Accordion

Can you see this… Sketch of an accordion.. On the back of an envelope in pencil. I loved the curve of it. The way the lines flow up through the instrument and into the knitted jumper. Yes I loved drawing the hands as he played. There is a round table with a half empty glass of bass beer (with a triangular trade mark), a notebook and his mobile phone. Plus a bass beer mat. I am not advertising though. It was lovely and welcoming at the Beehive pub in Honeywall, Stoke-on-Trent.

Violin sketch

At the Beehive pub in Honeywall on Wednesday night. I don’t go very often to listen to the Boatband and their cajun and folk music. But it was the day before the 2nd anniversary of a very sad occasion and I wanted to take my mind off it.

The thing was someone had given me a pencil to make some notes with and I had some scraps of paper in my bag, so I decided to try and do some drawings. This was one of them.

I loved the sinuous shape of the violin and the way the musician held it and the bow, and I was transported back 40 years to my younger self drawing and sketching. I’m rather pleased with the result despite my shaking hands.

Pinchetel

Three miles walked today round the village in a city of Penkhull. Part of Stoke on Trent. To reach the village centre we decided to walk up a hill called Honeywall, past the Beehive public house and this sign erected in 2011 by the Penkhull Residents Association. Instead of continuing straight up the hill we walked down an interesting side road and then right an up to the Church of St Thomas which stands on the village green. As we walked past a flower bed we spotted these bottles decorated as bottle ovens with a top hatted figure standing next to them. Then we walked down and around Thistley Hough and finally by circuitous routes home to make sure the walk was long enough. I’ve only walked about 22 miles this week, a bit down on last week, but the weather has been wet and windy, and my hubby doesn’t want to walk to far, but I feel fitter (and tired). Day 42!

Tonight’s sketches.

These are the best of the bunch of sketches I did at the Beehive pub in Honeywall tonight. Some of the others were not too bad, but when you are trying to draw moving people it is difficult to get enough information down rapidly enough. That was what happened with the other ones – I was not speedy enough.

One image I do want to get is my friend Kate playing the trombone. It’s a wonderful sound in a small pub. I’m also in love with the gleam and reflections on it. Next month I will try and get closer and do a better drawing if I can.

These drawings were done in a Seawhite of Brighton Plein Air Sketchbook size A5 with watercolour paper. Using a Bic grip roller black roller ball pen.