One Sketch #126) Jimi Hendrix

It's never much of a chore
To gaze
On the guy who gave us
Purple Haze

Okay, so it works like this. Facebook, as it does, when it sees you belong to a specific group or groups - in this case South Wales Urban Sketchers and also the global Urban Sketchers group - likes to suggest other related groups that you might like to join. I've taken them up on it, and one of them I've joined is called Sketching Every Day. For me the huge attraction is that, as the name would suggest, every day the group is given a prompt for a sketch. Which is fantastic because there are days, like today, when inspiration totally fails me. I've used various internet sites from time to time, but I have to say that I generally find their suggestions pretty unsatisfying.

Anyway, to cut a long story slightly shorter, I just noticed today that my application to join the group has been approved, and so I checked out today's prompt. It's rock icon. Well, I tend to take prompts pretty literally, and so when I see the words rock icon, the first person to pop into my head is Jimi Hendrix. As it happens I have made a quick sketch of Jimi Hendrix before, as part of the 100 people One week challenge - he's number 80, in half silhouette, just behind my own ugly mug.

One Sketch #125) Ferris Wheel

Life is a like a Ferris Wheel

Ups and downs

And going round and round in circles.

This is the biggest sketch I've done in this one sketch challenge. It's in acrylic, on a 16x20 inch canvas board. It's a not very interesting story - basically my wife wanted this design on a large canvas board to put up in the bathroom. I'll be honest, I'm not totally in love with it, but if she likes it then the time I put into it, the canvas board and the black paint are a cheap price to pay. 

I did take some photos as I was making this in my studio. I began in pencil:-

It's not a great photo, but at least you can see the two elipses I started with. 

 At this stage the wheel is beginning to emerge:-

And this is the pencil sketch finished. I'll be honest, I rather wish I'd just gone over the pencil lines in ink, as I do thin that this is more effective than the finished painting. Well, never mind. The client - my wife - likes it so that'll do. 

Sketching Tips 9) Sketching Living Creatures

Sketching any member of the animal kingdom is tricky. That includes human beings. The very thing that makes living creatures so interesting - their life and energy – is exactly the same thing that makes them so difficult to sketch. Living creatures often move. This creates huge problems for the urban sketcher, and as with human figures, it does necessitate finding a method which works for you.

Here’s some things for you to consider doing:-

* Cheating

OK, I say that tongue in cheek. Basically, by this I mean using a photo. Now, as well should all know by now, if you sketch from a photo, however nice it may turn out to be , it isn’t an urban sketch. I want to stress this now. In my opinion, if you possibly can sketch something from life, then you should. Intrinsically a sketch made this way has far more value than a sketch of a photograph, which is at least a stage further back removed from life. However, sometimes you are just not going to have the opportunity to sketch a particular creature from life, and I freely admit that sketches such as these next few were made from photographs:-

The attraction of sketching from a photo is obvious. The animals have been caught by the camera in a particular stance, and they aren’t going to move from that stance. I’m unlikely to encounter most of them without going to zoos or in the case of the Komodo Dragon, taking what would probably the most expensive sketching expedition of my life. 

* Sketching stuffed animals

Is this cheating? Not as long as you’re clear when you’re writing down what it is that you’ve sketched. Now, personally I’m not a great fan of taxidermy. But I have to say that it enabled me to make this sketch of a coelacanth (ironically a ‘living fossil’) in the Zoological Museum in Kaunas in Lithuania. 

Due to the conditions required to keep a coelacanth alive, it’s highly unlikely I’m ever going to see one living, so I don’t feel too guilty about sketching this one. 

* Sketching creatures that don’t move around a lot.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to my cat, Hero. 

Yes, Hero is a gorgeous looking long haired black and white cat. He can sit in the same position for hours . . . until you try to sketch him. So even with a rarely moving creature like Hero, I find I have to use a technique to capture him. The thing that a creature like Hero is most likely to move is his head. So that’s where I would start. Eyes first. Then outlines of nose, mouth and shape of the head. No shading at this stage – once the outlines are in, then you can capture the shading gradually. In the space of 10 – 15 minutes Hero is going to look away three or four times, so each time he turns back to me I just keep adding a little more, building the picture. I know that unless he gets up to leave, I can easily sketch in his body when I’m happy with the head.

Basically, this is the method I would use to capture any creature. If you look at this one:-

It should illustrate the point. These guys came barrelling down my street one Saturday, in the opposite direction. There were a huge number of them. So when they started coming back, I knew that a lot of them would be coming past. I quickly sketched the moving parts – in this case the front legs of one horse – the back legs of another, and the body and heads of the next 3 or 4. Then another composite of the guys riding in the buggy. Now, when there’s only one of the creatures you want to sketch, the principle still works the same, as long as it doesn’t run off completely.

Whether you’re sketching people or creatures, even when they’re moving they do tend to repeat the same movements, and this fact is your friend. So if we take this sketch I made one lunchtime :-

It pretty much illustrates this point. Both of these were moving their heads about quite a bit, but would repeat pretty much the same position as they did so. I didn’t even start on the bodies until the heads were done, and this worked pretty well. 

Sketching living, moving creatures is hard, and it can be very frustrating. However, if you want to improve your sketching, it really is wonderful for training your hand-eye coordination, and also helping you to loosen up, and get a decent impression of what you’re sketching more quickly and with fewer marks on your paper. 

A few random points:-

·       Make the distinction in your own mind between an urban sketch and a detailed animal sketch. If the animal you’re sketching is just a part of a moment – for example, like the horses and buggies barrelling down my street – then please try to resist the temptation to photograph it now then sketch it later. Sketch it now, then you won’t need to photograph it. On the other hand, if you sketch a photograph of an exotic creature you would never normally meet, well you’re not going to try to pass it off as an urban sketch made the time that you actually met this creature, so I can’t see any issue with that.

·       Sketching a living creature from life – start off by sketching in the parts of the animal that are most likely to move. Go for quick outlines, and you can worry about shading later on.

·       Don’t panic if the creature moves. As likely as not it will repeat the same position if you’re patient. This won’t always happen, but this is what makes it so rewarding when it does.

·       You may have the opportunity to make a composite sketch of two or more members of the same species, so don’t despair.

·       When you first start sketching creatures from life – I’d start out trying to sketch it as quickly as you possibly can in as few marks on the paper. If you work on speed from the start, accuracy will come later.

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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.