One Sketch #167) Geraint Thomas

I've sometimes been told
That yellow can mean more
Much more than gold

We're up to letter G then in my homage to my adopted country. Geraint Thomas is, quite simply, one of South Wales’ greatest ever sportsmen. In the summer of 2018, Geraint won the Tour De France, becoming not only the first Welshman to win the world’s greatest cycle race, but also the first person ever born in the whole of the UK to win it. Previous British winners Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome were born in Belgium and Kenya respectively. Geraint Thomas is from Cardiff, and in August many thousands of people came to Wales’ capital city to welcome him home.

One Sketch #166) Hitchcock and Kubrick inspired by Clifford Bailey

Watch their films,
And you will always know
The mark of these two men
Who ran the show.

Yes, another prompt from sketching everyday. Both of these are based on portraits by the American artists Clifford Bailey. Hitchcock's skin in my picture is far too yellow and orange, which is a shame. The Kubrick isn't bad, though. I sketched this facing the other way from the Bailey original.

One Sketch #165 Port Talbot Steelworks Blast Furnace

Hotter than the fire of hell
We fill the night with marmalade smoke
And the smell of brimstone

I live in a town called Port Talbot, and it’s a town whose history for the last century has been intertwined with the steel industry. The steelworks dominates the town, and the blast furnaces, like the one you can see in the picture can be seen long before the rest of the town whichever direction you approach it from, whether by road or rail. In recent years the future of the steelworks has seemed to be in jeopardy, although things seem to have settled down more recently. I can only hope so. If anything happened to the steelworks it would be a devastating blow to the town

One Sketch #164) Ewenny Pottery

I do love cats
I have to say
-even if they're made
of clay.

E is for . . .Ewenny Pottery. Ewenny is a village just outside the sizeable town of Bridgend in South Wales. It is home to Ewenny Pottery, the oldest working pottery in Wales, dating back to 1610. For the last 200 years it has been run by the Jenkins family, who still run it today. Ewenny Pottery are known for some highly distinctive pieces, such as their trademark cats, and the many handled jug in the sketch.

One Sketch #163 - Ddraig Goch (the red dragon of Wales)

Mythical symbol.
Of the proud spirit of Wales
Real spirit,
Strong spirit
And that's no myth.

D is for Ddraig Goch, or, the Red Dragon of Wales. This symbol of the proud spirit of the people of Wales features most prominently on the national flag of Wales.

One Sketch #162) Big Pit, Blaenavon

Down in the dark

The black gold waits

Where no canaries sing

And no candles flicker.

It is there still,

And will wait for all time

If need be.

C is for . . . coal mine. This is Big Pit, Blaenavon, in South East Wales. Blaenavon is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, due to its importance in preserving the heritage of the iron and coal industries in South Wales. Coal mining was of vital importance to South Wales and the South Wales Valleys throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries, right up to the last decades of the 20^th century. Big Pit is a real Welsh coal mine that closed in 1983, then opened to the public in 1983 under the auspices of the National Museum of Wales.

Inktober 2018

I missed out on Inktober 2017, as I didn't discover it until right at the end of the month. Basically it's an online challenge to produce 31 ink sketches in October. One for each day of the month, ftting with a specific prompt. As with the One Week 100 people challenge, and the 30x30 Direct Watercolour Challenge, all you have to do is to make sure that you post your sketches online under hashtag #inktober and #inktober2018. This ties in beautifully with my own challenge to produce at least one sketch every day for a year. By my reckoning the first sketch will be my one sketch a day 191, and the last of October will be one sketch number 221.

If you're interested, here is the prompt list,