Tiptree Sings at Christmas

First, an apology as the autoposting to this blog hasn't worked for the last few posts. You can check out the missing ones here: Blog posts.

I love going to see choirs sing at Christmas, so last night I went back to Tiptree to see a friend sing in the choir she belongs to. The setting was St Lukes church, which I have only drawn from the outside, so made sure I had coloured pencils alongside my sketchbook.

My first sketch was of some of the female choristers chatting before the concert. They were very animated and seemed quite excited which I hope I captured in the sketch. What do you think?

Listening to the lovely singing, I sketched the top drawing showing a section of the choir and the church.

I forgot to take the proof of on-location sketching shot until the choir was about to start singing in the second half of the concert, but hopefully gives a little idea of my view.




Other news: I was very flattered when Simone Ridyard asked me to contribute to her architectural sketching book, Archisketcher. Yesterday, I received my copy and the whole book is fabulous! I would thoroughly recommend buying it for your shelves because of the fabulous content, not because of my contribution :)

Finally, due to logistics the Essex&Suffolk Sketchers have renamed themselves Colchester Sketchers. 

The FB group is here: Colchester Sketchers

Have a good week everyone.

Just for fun.

Sketch 1, pencil in A5 sketchbook

I am NOT a portrait painter, but I'm starting the year with an experiment, working on something different, purely for me. I know this is not very good, but portrait painting is an area I'm exploring this year. I've lost the likeness, but like the advice I got from Jana Bouc to "not worry about likeness so much, go with the feeling and making it a "painting" rather than a "portrait"." It's supposed to be one of the homeless people I met recently. I did one session of sketches with her and took some photos. She didn't reappear for the next session, so I worked with what I had. 

Here are the WIP shots:

 The final painting:

Acrylic on A2 canvas

 Are you trying anything new this year? How's it going? Let me know in a comment below please.

A gentle giant

Rob drawing. 6th Dec. Pencil in moleskin

 A volunteer at Sanctus, Rob is an ex-security guy whose size and tatoos make him quite scary-looking. However, he is one of the nicest guys I've met. Recently, he adopted a little staffie called Sweep, after Sweep's formally-homeless turned charity-volunteer owner was tragically murdered. You can see a picture of Sweep helping me sketch on my Facebook page and another on the post Down but not out.

I sketched Rob whilst he was working on a drawing on the course I am teaching at Sanctus. His eyes aren't quite right, I think because he kept moving and I didn't wait for him to return to the same angle. He's please with it though, so that's good.

 You can help people get a meal by donating to Sanctus here: sanctus-home.com

Jimmy

Jimmy drawing. Pencil in moleskin sketchbook.

On a cold, grey, drizzly Thursday, Jimmy had his lunch at Sanctus then sat in my art class. Jimmy was refered to by the others as being a "Diddycoy", which is an old, often derogatory term, for someone who's parentage is not full gypsy. He is a lovely, cheerful, uneducated, old man speaking a dialect that I only understood one in three words. I gave him some paper and a pencil and he drew me drawings of the wagons (horse drawn carts and gypsy caravans) his dad used to make. He's had a hard life, if I understood half of the stories he told, and it is compounded now by his love of drink (he was sober) and health problems. He is very trusting, asking me to check his perscriptions for him, and loves talking. I don't know if I'm allowed to have him sit in with us, but I hope he comes back at least to stay out of the cold.

A proud man with his drawing. Photo taken/used with his permission.

 You can help people like Jimmy get a meal by donating to Sanctus here: sanctus-home.com

Back in the mists of time

Tilly  Watercolour 29 x40 cm. ©Sue Pownall

As I am saving the unveiling of new work until my exhibition, which is less than a scary 3 weeks away, I haven't had much to post recently. There are some sketches to come, when I get a chance to scan them, so in the meantime, I thought I would share this portrait I painted ways-back in the mists of time whilst I was at Plymouth College of Art & Design. The reason I was looking at it, as I'm sure you can guess, is that when the exhibition is over I intend to paint a portrait of Degas. 

To finish don't you think this is the cutest photo? Degas was on our roof watching the sunset.

