A tentative return!

Annalisa Renee set up this Zoom sketch meetingand I invited all the ususal suspects but the session was booked a bit later than before so some of our more far-flung friends couldn't make it because of the time difference. However, we aquired a new sketcher, more of whom later. Anyway, there was no theme this time so we could all draw whatever we fancied.Annalisa made these lovely watercolours of workmen she had seen near where she lives in Dorset, UK.They have a fabulous balance of detail and looseness and also a great sense of movement. Excellent!

Next up is another regular in these sketch sessions- my good friend Julia Xandru from Rumania, who now lives in Palma like me.  Jools was very ambitious and produced a self-portrait in oils most of which she managed to do in the alloted hour. I love the colours and it's instantly recognisable as her. Nice one, Jools!

Then we have our new girl, Lesley Anne Mackenzie, who contacted me only days before after we'd met briefly, years ago, in Brighton. So the timing was right! She produced this gorgeous monochrome drawing in charcoal (I think!) and white on toned paper. I think you said this was your granddaughter, Lesley, but I didn't get her name. It's beautiful!

Two more regular contributors in the past are Somaya and Khawla Sdour  who are twins from Morocco who I met in the oil painting school here two years ago. They don't have strong enough internet to join in the session live but they try do do a drawing at the same time and send it to me later. Here's Somaya's favourite cartoon character, Uncle Gandpa! He's a new one on me but a fabulous drawing which is spot on for the character and has a great sense of movement! Thanks Somaya!

Then last but finally is my own effort which is part of a series of portraits I'm doing for a new exhibition about writers and their quotes. This is Irish writer James Joyce whose book Ullyses was banned for many years. The quote I chose from him is-

"Love loves to love love!" Make of that what you will!

So thanks again to the talented gang who attended this very enjoyable sketch session and we hope to do it again real soon!
Take care of yourselves!
Love, love and love-

Paul 

xxx

The return of the Sketch Club! Magic!

/>

Session 36- CHARACTERS!

The last one of the Wednesday sessions was on the subject of CHARACTERS! There were only three live sketchers for the hour on Zoom which is one of the reasons that I'm moving the session to Sundays from the 20th September. Anyway, our fun boy (and girls) three had a jolly time drawing characters and the sketchers who couldn't make the live session sent me some fabulous drawings later! So without further YABBA DABBA DOO let's have a look!

Our first live sketcher is Anna Lindenburger from her massive mansion in Uzbekistan and Anna gave us a rather personal character- her old dog from her childhood. Anna says, "His name is Ebik. He is a riesenschnauzer. He was my superhero because he was always protecting me and wanted to drive my sleigh in winter." I presume this was in Siberia where Anna is from. He makes a great character. I love the one of him leaping! Also, Anna did a sketch of a Batman character- Talia al Ghul the daughter of one of Batman's enemies- R'as al Ghul. Lovely!

Our second live sketcher is Annalisa Renee who has chosen herself as a character in this delicate self-portrait along with a rather dodgy looking geezer who seems to have designs on you, Annalisa, judging by that lascivious glance he is sending your way! Unless you fancy the swarthy, whiskery type I suggest you beat a hasty retreat! TAXI!

Next up is the brilliant Julia Xandru who couldn't join us live as she was out with friends (GRRRR- traitor!) but she sent me these lovely sketches later. That's Shrek on the left but she didn't tell me who that is on the right. One of them looks like Kevin Spacey. Am I right, Jools?

From Morocco one of our regular talented twins- Khawla Sdour sent me this beautifully drawn but rather sinister image of Bugs Bunny!
Memories of Ramadan perhaps!

Anne Alderson, who hasn't posted with us for ages, has sent me this delicate drawing which is also very sinister.
It reminds me of that scene in Roman Holiday where Gregory Peck puts his hand into The Mouth of Truth.
Good to have you back, Anne.

I wanted to draw some cartoon characters of my own design so I asked for suggestions and these are what transpired during the hour. I coloured them all up this morning in Photoshop. My favourite is the love-sick rhino!

Then we have a whole bunch of character designs from Vivian Salzman also in Uzbekistan. She's got a natural talent for character design at the tender age of 16. These are great! Well done, Viv!

THE FUN BOY AND GIRLS THREE!
THE NEXT SUBJECT ON SUNDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER WILL BE-
THE 60s!
Have a fab and groovy time until we meet again, gang!
Peace and Love!
Cemmo
xxx

Session 35- CITY LIFE!

Yesterday's quick draw sketch session was on the subject of City Life! Some of our regular scribblers were busy doing other more important (surely not!) things so the live session was reduced to three- me, Alan and Annalisa with a blank screen! But despite this we came up with a fabulous range of images mainly thanks to Alan Bartlett who was on prolific good form and has sent me 7 sketches! So let's have a look at those first-

The first of Alan Bartlett's 7 pictures on city life is Jack the Ripper! I presume this was city life in London in 1888!

Then break dancing in New York!

Sex for sale in the city!

Sex is always for sale in the city!

Roller skating in Paris!

Tango dancing in Buenos Aries!

and finally my favourite- Snow in Venice! Well done, sir!

