Tyre patching

Always good to carry a little sketchbook and a pen - even waiting for the car tyre to be patched wasn't a chore as I sketched in the waiting room!

Random sketches - Inktober?

A few sketches done on the Luas or from Sktchy whenever I get a chance! I don't do Inktober, but I do draw with ink all the time!

Pilot Ina Ho ink is one of my favourite colours! I added grey marker when I got home.

Pilot Syo Ro ink and some blue added. I am quite random in my ink experiments.

And sometimes, all I have the energy for is to draw a pen!

Travel sketches

Recently, I was in Belgium for a few days. I didn't get a chance to sketch in my hometown, which is a shame, as it's really picturesque. But I did sketch a lot at airports. And even on the Aircoach from the airport - traffic in Dublin was so crazy it took me  as long from Dublin Airport to home as it did to fly from Brussels to Dublin! I had brought minimum supplies - one fountain pen (with my current favourite ink - Pilot iroshizuku in ina ho colour) and one multicolour pencil. And my Firmo Diário Gráfico!

Sandycove, James Joyce Tower, rockpools

Dublin Sketchers were in Sandycove a couple of weeks back, sketching around the James Joyce tower. It was a beautiful day and the sea was a gorgeous colour. There were families nearby and the dads and kids were playing in the rockpools. I don't know who had the most fun.

And it was one of these days when I just kept sketching!

And I was inspired by James Joyce's Ulysses of course! Between the breakfast scene at the Martello Tower and crab fishing in the rockpools, I'm really loving the Olives, Oysters and Oranges theme of this year's Bloomsday project for which our sketchbooks will be exhibited at the Olivier Cornet Gallery!!

'Where's the sugar? O jay, there's no milk.'

'She praised the goodness of the milk, pouring it out.'

'He could hear, of course, all kinds of words changing colour like those crabs about Ringsend in the morning burrowing quickly into all colours of different sorts of the same sand ...'

'God made food, the devil the cooks. Devilled crab.'

'...  and plant with eucalyptus trees. Excellent for shade, fuel and construction.'

One Week 100 People Day 2

Croquis Café was a life saver on a busy day. I discovered their dance challenge section and I was in heaven! All the squiggly sketches were done live, with the pose changing every 15 seconds. And for the more elaborate ones, I paused the video to give myself two or three minutes per sketch! And I even got to try and add a few facial features!!

Cows and trees

I probably need to practise drawing cows (and other animals) but I think that the little blobs of colour I painted are quite convincing - they were quite far away in the field, but I did try to observe the shapes to the best of my abilities. The first thing I painted here was the sky shape, which helped me place the barn. I then added loose vegetation while the paint was still wet, producing a soft effect. Beautiful spring light. Lifts the spirits.

And then I came back to the tree I had intended to draw in the first place.

Here is the Ulysses quote I've picked!

"Coming from the vegetarian. Only weggebobbles and fruit. Don't eat a beefsteak. If you do the eyes of that cow will pursue you through all eternity."

Cropped versions for Instagram purposes, although I have just discovered Swipeable, an app that enables me to show my long sketches as a series of shots that can be swiped!

Travel sketches

I didn't have much time to myself on my last trip to Belgium, but I did sketch while I was on the move, adding a little colour to the plain ink after I got back home.

 5 am, three children (I only drew one - the others were constantly moving) - time for a drink!

 This series was inspired by @LightMotionDetector. But I clearly need a lot more practise!!

 A smurf flying a toy plane - it can only be Brussels Airport!

The view from my hotel window - Namur Station at night.