Handbag portraits

Mahir. A6 sketchbook 23 Sept

I carry a small A6 sketchbook in my handbag; most of the time it doesn't get taken out. Over the last few months it appears I have used it for portraits and thought I would share them today. They are all of young Omani BP trainees.

Hatem, A6 sketchbook, 4th August

Mahmoud, A6 sketchbook, 4th July

Salim, A6 sketchbook, 17th Sept

What do you think? Do you have a sketchbook you carry around all the time? What do you sketch in it? Why not leave a comment and let me know.

Hidden Beauty. Festival Face No.7

Hidden Beauty. Ink. 36x26cm ©Sue Pownall 2013

On 21st November I made the first guide pencil marks on this drawing and it has been lurking ever since.
From starting it, I've ...

  finished Festival Face #6, you can see her here,

drawn and donated a drawing for a charity exhibition,

had a commission to do,

arranged & attended 2 sketching events,

had a stall for my art at a winter fair,

produced 2 illustrations for The Story Shack,

and spent 3 weeks on holiday in UK.

I guess that's enough reasons for it to have taken so long. 

Anti-Portraits

Detail. © Sue Pownall 2012

Anyone who has followed my work for a while knows I don't like doing portraits. By portraits I mean the family portrait in pencil or watercolour. They are easy enough, but I find them a trial and unenjoyable. However, periodically I get a commission that I can't refuse. Before the summer I was commissioned to draw a man's wife for her birthday. I completed the drawing last month, but as her birthday is in October I waited to post it. Not only is this a pencil portrait, but it was drawn far larger than I would normally do, 50x70cm, eeek. 

© Sue Pownall 2012

Close up of finished drawing © Sue Pownall 2012

© Sue Pownall 2012

Please don't ask me to do one for you, but you can commission me to draw landscapes and buildings.

The Grandfather

The Grandfather. 240 x 330mm, Pen & ink. ©Sue Pownall 2012

 Started on the 10th June, I finished the 5th Festival Face on the 29th, so it took about the same amount of time as the 1st one, His Brother's Musar.

The WIP photos are below. I've been using Instagram to record all recent drawings, and thought I'd share them here too.

WIP 10th June.

WIP 20th June.

Almost finished 28th June. ©Sue Pownall 2012

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Photo reference supplied and used with the permission of Waleed Mohammed.

WaleedMohmeedPhotographer

Rula

Rula. Pen & Wash. 200 x200mm © Sue Pownall 2012

Cathy Read (check out her fab portfolio here) recently wrote about a change direction having been asked to do work as she used to do. After doing the work, she said "I’m even more certain the decision to change direction is right. Sometimes you need to stop, reassess and find a new route! And when you do, it’s good to have that change reinforced from time to time!"

A recent change for me was to start my Festival Faces series. I am enjoying drawing them and I'm impatient to do more, although the gallery wants more scenery, ruins etc first. I've just done a portrait commission, above, which I get asked to do periodically. Apart from my Festival Faces, which I have total freedom with I Hate - note capital H - portraiture. It's the need to produce something pretty, in normally different materials, although this one was in a "sketch" style. It pays for some materials, but takes time and energy. Will I do more portrait commissions? Probably as I only accept them about once a year BUT not at the expense of my other work.

Before anyone comments - I don't count my sketches as portraits as that's me trying to interpret a scene rather than capture someone's likeness and, like the Festival Faces, is not intended for the person I'm drawing.

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Don't forget my summer newsletter will be out soon. 

There's a special offer for subscribers only, so please make sure you receive your copy by signing up today.

Still Celebrating

Still celebrating. 240 x 330mm, Pen & ink. ©Sue Pownall 2012

On November 18th, 2010 Omanis celebrated the 40th National Day of HM Sultan Qaboos rule. HM Sultan Qaboos came to power on July 23 1970, but the Oman National Day is celebrated on 

November 18, which is his birthday. 

I took the reference shot for this portrait at this year's Muscat Festival, 

however the musar (head-dress) was sewn for the 40th commeration. 

The Arabic for forty is ٤٠ The numbers are upside down due to the way he has tied it.

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Something else that is still being celebrated:

Last Wednesday I met the art director of Bait Muzna Gallery here in Oman as she requested to see my portfolio. I expected some guidance on my drawings and what I should do, but instead I am to be one of the gallery's artists!!! All four of my Festival Faces portraits along with 6 other drawings are now for sale through them. Plus, I have a list of drawings they want me to do. 

