One Sketch 326) Hearts and Flowers

"Your majesty" he cried
"These blooms aren't dead."
" I do not care one jot
Off with their heads"

Alright, you can't always come up with anything decent to order. Prompt today - hearts and flowers. I'll be honest, I rarely need much encouragement to go back to the Guvnor, John Tenniel. This actually combines details from two separate Alice in Wonderland illustrations.

One Sketch 325) (Weds 13th February) Garth Williams

He just sits there
and grouses
This granddaddy
of mouses.

Prompt for Wednesday was a featured artist - Garth Williams. He's best known as being the artist illustrator who produced illustrations for Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web and the Little House on the Prairie books. No, I didn't know him before this, but looking at his work you can see he belongs in that fabulous line of American illustrators which stretched all the way back to the great Thomas Nast. I fell in love with the original of this sketch, and knew that it was something I wanted to copy.

One Sketch 324) Fisherman Statue

The thought alone
Sets tingling my lips
A freshly battered fish
On a bed of chips

This was today's Sketching Every Day prompt - every month one of the days the prompt offers us a choice of 4 or 5 photographs to use as the basis for a sketch - this statue of a fisherman was what took my fancy this month.

One Sketch 323) Tintin

A brave and loyal journalist
Adventurous, not showy
Did he ever have a human love?
Or only eyes for Snowy?

I say, that's a bit much. Steady the buffs. Given the prompt of Belgium, I decided on one of the two most famous fictional Belgians (Hercule Poirot being the other). Look, don't expect me to say anything (else) negative about Belgium or Belgians. I visited Ieper in 2016, which is where I became an urban sketcher, and as well as paying my respects to my great grandfather's grave at the war cemetery in Voormezeele, I was absolutely bowled over by how pretty Ieper is.

As for Tintin, well, I was given a GAF stereo viewmaster when I was a little boy(ask your grandparents), and a number of reels for it. My favourites were The Jungle Book, and Tintin Explorers on the Moon., and of the two the Tintin reel was my favourite.

One Sketch 322) Umbrellas

Est-ce qu'il y a
Quelque chose aussi jolie
Q'une femme francaise
Avec parapluie?

Prompt on Sketching Every Day today - simple as that.

One Sketch 321) The Dulais Rock

There's little else
That's quite as sad, I'd say
As a pub that's left to mould
And rot away.

This is the Dulais Rock. It stands on what used to be the main road from Neath to Resolven and all points beyond. I don't know if it was the 'new' road opening (it's well over 20 years old now) but the Dulais Rock, in which I will admit I did once have a pint in my drinking days, closed for good over 10 years ago now. I don't know how much, if any, of the building is original, but I do know that the pub dates back to the 17th century.

Here's a curious thing. I'm teetotal. I never drank a great deal anyway, not having any kind of tolerance for alcohol and not wanting to put in enough practice to develop any. But quite a few years ago I found I was drinking so little anyway, because when you get right down to it I just don't like the taste of it, that I might just as well go the whole hog. But this is the curious thing. Considering I was never much of a drinker, and don't drink at all now, I do still really rather like pubs.

This probably has something to do with the fact that I've been a serious pub quizzer for over 30 years - although to be fair I think of myself as semi retired now. And it's a sobering thought to see just how many pubs that I've played at least one quiz in have shut their doors for good over this time.

One Sketch 320) David Griessel

The moon is high
The moon is bright
There's wonder in me gizzard
The world is black
And white
And grey
And the cat in the hat's
A wizard

Every month we have the option of taking on the work of a number of featured artists for Sketching Every Day. Today was David Griessel, and artist I hadn't encountered before, but one whose work instantly struck a chord with me. This is my inferior copy of a wonderful picture of his.