Drawings
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Suur Toll & Piret
This statue of a mythical couple, who once upon a time helped the Saaremaa islanders of old, is just opposite the Kuressaare hotel we were staying in during our tour of Estonia. The legends of these two seem to major on saving the island from invaders and the husbandry of cabbages, although this sculpture clearly…
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Street Music
There were a lot of open air street performances in Riga whilst we were visiting. This group were part of the Antonijas Street Festival – I think the lead singer is Chris Noah, and I have to say they were very good – in fact very much better than I have drawn them! Although the…
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Garden Café
Toome Hill Park is surrounded by buildings that belong to Tartu University. I’m not sure whether this cafe is also part of the university too – although my guess is probably not. We visited slightly out of season, so this place was closed when we saw it, but as a haven of peace in the…
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Windmill
Saaremaa Island in Estonia is pretty flat and surrounded by the Baltic Sea – as a result it had at one point many windmills! There aren’t so many left now, but this one is still there for tourists like me to gawp at. I had imagined that the pen would easily give me a wood…
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Tall & Slender
I saw this handsome plant sitting in a corner of the greenhouse in the RHS Garden at Wisley. At the time I didn’t note the name of the plant – however the self-proclaimed AI on my phone seems sure that it is an Agave plant, which would be more at home in the arid regions…
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Madrasa
I had previously understood a madrasa to be a place that provided Islamic instruction, but in amongst the potted history of Uzbekistan that I picked up on a recent tour, I have come to realise that throughout much of their history madrasas taught quite a range of subjects, just like the old colleges here in…
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Hohenschwangau
There is a very pretty castle at Hohenschwangau (and of course another fairytale castle nearby called Neuschwanstein) – but this is the view from the castle, looking out over a swan (schwan to the locals) fountain – one of many swan motifs in the castle grounds. I had intended this to be just a pen…
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Iron Gates
My art group made another visit to Ichi-Coo Park today – this time in glorious sunshine! Here is one of the sketches that I made there this afternoon – this one done on the iPad using the “charcoal” drawing tool. I hadn’t realised at the time that I had left the colour set to a…
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Latte
I often drink my coffees with barely a thought for the barista’s art work on top, but this one caught my eye and was duly immortalised in a photo before I took my first sip. Having become entangled in the creation of a couple of pictures that have become way too complicated and detailed, I…
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Wooded Path
Some places seem to me quite special, magical even, and this is one of them. This path leads up to Reigate Hill, and I sometimes follow it when I walk up that hill from my house. I don’t always take this path however, partly so as not to lose the sense of wonder that this…
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Toque Macaque
These monkeys are quite common in Sri Lanka, particularly near Sigiriya where the original photo of this character was taken. These creatures look very sweet and endearing when you first see them, particularly with their quirky hairstyles, but there is a good reason why monkeys have a reputation for mischief. Just a few minutes before…
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Fishing Boats
The fishing boats in Negombo keep different hours to the tourists. We saw some of the boats still at sea whilst we were having breakfast, but by the time we were walking around the town the fishermen were all back to unload their catch, repair their nets etc. The boats were all quite colourful, and…
