much pain
So much genius
So much.

Just last Wednesday I visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Spellbound. I didn't think that much could make me love the man and his work even more. I was wrong. If you're ever in Amsterdam you must, must, must take the time and trouble to visit.

One Sketch 225) Guido Fawkes (5th November)

Poor old Guido
You'll be quartered and hang
At least, every bonfire night
Goes with a bang

I literally had about 10 minutes today due to being exceptionally busy with work, and being as it was bonfire night this was the most obvious and quickest thing I could come up with. It's from the contemporary engraving of the plotters.

One Sketch 224) The Doctor

Ring out the old doctor
Ring in the new
She is the Doctor
And bloody good too

I sketched this after watching the latest episode of Doctor Who, starring the fabulous Jodie Whitaker. When it was announced that the next actor to play the Doctor would be a woman, I withheld judgement, I'm so glad that I didn't say anything stupid at the time, because she is just brilliant.

One Sketch 223) Sepia tone tram in Kingsway tram tunnel

I do like trams
I'm just that sort of bloke
I wish I'd seen them
Trundling in the Smoke.

I made a sepia toned painting of an old Swansea tram some weeks ago to christen my new studio (or spare room, to use the technical term) and I was really pleased with the results. So I decided to make a companion piece. I've been working on an acrylic painting of a London tram for weeks, and so I decided that this quick piece was going to show a tram in my own home city. The Kingsway tram tunnel was rather unique for the UK. It's a cut and cover tunnel which was exclusively built for single ecker trams, to link the northern and southern London tram networks. As you can see , they did eventually use double decker trams in the tunnel. Part of the tunnel are still there, which is how I came to read about it in the first place, since it features in several works on disused stations of the London Underground railway - go figure. What remains is now grade 2 listed. The last trams passed through in April 1952.

One Sketch 222) Warship class Loco near Dawlish

Nobody grieves
When diesels go extinct

There's a reason why steam powered locomotives are pretty much only used on heritage lines where the experience of riding in a train pulled by a steam locomotive is one of the main reasons for making the journey in the first place. Whether you like it or not - and many, many people don't like it - diesel locomotives are more efficient and cost effective than steam ones. When I started getting interested in trains, way way back in the early 1970s when I was just a wee nipper, these chaps, the British rail class42 and 43 "Warship" class were almost extinct, having been phased out a couple of years earlier. I always had a soft spot for a warship - and I guess I'm not the only one since there are a couple which have been preserved.