Tag Archives: painting

Cupcakes Rescue!

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lolas cup cakes, cup cakes, cake, watercolor, too good to go, fight food waste, watercolour, painting, sketchbook, pen and wash, food illustration, illustration, drawing

I picked up these gorgeous mini cupcakes from the Lola’s cart in London Bridge Station last night. The cupcakes would otherwise have been chucked out at the end of business.

I was delighted to rescue them at the bargain price of four quid via the food waste fighting app Too Good To Go.

I spent a few happy hours sketching them today…I did eat a couple as I worked, just to check that they were still fresh, and yes, they were delicious. I’m saving the rest of them to share with my flatmates for this evening’s dessert, which shows great restraint on my part.

These mini cupcakes are pretty, cheap and exceptionally tasty – a perfect “paint it then eat it” project!

Thank you Lola and Too Good To Go!

 

Sushi Rescue!

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Mmmm…sushi!

sushi, sushi shop, healthy eating, too good to go, fight food waste, watercolour, painting, sketchbook, pen and wash, food illustration, illustration, drawingI was watching a telly programme about the menopause the other night. One of the most interesting things I learnt was that women in Japan suffer far fewer classic menopausal symptoms than their western counterparts. That’s because of the soy and fatty fish components of their diet. Of course having watched them eating sushi I fancied it myself. 

Over to Too Good To Go the anti-food-waste app, where they listed many sushi outlets, all with goodies to save from the bin at the end of the shift. I selected a Sushi Shop branch in central London which was having an early afternoon clear out at the end of the lunch session and popped over to pick up my box at £4.50 instead of £12.90 – that’s quite a saving.

I’d made myself the ‘paint it then eat it promise’. Once I’d got the outline down I couldn’t resist and it turned into ‘paint it while eating it’. Luckily the lunch box contained multiples of the same items so I still had references as I scoffed – I had to take care not to drop soy sauce on my sketchbook though.

The actual sushi box and the finished painting were only single units (below) but I made a collage with an app on my phone to transform the image into a square (top) which is better suited for Instagram.

sushi, sushi shop, healthy eating, too good to go, fight food waste, watercolour, painting, sketchbook, pen and wash, food illustration, illustration, drawing

A delicious, nutritious, cheap and creative approach to fighting food waste – I love this new hobby!

Cake Rescue!

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cake, konditor, too good to go, fight food waste, red velvet, chocolate, watercolour, painting, sketchbook, pen and wash, food illustration, illustration, drawing

I picked up this delightful trio of chubby cake wedges from the Konditor bakery near Borough Market. For a measly three quid! All courtesy of the brilliant anti-food waste app Too Good To Go.

Too Good To Go lets you locate and pay for delicious bargains at your favourite local food outlets, food which would otherwise be thrown away at closing time. 

There’s a degree of mystery involved since you’re never actually sure what you’ll get in your ‘magic bag’ when you pitch up to collect your goodies. But if you choose outlets with good reputations and many starred reviews you’ll not be disappointed.

I promised myself an evening of cake indulgence if I painted my edibles when I got them home. A carrot (cake) over stick approach to motivation in these first few confusing days of the new decade, when the atmosphere is sticky with new resolutions jostling in the fug of festive overindulgence.

I love making pen and wash sketches of food. I find that looking forward to eating it when the job’s done helps me focus – I work fast and, hopefully, loose!

I did share the cake with my flatmates and will definitely be using Too Good To Go again soon. Very soon. 

Lassco Vice Sketch

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lassco, reclamation, lassco-ropewalk, sketching, sketchbook, drawing, painting, pen and wash, watercolour, watercolor, vice, wood, london, woodwork, tools

 

Lovely to meet up with another artist friend on Saturday and do some drawing in the Lassco warehouse of reclaimed treasures in Rope Walk, Bermondsey.

The friendly Lassco team made us really welcome, there were chairs and a table for us to work at and a huge number of beautiful and quirky old things to draw.

I chose this vice…it did actually have red paint splattered on it but my interpretation looks quite sinisterly bloody, which I like. As the Lassco manager said ‘this one tells a story’!

We’ll definitely be returning there to draw again.

