Blackrock on a sunny day

About three weeks behind in my blog, probably 5 weeks or more if you're reading this on Instagram. I'm painting and sketching more than I can keep up with.  

We were in Blackrock, a suburb of Dublin, with lovely views over Dublin Bay. The sun was shining. It was hot on the main street, but considerably cooler and windier by the sea. I had to feel both. Which made for a busy afternoon. 

And thankfully it wasn't all boring blue skies. There were plenty of clouds zooming by so I could indulge in my current cloud obsession. Took a good bit of artistic license with the view. But so glad that the twin chimneys at Poolbeg are still there, and there are positive signs that they are not going to be pulled down yet. The ESB is actually going to repaint them very soon. The red is quite faded in reality. 

Onto the Main Street to warm up. The red brick of these houses was glowing, in my mind anyway, as I was facing into the sun. I'm glad I had drawn a box before sketching them, so I still had room for a second sketch on the same page. Lots of lovely buildings around Blackrock. A pity that the shop signs are not all as interesting as the Janet Carroll Estate Agents.

Then I felt the need to go back to the seafront to cool down. The wind was stronger. I spilled most of my water, then whatever water was left went flying around the page. Here is the resulting sketch!