Big Draw Colchester

From the morning's sketching of St Botolph's Priory. ©Sue Pownall 2015

Yesterday, CO3 Gallery in Colchester arranged a Big Draw event, which I attended. We were based near a sponsor, Tindalls Art Store in Trinity Street, but spread out through the town. I wanted to draw St Botolph's Priory as I hadn't drawn it since I was at college in the town. Once again, my colours have come out brighter than usual due to the sunlight, and yes this is England.

After heading back to base, I joined Colchester artist Colin David McAllister on a doorstep with a great view of an old Tudor building, which is now Tyndalls' café. The waitress was great and kindly served tea where we were rather than at a table. Afterwards, I went  into the rose garden, initially to paint roses, but instead captured the gable-end.

Photo by Angella Horner.

All too soon it was time for those left to gather for a group photo and to share their sketches. I'm not too sure why there are Spanish flags behind us - perhaps because we'd stolen their sunshine for the day.

Sketches from at Tymperleys ©Sue Pownall 2015

There was not any cider in my sketch kit this week. I used an A4 Monologue sketchbook with Staedtlar pigmentliners and Winsor & Newton watercolours. It was a lovely day sketching with new people and I look forward to sketching with them again.

Winter Wadi

Winter Wadi. Pen & ink. 360 x 240mm © Sue Pownall 2012

In April, I joined the tour company The Guide Oman to cross the Hajar mountains. I did a few sketches, which I shared here, and took a lot of photos. This drawing results from that trip.

For those who don't know, winter here in Oman is really just less hot than summer with occassional rain. You can tell this is a winter picture after rain, as you can see grasses growing between the buildings.

This original drawing is for sale. Please use the contact form for more details.

Fanja revisited

Fanja Revisited, 330 x 240 mm, Pen & ink.© Sue Pownall 2012

I was asked to produce a new drawing of this by Bait Muzna Gallery when I took them my portfolio. As I've drawn this subject before and from the same reference photo I had to make some changes to the new version. It was initially quite a challenge, but then I realised my drawing style has altered, developed since the first drawing in 2008 (below), and I am more interpretive rather than literal of my subjects now. Once I had the basic drawing done and the light source decided the tonal work was done without the reference. I think it has worked well. I was a bit reluctant to draw more ruins, especially as my head (and reference folder) is full of portraits I want to do, however I enjoyed this one more than On Guard.

Fanja Fort, Pen & ink.© Sue Pownall 2008

On Guard

On Guard. 330 x 240 mm, Pen & ink.© Sue Pownall 2012

As a break from the Scottish ruins, here's one from Oman. 

I don't think it's one of my best drawings. What do you think?

A splash of colour & a competition

First, a splash of colour. At my last night of Muscat Festival, I took a photo of some women clapping and dancing and capturing the movement and as I took it I told a friend I’m going to paint that. Not having brought any acrylics to Oman, they are at my flat in Italy, I did this small study in watercolour and gold leaf. I’ve got some acrylics now thanks to the generousity of artist Yousuf Al Nahwi, who gave me some of his supplies and will be tackling a canvas soon.
My 2nd Festival Face is this half-blind Omani woman. At an earlier stage it looked like Voldemort meets Mother Teresa as I’d only draw the scarf, necessary as it defines the face, and her eyes, my starting point. The title is a problem: as JK Rowlings has copyright on the name Voldemort I can’t use that in the title, and I feel “Blind Omani Woman” is on par with “Untitled”. I received the proposal of calling it “Meskina” which is Arabic for poor woman, but that doesn’t feel right.

Any suggestions? 

Leave your title in the comment box below, then like my facebook page, and you could win a prize. If I like your suggestion the best, you will receive 5 of my Secret Garden greeting cards, but you must like my facebook page as well as comment here. I look forward to receiving the titles. I will post the finished portrait, it's new title and the winner on March 8th, International Women's Day. btw Secret Garden is on the top right of the banner.


This second WIP has been hanging around for a while. It’s part of the Decay Series: Scottish Ruins series, which you can see here. I did the pencil placement in UK back in November. I inked the outline when I moved into this flat mid-Jan and started the initial shading. Then this week, I started on the details of the castle as a counter to the precision of the portrait. Not sure, when I’ll next work on it, so you will have to check back again.

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Don't forget to enter the competition:

Leave your title suggestions here, 

then pop over to my facebook page and click like.

Painting Oman

Scarves © Sue Pownall 2011

I was inspired to do some painting over the last few days, although I need to be completing some drawings.  The top one was done on Wednesday from a photo I took at the university's speech contest earlier that day. The scarves just lent themselves to being painted.