Portrait of Haylen

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laughing, girl, butterflies, pen and wash, watercolour, watercolor, portrait, cartoon, drawing, painting

I made a few portraits of a Dutch friend of mine over the past few months and when I met his family his nephew asked if I’d make a portrait of his daughter Haylen in a similar style.

Haylen’s a really animated and sweet little girl who laughs a lot and has fantastic teeth; we were all keen that she should show them off in the portrait. Her mum and dad sent me a few recent photos (none with the teeth, however) and one of her laughing when she was two. 

I drew the portrait as an amalgamation of several of the photos and checked with the family that I’d caught Haylen’s ‘essence’ once the linework (below) was finished.

Finally I painted Haylen with watercolours.

portrait, cartoon, girl, outline, drawing, black and white

Portrait of Mike and His Friend

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illustration, double portrait, pen and wash, watercolour, watercolor, portrait, cartoon, man, pinkpop, festival, drawing, painting

I was commissioned to make this double portrait while I was staying in Holland. I worked from a photo and made a linework likeness in pencil, drew over it in waterproof pen and then coloured it in with watercolour paints.

 

Campground Map and Sign

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I was staying at Camping Schoonenberg, a beautiful campgound set in woodland in North Holland when one of the staff members saw me painting a portrait. He showed a photo of my painting to the manager who asked me to make a new combined sign and map for the campground. Delighted!

handpainted sign, signwriting, map, map making, campground, forest, woodland, camping schoonenberg, driehuis, north holland, holland, acrylic paint, wood, illustration, leaves, brambles, sign, painting, art

I started by making a rough map of the campground as I walked around it, using an aerial view from google earth as a template for the outline. The manager then helped me number the camping places and mark which ones had electricity.

draft, preparatory drawing, handpainted sign, signwriting, map, map making, campground, forest, woodland, camping schoonenberg, driehuis, north holland, holland, acrylic paint, wood, illustration, leaves, brambles, sign, painting, art

I then drew the full size map out on paper and added all the details and text (above). 

handpainted sign, signwriting, map, map making, campground, forest, woodland, camping schoonenberg, driehuis, north holland, holland, acrylic paint, wood, illustration, leaves, brambles, sign, painting, art

Once the draft had been approved I traced it onto a piece of primed marine plywood which had been cut to allow a narrow unpainted border.

handpainted sign, signwriting, map, map making, campground, forest, woodland, camping schoonenberg, driehuis, north holland, holland, acrylic paint, wood, illustration, leaves, brambles, sign, painting, art

Since the sign will be hung in a place which is sheltered from direct sunlight and rain and will be stored inside during the winter months when the campground is closed I chose to use acrylic paints which are water based. That makes the whole process much cleaner and odour free.

handpainted sign, signwriting, map, map making, campground, forest, woodland, camping schoonenberg, driehuis, north holland, holland, acrylic paint, wood, illustration, leaves, brambles, sign, painting, art

 

Amsterdam Sketch

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amsterdam, canal, townhouse, bicycle, netherlands, holland, watercolour, watercolor, painting, sketch, sketchbook, art, drawing, urban sketchers, boat

I recently went on a day trip to Amsterdam with the intention of sketching the classic townhouse, canal, boat and bike combo.

Job done!

It was a showery day so it took me a little to find a dry place to sit with the right view.

Lovely to wander around this beautiful city, even in the rain.

Retro Caravan Sketch

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eriba touring, caravan, retro, retro caravan, camping, pen and wash, watercolour, watercolor, painting, sketch, sketchbook, art

This delightful, tiny 1987 model Eriba Touring caravan was parked up for a few days on the same campground as us.

The van’s been in the proud possession of the same woman for thirty years and her father painted the floral designs on the sides.

Cute as a button!

Merman – Do Not Resuscitate

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merman, fish tail, portrait, watercolor, watercolour, painting, sketchbook, tattoos, tattooed man, do not resuscitate

Here’s a photo collage of a recent pen and watercolour portrait I made of Rob (who likes to think of himself as my muse…he might be right!)

I worked from a photo I took of him lounging, the perspective was such that his enormous feet on the end of his crossed long legs reminded me of a fish tail so I drew him as a merman.

I took the liberty of editing his tattoos, which in reality cover his whole torso, because I wanted the focus to fall on the “Do Not Resuscitate” text on his chest. That’s my favourite.