I think I will be celebrating this success a while longer.

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.

Festival faces

His brother's musar,  230 x 330mm, Pen & ink. ©Sue Pownall 2012

Inspired by Muscat Festival I have started a series of drawings I am calling Festival Faces.
The first one is of a man from Jalaan, called His brother's musar.

I started posting the WIP stages on my Facebook page after tweeting "Over-confidence meets reality?! New drawing stuck on wall while I get past the omg #canIreallydrawthis panic" on February 10th. The next day I posted the first stage to show I'd moved on and explained the panic had been because the man has partial cataracts and wasn't working in the drawing. As you can see I drew fairly normal old eyes, but as I am an artist, and this is my interpretation of the subject that's my choice.

Sorry about the picture quality, it was snapped on my phone at night, not a good combination. 

WIP #1 10th February

I have been inspired by this picture and so have put in lots of hours in order to complete it so fast. As the drawing is on A3 and my new scanner is only A4 these WIP are all photos taken with my phone.

WIP #2

WIP #3 13th February

WIP Thursday am 16th Feb

WIP Thursday later 16th Feb

WIP 17th Feb

Later 17th

*****

Photo reference supplied and used with the permission of Ahmed Al-Shukaili.

ahmedshukaili.com

Who needs a tv? aka Sketching Muscat Festival III

Into the arena, A5 sketchbook © Sue Pownall 2012

I'm having the BEST time at Muscat Festival. Apart from the cultural things, what can beat a nighttime performance of fountains dancing to classical music complete with lasers and pyrotechnics? Or what about an Arabic drama complete with a two-headed bad guy, who every time he entered the stage is accompanied by red lighting and fog?

Sword men, A5 sketchbook © Sue Pownall 2012

I dashed straight to the Festival from work yesterday afternoon and went to the Heritage Village. Gasping for a cup of tea I bought one, sat on the bench and looked around to see what I could draw. Due the beginning of a long weekend, I think, the crowds were large and my view kept getting blocked, but I quite like the final result of the sword men. A young boy who was watching me snapped a shot on his iphone before wandering off.

As I had arrived straight from work the next stop was outside the village area to get a falafal sandwich. Food is an important part of the festival, so I sketched the food stand, despite the fact it was almost dark and I could hardly see my sketchbook. I'd have loved to add some colour, but my eyes hurt, so I'll add food stands to my have-to-sketch-at-festival list.

Burgers, shwarmas & falafal ,A5 sketchbook © Sue Pownall 2012

After watching the fountains and snapping with my phone (chose not to take DSLR but found I'd also left compact camera at home) as I tried to capture some of it, I headed back to the Heritage Village and sketched the men with their swords and guns as they waited to parade past the tv cameras resplendent with their swords shaking, guns held aloft, chanting, and drumming accompaniment. (top drawing)

Snapped with my smart phone after I wasn't so smart by forgetting my camera.

I then took a walk around the park enjoying the atmosphere. I discovered that there is a whole section sponsored by embassies based in Oman, so tomorrow I plan to head back there to draw. The Palestinian dancers were great fun, but I think moving too fast for me to capture. Check back here later to see if I sketched them or not.

Just before the two-headed baddie appeared engulfed in smoke.

 Then finally, I went to see some of the Arabic play, which was staged in the auditorium. It was good fun and, please note I do not speak or understand Arabic, so this is purely guesswork, seemed to be set in old Turkey and was sort of a pantomime style play. There was dramatic lighting, smoke, a song - not sure why, and as I mentioned above a two-headed bad guy. The kid in front of me was terrified the first time the baddie came on the stage and clambered over his mum to the protective arms of his dad. Where I was sat, under the stars, it was virtually without light, but I tried to capture the lines anyway. Wished I'd had some fat coloured crayons as I couldn't see the marks I was making with my 0.1 pen. Any way I have posted the result below.

An example of blind sketching.A5 sketchbook © Sue Pownall 2012

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NB: All sketches are completed 100% at the Muscat Festival and are drawn from life.

I am using black ink but as usual scanning and photo correction is an issue.

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…