The circus is in town

Big sunny days, large green park, blue sky and the circus rolls into town to complete a set of full on primary colours. Hooray for blue, red, yellow and green.

Lido

Since I’ve been freelance I sometimes start the day with a quick swim in Gourock’s outdoor pool then back to work in front of the computer, a great start to the day.

Listen here 2009

A rare photo of me drawin by John Wood

Violins, trombone and audience

The trombone player was dressed up as a pirate for a concert called "From Hamelin to Hogwarts" which featured tunes from Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter. This was my favourite show as everyone got totally involved shouting or singing at all the right bits.

More orchestra

the big guns at the back. I didn’t know that the brass section have guards (almost like shields) to protect their ears from the sheer volume

More Tunnocks

After the earlier Tunnocks sketch I was asked to do a watercolour painting for Avril’s son who did a work placement at the Tunnock’s factory in Uddingston. I must go sometime to the factory to do a sketch.

Enrique Flores Books

did a great swap with Enrique with his new books. It amazes me how he paints direct with watercolor without the support of pencil or pen. Thanks Enrique!

Overhead view of the string section

listenhere day 2

Scottish pianist Steven Osborne playing Stravinsky’s Concerto for piano and wind instruments

BBC SSO Listen here!

I’ve been asked to sketch 4 days of concerts by the BBC SSO at the City Halls in Glasgow. Over the next few days I’m going to try and get different points of views so I can cover as much of the orchestra and audience as possible. This time I was just by the string section. Classical music makes everything so dramatic and was amazing and weird drawing so close.

If you’re in Glasgow you should visit, all the concerts are free.

Under the shade

of a big tree in the long grass

Kelvingrove park

Mussels

with shallots, white wine, garlic and parsley

April 11th / June 6th Sketches