Next stop on our flying visit to cities of the world is Rome's famous Trevi fountain as drawn at dawn by Annalisa Renee!
Your colours are so gorgeous, Annalisa, that I didn't even think of Anita Edberg once! Well maybe just once!

Next we have our two regular contributors from Morocca- Khawla and Somaya Sdour.

Khawla has drawn a  lovely serene scene from her days in Palma. The cat is looking very relaxed!

The from Somaya a beautifully drawn street scene somewhere in Mallorca. It also looks very tranquil until you spot the black car with frosted windows! It it a kidnapper waiting for the girl? Is it a sinister government agent spying on someone? Or is it just a parked car? Only Somaya knows!

And lastly but finally from me is a bunch of punks from London in the 70s or they could be retro-plunks from today making money from posing with American tourists if there any anymore!
So that's it for this week! Next Wednesday the subject is- CHARACTERS! Then I might change the day to Sunday.

Stay safe! Stay sunny! Stay sexy!
love
Paul
xxx

We have a late entry from sketching regular Julia Xandru who was actually boxing while we were live! She's a girl of many talents including art!

Session 34- Down on the Farm!

Yesterday's sketching session was Down on the Farm which was suggested by Martin Ansell's dad Roy who joined us last week. There were only 4 of us sketching live with some of the other regulars sending in their drawings later. As is usual with this talented bunch we had a wide variety of interpretations of the subject from mad goats to a variety of cows and cocks (stop sniggering at the back!) so let's get our wellies on and dive in!

First up from Uzbekistan working after the live session is Anna Lindenberger with a lovely digital drawing of a happy cow with a basket of flowers. Mi gusta mooooooocho!

Then we have another later submission from Annalisa Renee with 4 fabulous cocks and a little story about one of them.

And now another happy cow from one of our live sketchers- Anna K Lange! What a vibrant image! I'd never  have thought of the ring of white dots around Daisy! (all cows are either called Daisy or Ermintrude!)

And another of the fantastic four live sketchers is Alan Bartlett with this gorgeous image of a farm in Africa!

The third of our live daubers was Julia Xandru who was feeling very sleepy and after the session she sent me this dramatic print which is a Linography (?) of an archaic Romanian village/farm house. 

The twins over in Morocco (who always join in at the same time as the sketching hour but can't get on line over there which is a shame) sent me there lovely drawings of another cock by Khawla Sdour and a very peaceful looking farm by her sister Somaya.

And finally my contribution. I've always liked goats so I thought I'd have a bash at a few- Mad goat, stern goat and goats in love!

The Fantastic Four! And our next subject is- CITY LIFE!
Keep on sketching!
Paul
xxx

Session-33- ARCHITECTURE!

Yesterday's one-hour sketch session was on the subject of ARCHITECTURE which encouraged some wild interpretations (Martin!) We were joined this time by first-timer Roy who is Martin's dad and still going strong at 95. He showed us a painting of the Queen that he'd done a few years ago in acrylic which was excellent and a lot better than the recent official portrait in my humble opinion!

There were seven of us sketching live and a jolly fun time it was! Here are our efforts-

First up with a gorgeously colourful image including gold leaf is Alan Bartlett. He says it's a semi-abstract interpretation of the theme and why not?

Anna Lindenberger wasn't with us live this time but she sent me this lovely drawing of Guri Amir which is the mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Timur (also known as Tamerlane) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Those two colours are great together! Nice one Blondidredds!

Another of our live scribblers was Annalisa Renee who sent me two images. The one on the left was intended to be a homage to the artist Leger and the image on the right is a sculpture she made a while ago inspired by the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. Two wildly different and interesting interpretations but that what's great about doing these sessions- the variety and the wide range of skills!

Talking about wild interpretations we have the Martin Ansell and his dad, Roy!
Martin's is the one on the left. His explanation was that the inside of the mouth reminded him of a church or cathedral interior. Tenuous, I reckon but I like the drawing. Roy's pencil sketch of a lovely old rustic church is definitely more on the nose. He didn't know what the subject was until we started the session so I reckon this is drawn from memory. Fabulous!

Our next live scribbler is the ever surprising Anna K Lange who produced this wonderful twisted version of the Chrysler building with strange giant plants around it! I love this! I'd never have thought of making the sky black but it works.

My idea was to draw the strangely shaped twin buildings in Prague that are know as Fred and Ginger after the dancing film stars Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers with the dancers in front of it. It was intended as a line and wash drawing but the pen I used wasn't waterproof so I had to tweak it a bit in Photoshop.

Working remotely from Morocco is another of our regulars Khawla Sdour with this beautiful drawing of a pergola. 

Two gorgeous paintings from Julia Xandru. The one on the left is of the beautiful old 12th century castle Belver that dominates the skyline here in Palma. And the one one the right is influenced by Matisse and shows a girl in Rumanian folk costume with a Rumanian village depicted on the skirt. Beautiful stuff but I very much doubt that they were done in an hour! Oh well, rules were made to be stretched and broken.

The magnificent 7 live Zoomers!