One Sketch 348) (Friday 8th March) Open Air Skating Kungsgatan Stockholm

Whirl around and around
And savour the
Experience
Of flying
on the ground

The inspiration for this was two fold. Firstly, the prompt on Sketching Every Day was the best part of Winter. Secondly, well as you probably know I was actually in Stockholm last week, and several ties walked past the open air skating rink on Kungsgatan. It's totally buckshee if you have your own skates. My skates - yes, I do have my own - were at home in the bottom of my wardrobe. So I didn't go skating.

Me and skating go back a long way. I used to go skating every Wednesday afternoon while I was at university in Queensway Ice rink in London, and it's where I met my wife for the first time ever.

One Sketch 347) Zygon

Don't say that I'm being too hasty
To say that a zygon is nasty
They make some folk tremble
Although they resemble
A large overbaked Cornish pasty.

The prompt for Sketching Every Day was mythical creature. Well, this maybe isn't mythical but it's fictional and that's close enough for me. I've been a huge Doctor Who fan for decades - in fact I've even written books about the TV show ( available on your kindle now.)

One Sketch 346) (Weds 6th March) T Bana (modern type) at Stockholm City/T. Centralen

T is for tunnels
And bana means bana.


Yes, it's Stockholm once again. This was based on a photograph I took in Stockholm City underground station in Stockholm. The T Bana is the Stockholm Metro, and it's pretty good, when all is said and done.

One Sketch 345) Pendeltag at Alvsjo

Swedish choo choo
One the track
Took me into town
and back.

Now that rhyme really is plumbing the depths isn't it. This is a sketch of a pendeltag - commuter train - at Alvsjo Station. This was my stop - 3 away from Stockholm city - last week when I was staying in Stockholm. These Pendeltags are great. Their layout and interior is very much that of a metro - or indeed a modern Bombardier tram. They whisk you into the city in about 10 minutes flat and are very frequent. What's not to like?

One Sketch 344) (Monday 4th March) Featured artist Josef Lada

The officer's a frightful bore
There's worse things, though
When you're at war.

Featured artist on today's prompt was Josef Lada. This is a copy of one of his illustrations.

One Sketch 343) Marine Iguana

My blood runs cold
Even when I bask on
the banks of
frozen fire.
But I can still move
Torpedo sharp
Through the colder depths
Of the sea
Until, triumphant
I explode onto the rocks
To warm.

The prompt on Sketching Every Day today was reptile. Now, I'm not really keeping count, but I'm pretty sure I've already done two reptiles since I started one sketch a day, those being the Komodo dragon (my favourite reptile) and a crocodile. So, not wanting to repeat myself I picked this, my second favourite reptile, the Galapagos marine iguana.

I first saw marine iguanas on a David Attenborough documentary. The Galapagos islands are one of those places I will probably never visit, but I'd love to - I'm very fond of Giant Tortoises as well.

I think It's probably about time to start counting down in days now, and so here we go - 22 days to go.

One Sketch 342 (Saturday 2nd March) Fruit Crate Label

Telling a tale of
sweet fruits
of warm places
And days long gone

The prompt on Saturday for Sketching Every Day was fruit crate art. I have to be honest, I just couldn't get my backside into gear. My plan was to make this one - it's a copy of a label I found on the net - and then paint it in watercolour. But you know how it is, I started late and by the time I'd sketched it I told myself that it qualified as the day's sketch already - which it did, and I just couldn't find the oomph to take it upstairs to the studio and paint it. Sorry, but I'm not going to lie to you. There it is.