I think some of my best work is done in my sketchbooks. I’m more relaxed, freer and more experimental when I use my sketchbook. But when my sketchbook is finished it gets put on the shelf and isn’t seen again except for an occasional reference. In one respect, that’s good, because a sketchbook is a personal book of ideas, traditionally a preparation for “the major work,” but there are some semi-finished observations and views which I’m quite pleased with and I’m showing some of them here.
I’ve also included some sketchier entries. I use my sketchbook for recording events, or jotting down ideas, for experimenting with styles I wouldn’t normally use, or working through technical problems, for colour testing, for recording observations of everyday life, gallery visits or objects/views in readiness for a “major work.” Just sitting in a crowded place, making quick sketches of people going about their business is a great way to keep the hand-eye co-ordination sharp. An intensely personal document, but not necessarily private, so here are a few entries.
same street twice!
Well, perhaps not so much a street as a row of buildings, in Keswick. I love this particular assembly of buildings. Their design, the distinctive grey/green stone and the way they sit next to each other. Perhaps I should do a finished painting of them, but, thus far, I haven't. On both occasions, they were bathed in sunshine as I sketched them from the park. The first one, in 2005, shows a green net screen indicating construction work taking place on one of them.
 
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sketches in the lake district
A relaxed break in the Lake District provides a perfect opportunity to sit and take in wonderful views and, of course, to sketch at leisure. The results don't have to be great, but to capture a little piece of a view at a particular moment is so much more satisfying than taking a photo. i feel as though I've brought a bit of the place back with me.
Of course,the sketching time is not infinite. The weather can cut short a session, as can my wife's patience. She's good for about three quarters of an hour then gets restless to move on. Suits me. I feel the same way, so my sketches concentrate on the focus of attention and the peripheral drawing is left unfinished. I rarely convert a sketch into a finished painting so there's no need to dot the i's and cross the t's.
 
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White Open Spaces
Not a reference to the countryside so much as a description of how to sketch with limited time. I sketch the view I see before me but only paint the essentials when time is short. It captures the essence of a scene and its colour, without labouring over a full colour picture.
The rest of the sketches on this page received the same treatment for the same reasons.
 
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