© Sue Pownall 2011

Then this morning, I went for a walk with my paints and sketchbook across the valley. I enjoyed walking around the farms (mainly date palms), and finally sat on a wall to paint this abandoned fort. I just wanted an impression of the morning and not an acurate painting of the scene, especially as over the years I have drawn hundreds of palm trees.

 Not yet finished. © Sue Pownall 2011

Long weekends are about art!

Despite having a lot of things to do this weekend, including still settling in, I’ve found lots of time for art.

Thursday, after a day of manic cleaning which included windows and curtains, I walked over to the wadi (Arabic for river bed or valley) where I collected the skull last week, for an hour or so of sketching. I had spotted a ruin, which of course I had to draw. It’s not one of my best, as I hadn’t sketched in a few weeks, but makes a start on my sketchbook – on page 3 as I can’t draw on page 1.Walking back to the flat, I spotted …

warning don’t read the rest of this paragraph if you are squeamish and don’t look at last pic of this post

…a decomposing cow. Ignoring the fact of what it was, it was really interesting especially the way the hide had ended up like folded soft suede. I sketched it on site in ink, swotting the ever present flies, and then with the dimming light of dusk went home and added the colour.


On Friday, I had my first visitor from Muscat, the amazing photographer Ahmed Al-Shukaili. He is in the process of setting up a new website, but in the meantime you can see his awesome portraits and fabulous landscapes here and here. First, he took me to a semi-abandoned village, where I spotted places to draw on another trip. Then we drove an hour out of Ibra to Wadi Sep, which has the most amazing rock formations. As we were there an hour before sunset, the colours were amazing. I was very intimidated to be taking photos alongside such a great photographer, but am happy with the two I have posted here (top & right). It was a beautiful relaxing place and whilst Ahmed worked on getting the perfect shots I took out my A6 sketchbook. I didn’t realise photographers are harder to draw than children as they move more.
 
Early on Saturday, I had arranged to go sketching with 2 colleagues, so I took them back to the semi-abandoned village. It was a beautiful morning and the temperature was perfect when we arrived just after 7.30. Unfortunately, most the time was spent walking around taking photos (mine are on flickr), although I did a quick sketch when there was a cigarette break (I don’t smoke). Next stop was the fish market to buy our dinner. It is a long process as your chosen fish is cleaned and chopped, so I left the others to shop whilst I did two quick sketches.

There are still 2 days left of the holiday and I plan to work on the Scottish ruin, which I started before I left the UK.

Beware, below is the sketch you may not like…

Sketching Trinidad in Cuba

 Iglesia de Santa Ana © Sue Pownall 2011

The other town I visited in Cuba was Trinidad, where I ended up spending 10 very relaxed days. Apart from having a sketchbook in some form always with me, I was not actually very disciplined with my art whilst I was there. The first morning, after a downpour, I walked through the steaming and rapidly drying streets to the ruined church of Santa Ana, with the thoughts it could be a potential subject. It was, as you can see above, however I ended up with the very difficult perspective due to it being the only available bench in the shade. That evening I went for dinner at Sol y Son restauran,t which is in a beautiful old colonial building. Whilst waiting for my delicious meal, I sketched some of the eclectic objects and plants, such as an angel, adding colour later back at my accommodation. So that was 2 drawings on my first full day.

Sol y Son restaurant. A6 sketchbook. © Sue Pownall 2011

The next morning after another heavy morning downpour, I stopped at the Pelanque de Los Congas Reales to see a group that play rumba, African rhythms, and have a troupe of dancers too. Unfortunately, I planned the page to have musicians top left then dancers below bottom right, but got too distracted by watching the show that I didn't draw the dancers.

Tonadas Trinitarias. Pencil in A3 © Sue Pownall 2011

© Sue Pownall 2011

The following day was the fiesta for the official end of summer and I went to the beach to see how the Cubans did it. The answer with lots of live music, dancing, beers, rum and laughter.

On the beach. © Sue Pownall 2011

Having skipped another day of drawing in order to have a dance class, I went out the next two consecutive mornings to draw. On the first I did a painting of the main square, which was dreadful, and then the following morning I wandered to the outskirts of town and inked and painted these dwellings (above) taking about an hour and a half. As this was a poorer part of town I did have several people begging for money, pencils or soap, however most people just said a cheerful hello asked who I was and what I was doing.

