Quick drawing

Beyond studio 5, study 1. 2014

Beyond studio 5, study 3. 2014

Beyond studio 5, study 4. 2014

Beyond studio 5, study 2. 2014

Scrubby trees hide my studio from the park, a messy patch that no one notices

I stand and draw them quickly, taking note of how my eye moves over the scene. I do not see one still image but scan through many connections, sometimes focusing on a detail, how can I follow this with my pencil?

Scrubby, pencil, charcoal, carbon on paper. 2014

I find an old comment on CyTwombly describing his work with 'sparseness, clumsiness, awkwardness and rareness'. It is a decisive moment that gives each work meaning.


Life drawing, quick poses using ink and stick.

Actor sitting 1, ink and  twig drawing 

Actor sitting 2, ink and  twig drawing 

Actor lounging, ink and  twig drawing 

Writing and drawing connections

Drawing connections and my written paper.

Residue of differences

Charcoal on paper 

An array of left behind fragments relating to places I have noticed, lingered, paused and taken interest in - physicality of angle, slope, drop, gravity, space, structure or incidental aspect that catches my attention.The investigation and marks reflect a direct experience recalled, or recorded.

13 desiccated sparrows found in an unused woodburner, each frozen pose delicate and beautiful, requires critical observation. 





Shell drawing for Mum
She found this large, old and battered shell abandoned on waste ground, next to a grave yard many years ago and has always treasured it. After visiting Tracey Emin's She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea at Margate; I had a go with Emin's free blue wax crayon, the perfect drawing implement for this shell.
Here the rhythms and flow, echo Emin's loosely drawn figures . Blue appropriately connects shell and sea.


Gibbets Hill, Hindhead
These small quickly drawn rhythms in pencil describe this huge space. 
Turner walked and sketched here making many fleeting pencil drawings about the distant space, a subject he worked with throughout his life.                                 

A friend handed on these animal skulls, drawn here using a 60cm extended pencil, less control changes qualities of mark. The challenges in this method of drawing enticed visitors to have a go at my Summer Open Studio, the difficulties of making the drawing from a distance cancelled the fear of failure as expectations were low and skills of precision drawing unnecessary. A surprising number of visitors joined in and had a go, initially finding control of the pencil at distance, difficult but quickly discovering an alternative method to  achieve an interesting mark.