Camping Holiday in Dorset

We spent a few days relaxing on the south coast. Lots of very picturesque villages and beaches - but also quite a lot of people this time of year.

Here's Lulworth Cove...


Dancing Ledge...



Wareham...
and Studland Bay...

Blagdon

Went for a nice pub lunch on saturday and walked it off around Blagdon - a very picturesque town on the slopes of the Mendips. Here's a very quick one of the church...

And here's one of the beam engines at the reservoir pumping station - it's open must sunday afternoons through the summer. I'm not entirely happy with this one - I think I'll go again sometime and have another go...

VSSC Hillclimb - Prescott

Went to the VSCC 75th anniversary Hillclimb and did lots of sketches instead of the usual photos. I really enjoyed it - I'm definitely going to do some more. Highlight of the day was a brief ride on the Stanley Steam Car.

My favourite machines are the Specials - particularly the GN's. Unfeasibly large engines - sometimes from aeroplanes - bolted onto spindly cyclecars. They were the cars to have for hillclimbing in the 20's and 30's...
Thanks to Alan Cox I now know this is the Grannie Special...
The Thunderbug has a thumping great 4.3 litre V-Twin. There's a clip of it here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcsoQi7C0gs

This was a beautiful machine - with stunning details and patina. Wooden chassis, V8 aero engine, offset seating, stylish lettering - everything about it is perfect...

Mike Clark's Stanley steam car - the one I was lucky enough to go for a ride in. 70mph and almost silent - the perfect vehicle to mow someone down in...

I'm hoping this is a Brescia Bugatti - I'm not so good on my Bugatti models...

As I was saying - not sure of the model that this was in - perhaps someone could help fill in the details...

Whoever built this definitely had a Meccano set when they were younger. It looked fast and frightening, all in black with a huge 6 cylinder AC engine in the front. Here's a clip too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E007fxpW3X0

Hay Tor - Dartmoor

Went on a landscape photography outing to Dartmoor and managed to squeeze in a quick sketch too. It's a bit too clinical I think - should have used a pencil.

Post Office Building

Just a quick one while waiting for a train the other day. This abandoned building used to belong to the post office I think...

Cardiff Bay

I don't just hang round Bristol docks you know. I can hang round other docks too...

Of Monsters and Beavers

I was asked to do a few quick monster designs last week. Turned out what they actually wanted was beavers. Easy mistake.

Bristol and Clifton Oil Gas Company

Here are the remains of the old gas works on the other side of the docks. Apparently they date from 1870 and used to produce gas from whale oil.

Boats and Chimneys

Another quick one of the docks - this time the boat yard alongside the SS Great Britain (on the left). The second sketch is of a building I spotted from the rooftop which has lots of chimneys - my sketch is actually 4 short - there ought to be 19 along the top row...

Bristol - it's not like it used to be.

Ever since one sold for £1m the whole of the floating harbour seems to be being covered with apartments. Some are ok to look at, some are hideous and some are blocking out the view we used to have of the SS Great Britain.

Dorset

Spent a very enjoyable weekend camping in Dorset. This was the nearest pub to the campsite...

Reverends, thousands of 'em

Here's a couple from the Mendips - I live on the edge of them. The first is the Rock of Ages - there's a song about it. The Rev. Toplady once sheltered there in a storm and later wrote the song. He was a bit dim I reckon as there's a perfectly huge cave just opposite. I'm afraid I didn't capture it very well and got bogged down in the detail. I'll have to try again some time...

In the woods nearby are the ruins of Mendip Lodge - built by Rev. Thomas Whalley in 1787. It was once a very grand Italianate house but sadly there's not much left of it now...

Clarke Bond Building

Another nice building just around the corner. I have a vague recollection that this might have been something to do with Brunel or the SS Great Britain - which is just around the corner, but I might be wrong...

Not sure if adding the streetview thing is a good idea but here it is anyway...


View Larger Map

Pens, lovely pens

My replacement pens arrived today so in celebration here's some interesting industrial buildings near where I work.




View Larger Map

More views from the new building...

I can see the top of this old factory from my desk. I've been experimenting with a double-ended sharpie pen. I like the mixture of thick and thin lines but find the ink bleeds through the paper very easily. Also, I've lost my PITT artisits pen - I really liked it too. I must order some more...
This house is on the other side of the building...

Looking toward Cabot Tower

Here's the view from the top floor of our new building. You can just see the masts of the SS Great Britain, Cabot Tower and the University building at the top of Park Street...

More hanging around the docks

Some of the boats in Bristol docks...

Today I have some hopeless chap from off of the telly...
... and some boats from near where I work...

I watched a little bit of 'Gangs of New York' yesterday. Mostly nonsense but I did like some of the moustaches. Here Daniel Day Lewis's...

Another quick watercolour sketch. This is in Wells - I think it's a tithe barn...

Blimey, 2 posts in 2 days. I was in London today and found some time to experiment a bit more with the watercolours. These took about 35 mins each - except for the girder which was 5 mins. Firstly, Edgware Road Station...

... next, The Grand Junction Arms...
... and a collection of girders supporting the roof of Padington Station...

Langford Court - a big country house near us had an open day at the weekend. After eating cakes in it I did a quick sketch of the orangery with a brush pen.

I've also been tinkering with a pentel water brush and a little set of watercolours. It's quite fun - especially when you're in a nice warm pub...

A week away...

We drove to Freiburg in the black Forest for a week. It was great to be in the mountains and see some proper snow. Didn't get to do as much sketching as I would have liked though. Here's the view from the top of the sledge run in Schauinsland...



And here's the view from the front of the ferry as the other cars board...


A note for you stationary fans... I bought some very nice Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens - they're like slightly firmer than usual brush pens. I did the top picture with a B size and the bottom one with a huge 'big brush'.

It's a messy job...

Even robots need a lunch break...

This is getting to be a bit of a theme. I'm finding they don't scan very well though.

tiny giant robot

I got a postcard sized block of watercolour paper for christmas. I did this quick doodle of a rather cliched sublect to see how the waterbrushpens worked on it. Watercolours are much more fun on the proper paper - it's pretty rough to draw on though.

I'm not lazy

This weeks sketches are from a pub (I was there for a meeting, honest) and from sitting in front of the tv. It really isn't a good indication of what I do with my life - well not the pub bit anyway.

This is the Hen and Chickens in Bedmister - it's changed a lot since I first arrived in Bristol and is now tastefully decorated and serves tasty pizzas - whereas before it was decorated with sticky carpets and served up regular opportunities for a fight...


These thumbnail sketches were done whilst watching Little Dorrit, Poirot and Never Mind the Buzzcocks...

Tobacco Factory

A quick sketch done in a Bristol cafe which was once a factory.