Near Ermita de la Popa. A3 pen & watercolour. © Sue Pownall 2011

Painting in the Vale de Viñales II

Corner building, Viñales main road. A3 pen & ink © Sue Pownall 2011

to continue...
The day after I hopped on and off the bus (the afternoon had been spent stuck in a bar listening to music because of the torrential rain- honestly), Elio drove me into the countryside to a small cascade and was left there for an hour and half to paint it. Having wandered around a bit, the sun hitting the plants in front of the water was the obvious subject for my painting and seemed an okay composition. It was already very hot at 9am, so I sat under the road bridge, where nothing passed over, and painted the scene. I normally photograph a scene like this, and did, so the painting was a challenge. I think I did okay, but think my pen & watercolours are always more successful than pure watercolour for scenery. Also, this looks better in the original: blaming scanner!

Una Cascada. 35x25cm 425gm cold pressed, watercolour © Sue Pownall 2011

After Elio picked me up, I was taken to his mother-in-law's house, a real campesino (country person/peasant)'s abode. After being shown around, especially the new building they were constructing to rear pigs, I sat with the mother-in-law, who stared but wouldn't speak to me, and a niece, who chattered away in dialect. By then it was very humid as well as boiling and I started a drawing of some outbuildings. The photo shows the beautiful setting and the drawing when I abandoned it - I couldn't work out how to continue with sweaty hands despite leaning on tissues.

Farm buildings. © Sue Pownall 2011

On the way back into town I took advantage of Elio knowing everyone and got him to ask permission for me to sit on someone's porch the next morning to draw. Back at Elio's B&B I worked up the farm drawing by increasing tonal values and strengthening lines.

Edificios de la granja. © Sue Pownall 2011

Mid-morning the next day, my last day in Viñales, found me sitting on the porch of an old lady because 2 days ealier I had seen a fabulous building I HAD to draw, but had found no shade on the street to do so. The photo, shows the building across the way, a great vintage car (perfect timing) and my finished drawing. You can also see the afternoon's storm clouds rolling in. The finished drawing, completely drawn on the porch, is at the top of this post.

© Sue Pownall 2011

I left the area early the next morning heading for Trinidad, which is about 6 hours east of Havana and where I spent the majority of my time. The drawings from there will make up another post.

Painting in the Vale de Viñales. Part I

  Calle Sergio Dopico, A3 pen & watercolour © Sue Pownall 2011

After Havana I travelled west to Vale de Viñales. After settling into my B&B (Casa El Relojero - Elio's which I'd thoroughly recommend) I went for a walk around the small town and when I saw these houses (above) I settled down at a bus stop, for shade, to draw them. It took just over an hour to paint by which time the heavens had opened for a tropical downpour and one of the neighbours had sat talking to me for about 10 minutes, both spoiling concentration, but both interesting in different ways.

Tractor, A43 pen & watercolour © Sue Pownall 2011

The next day, I had arranged a horse trek into the valley, but having risen early I sat outside the front of the house and started to paint the neighbour's tractor. Elio's wife kindly bought me a cup of tea so I could continue. Unfortunately, I had to abandon the painting after the tea as the neighbour drove off in the tractor and didn't return until late afternoon. I tried to continue that evening, but a combination of the curious neighbourhood children - 8 of them, who surrounded me and the still hot sun, made me give up the painting again.

A6 pen & ink © Sue Pownall 2011

In between, I went on the most beautiful ride through the valley admiring the mountains and fields. Although it is not the tobacco season we went to a tobacco drying building and had the process explained to us (we were 3 on the trek) and were shown how to roll a cigar. The final stop of the ride was to a cave with an underground pool. Whilst waiting to be led underground we sat at the mouth of the cave and I sketched the rock formations. Yes I took my moleskin type sketchbook on a horse ride. What can I say? I am totally addicted to sketching. Once inside, apart from 2 small torches it was pitch black and we swam in the icy pool.

Day 3 in Viñales I took advantage of a hopon-hopoff bus and went up to a hotel with a stunning view of the valley. Despite having taken watercolour paper to Cuba, I used my sketchbook to paint the view. It's not a brilliant painting, but served the purpose of loosening me up.

Vale de Viñales from Ermita, A3 watercolour © Sue Pownall 2011

An hour later, I was back on the bus and got taken to the other end of the valley where I painted again, but this time using pen as well as pure watercolour. I think this is a stronger painting. Neither looks quite as murky in real life as in the scans. After an hour at this site it was approaching mid-day and was very hot and humid so I caught the bus back to town for some lunch.

Vale de Viñales from Dos Hermanos. A3 pen & watercolour © Sue Pownall 2011

... to be continued.

btw I'm struggling to upload the Cuban photos, but I promise to post some soon starting with cars for Michael Bailey of Paint Bytes.

Putrescence

Refuge, Pen & ink. 320 x 200mm. © Sue Pownall 2011

Ruin III has been named - Refuge. Thank you Linda for the suggestion.

