Location
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Work In Progress
We recently went to a wedding celebration in this handsome building on Wandsworth Common. As with many weddings that I have attended over the years, a very good time was had by all. However, I am always aware that any wedding day is only really the beginning of a (hopefully) life-long journey, building a life…
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Robot Mower
Another notable feature of Ichi-Coo Park is their fleet (or flock?) of robot mowers that crawl around the grounds keeping the grass cut short. I saw one of these machines pause in the shade of a tree, giving every impression that it was seeking relief from the hot sunshine that was beating down on us…
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Avenue of Trees II
We returned to Ichi-Coo Park today, this time in glorious sunshine! I decided to have another go at drawing this lovely avenue of trees, this time using coloured pencils – a medium which I am not that used to. The result is both colourful and “sketchy”, which is actually what I was hoping for. That…
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Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure where I was trying to go with this picture. However, I drew it anyway because: a – I very much like the window design, b – I thought the statute goes well below the window, c – I thought it might be fun to try out a halo…
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Meadow
The path along Hadrian’s Wall passes many meadows, which at this time of year are a riot of colour. Some meadows are mainly dominated by buttercups, and so are a vivid yellow. Others have a much redder hue, which my trusty AI app tells me is normally due to common sorrel, along with grasses such…
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Foxglove
For many years I have taken a walking holiday at this time of year, and every year without fail we have passed large numbers of these impressive flowers. This example is growing in the ruins of one of the earliest successful infrastructure projects in our country – Hadrian’s Wall. I was slightly concerned that with…
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Three Bridges
I have come across a number of places called Three Bridges. One of these in West Sussex is the source or destination of many of the Thameslink trains that pass through our town. Another in southern Belgium (and therefore in fact called Trois-Ponts) has a superb local beer, quite the find of that particular trip!…
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Ye Olde Shoppe
To be honest I’m not really sure quite how old this shop is. It is certainly built in an older style than the two concrete blocks that hem it in, and it probably helps that I’ve drawn it slightly wonky, giving it that twisted look that most really old buildings have! As a final coup…
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Lantern
These platform lanterns are to be found at many temples in Japan, particularly Buddhist temples. I understand that they are full of symbolism, but that aside they are also visually very interesting, plenty of detail, sturdy yet graceful. Of course the temptation is always to feature the temple itself in any picture, but here I…
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View of London …
… from Reigate Hill. Hence quite a distant view, in which only the tallest buildings in the city feature. Some would say that London looks better from this distance, although I wouldn’t agree – there are some very nice sights right in the centre of town. However, I rather liked the way that the horizon…
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Pub Sign
These lanterns hang outside many Japanese restaurants and izakaya (居酒屋) – a term often translated as “Japanese pub”. It took a little while for me to realise that these lanterns promised some kind of refreshment close by, but once the penny had dropped they were very useful when looking for something to eat or drink.…
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Sakura (桜)
Cherry blossom is appearing all over Japan at the moment, and I’m lucky enough to be seeing it happen. Admittedly most of the blossom I have seen so far has been set against leaden grey skys, so this picture is something of a concept piece – how I imagine the trees would look in front…
Doodling ... 