These are a few illustrations from my Journal while on holidays in West Cornwall.
They are on location sketches in the spirit of the philosophies of the Urban Sketchers Group.
I have a fascination for drawing telegraph poles and chimneys as objects that are generally not seen in our everyday lives, but can be visually intriguing from various angles. When I'm on the coast I try to avoid producing the clichéd seaside artwork that you may see in the clinically white art galleries on seafronts.
My sketch kit
Lamy fountain pen - Noodlers Black Ink.
Water brush - A few drops of Dr Ph.Martin's Watercolour Ink in water.
Watercolour paper ringbound sketch book.
Cup of tea.
St Ives, Cornwall. I started this sketch after my 12 year old daughter mentioned she couldn't see anything to sketch. I pointed at the solitary boat in the harbour and said 'Why don't you draw that?'. I drew the foreground and then the rowing boat and worked my way up to the harbour wall and the buildings along side. Sketching upwards I realised that to complete the composition I would probably need to draw the other buildings in the distance. It was a challenge but I am happy with the flow of the varying architecture. I had to really, really stop myself from adding more windows and detail.
Cape Cornwall Street, St Just, Cornwall. A view of telegraph lines a couple of doors down from the cottage we rented. I love the dissecting lines of this composition. I saw the seagull perched on top of the pole and it was only when I had almost finished the sketch that I noticed the crow peeking over the top of the rooftop.
The first three days of our holiday was shrouded in a West Cornwall pea soup of a mist. This drawing is of the small harbour below Cape Cornwall. You can just see the tower on the Cape through the mist. One of only two Capes in the UK, near Lands End, the Cape is the furthest point west in the UK. The area is full of small ramshackle and ruined sheds and out buildings. Probably aided in their deterioration by the recent storms.
The end of Cape Cornwall Street approaching the village square where you can see the clock tower and the village church tower behind. Again, I was taken by all of the intersecting telephone lines along this road. I think, this side of Cornwall, BT and Virgin are still working on underground lines.
I enjoyed sketching this view with the water brush. These farm buildings can be found on the road to Cape Cornwall (see above). This is a good representaion of how far we could see in the first few days of our holiday on the west side of Penzance.
Another drawing stop on our walk to Cape Cornwall. A water tower in the distance is based on the land of the local golf club. A huge brick and concrete tower with arched windows, I'd love to find out why it was built in the middle of this countryside. Again the intersecting poles and lines make an interesting space.
This of a view of St Ives I sketched from various photos taken of the area. Eventually I aim to translate this onto a large canvas. I used a heavy ink pen on, what I realised after starting, a very soft porous drawing paper. This meant I couldn't linger on the page without the ink bleeding and creating black blobs on the paper. This gave an immediacy and energy to the drawing. Great fun having to move the pen quickly on the page. Good exercise for quick sketching.
And below, buildings overlooking a beach.