As you can see from the picture, it has been sold! It has been bought by the man who bought Darragh's House ~  my first collector ~ and he's talking about having the third in the series too.

If you are wondering about the title, I was in Thesaurus.com looking for synonyms of decay, and this one jumped out.

My seven links.

Khalifa's Gate, Omdurman.Pen & ink 400x200mm ©Sue Pownall 2010

The My 7 Links Project was generated by TripBase to "unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavour to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again." Bloggers list their Top 7 Links in the following categories and then tag others and so it goes on.

I was tagged for this project by Lisa, who does a fabulous job as a travel concierge, and arranging travel reservations, weddings and more, at Wanderlust Women Travel.  Please pop over to her website.  

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Here are a selection of my past posts, which I think deserve this trip back in time:

My most beautiful post:

For me has to be the featuring of the first of my new Decay Series drawings, which has subsequently sold. Decay.

Darragh's House. Pen & ink. 320 x 200mm. © Sue Pownall 2011

My most popular post:

My art based resolutions for 2011 had the most hits, still continues to get regular hits, and had one of the highest number of comments.

My most controversial post:

I don't really do controversy, but at the beginning of this year my stats showed that someone had searched for Cute Eritrean Guys and landed on my art. Consequently, I used that as my next blog title to show my sketches & photos of the ATP tennis final.

My most helpful post &

a post I felt didn’t get the attention it deserved:

I am trying to use my art for good so two posts that mean a lot to me. 

First, the 31st WW Sketchcrawl Doha-Japan benefit, which I organised in Doha to raise funds for Japan following this year's earthquakes. This is the post which I wish had got more attention, so I could have raised more money.

Second, the post for the current exhibition for Scottish charity Trees for Life for which I donated a drawing. Please go to the website and you can buy my original drawing, or one of the others that have been submitted, for only £45 and 100% of profits will go to the charity.

The President's Tree, pen & ink, 160 x 230mm © Sue Pownall 2011

NB: A friend is organising a charity cycle ride for the end of September for CLAN cancer support and I will be donating towards their raffle too. Please look out for news here / on twitter /  facebook page: "The Clan" We cycle for CLAN Cancer Support / and the event website justgiving.com/Scotland-Coast2Coast . Clan's website is clanhouse.org if you want more information on the charity itself.

A post whose success surprised me:

Bear on a chair was a sketch I posted in August 2010 and then reposted for Illustration Friday as IF: Toy.

Bear on a chair. Pen & ink. A5 sketchbook ©Sue Pownall 2010

The post that I am most proud of:

This has been the hardest one to think of, but I think it has to be my first ever post here back in September '09, as it was the first time I really put my work out there for all to see. An idea of my work.

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Finally, my 5 nominations/tags to take part are:

Writer, ceramists, advocate of simple living, owner of a gorgeous boutique B&B, and my friend: Diana of A Certain Simplicity.

Fabulous photographer & Italy correspondent: LindyLou at News from Italy.

Artist: Sandra of Sandraws.

American expats in Calabria: Doug & Di of Il Terrazzo Italiano.

New twitter pal, artist and jeweller: The Hyper Monkey

Decay series: Ruins 2 & 3

Ruin III, Pen & ink. 320 x 200mm. © Sue Pownall 2011

I have spent all day finishing these two drawings, however I cannot think of a title for Ruin 3. Any suggestions?

Both drawings will now sit for a couple of days, and may receive the odd tweek here and there, but I'm calling them finished now.

 Dunottar castle. Pen & ink. 320 x 200mm. © Sue Pownall 2011

Both original reference photographs by and used with permission from: D Flanagan.Thank you.

Decay

Darragh's House. Pen & ink. 320 x 200mm. © Sue Pownall 2011

Here is another of my decay series; this time a house in Scotland. I finished it on Saturday.

Original photo by and used with permission from: D Flanagan.

IF - Chicken

Shropshire Hen House. Pen &  ink. 245x165mm. ©Sue Pownall 2011

This week's Illustration Friday prompt was Chicken. I was inspired by the quote that came with the prompt:

"Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral." Frank Lloyd Wright.

Instantly, I knew I wanted to draw an old hen house and I found the prefect reference photo on flickr taken by Dick Warren. If you check it out, you will see that I have changed the left wall, which was corrugated iron like the roof, and altered it slightly to make a better composition.

Next Saturday 22nd January is the 30th Worldwide SketchCrawl and will be the 3rd in Doha. Anyone out there who wants to join me, please email me and we can arrange to meet.

Finally, a BIG THANK YOU to all my followers; artofanomad reached 100 this week. My new facebook business page has already reached 43 likes, which is tremendous in the 2 weeks since I set it up.