Life Drawing: Maggie

I've just returned from a life drawing session and managed to draw the worst I have done in weeks. It spurred me on to finish this drawing from a couple of weeks ago (11th Feb) which I'm quite pleased with.



Maggie

Bear

I have no idea what I was thinking when I drew this, or why I'm up so late for that matter.

Hampstead Heath

I took advantage of the freakily nice weather last Sunday and visited Hampstead Heath, which seemed not to have been the most original idea judging by the number of other people there.

On my way out, I spotted some very interesting trees (no idea what they were - probably something really obvious like oaks), and took lots of photos of them. This drawing was done from one such photo. What really looked odd about them was that the little balls (conkers? I don't know) were hanging from branches that had created almost perfect right-angles. These shapes seemed to go against the otherwise typically organic shapes you would expect from a tree.

TREE UPDATE: It sounds like this is a 'London plane' (thanks Jeff)


London plane

Dodgy weeds in the Netherlands

I drew this plant at Keukenhof in the Netherlands (a short bus ride from Amsterdam), which is a big flower garden that everyone tells you to visit if you're there in April. It was a bit of a disappointment as it was so pristine and organised that it felt like a giant garden centre.

Interesting(?) fact: if you visit Amsterdam in April, when all the tulips are out, thinking that some tulip bulbs (as sold by almost every market stall) would make a nice present...STOP! For the precise reason that it's the very time of year that tulips are looking their best, the bulbs you're buying won't do anything. Otherwise they'd already be...tulips! (fact garnered from the Tulip Museum, which explained why they had bulbs for every flower other than tulips on sale. I just thought they were really stupid.)

If anyone knows what this plant is, I'd be interested to know. Hint: I had completely forgotten what colours it really was by the time I coloured it.

Media Tedia

I can't remember how many years ago I drew this (2005 perhaps?) or even why. Maybe it was a comment on the annoyance at the ever-increasing and overwhelming number of media formats available. Or maybe it's just that it rhymed.

British Museum Artifacts

Items drawn while wandering around the British Museum - a great place to go for inspiration. Be warned - even if you think you've found the perfect quiet spot to draw at there, there is still the chance you'll be set upon by a bunch of rowdy schoolgirls who throw tampons at you (not used, thankfully).

Amsterdam

Some illustrations from a trip to Amsterdam in April 2007. A great place to spend a week; I could have spent the whole time peering through the windows of the canal-side homes. There seem to be far more people in that part of the world showing off their stylish taste in home décor rather than their bodies through their windows than you'd think!


Bridge 124
(While I was drawing this one, a bird pooed on me. Presumably it was wishing me luck )



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