Unplanned still life in red and blue ink with brush and glass pen, red pencil and blue crayon.
Things on the table
Things on the fridge
Things on top of the fridge. This was one of the first attempts for an idea of random still life drawings. The unplanned, random arrangements of things as they appear on various surfaces around the home. For some reason there always seems to be a pair of pliers in there. Drawn in ink, gel pen, pencil and colour pencil.
Allen’s darker side
Someone at the Open Draw
A pencil, ink and charcoal drawing of someone drawing at the Open Draw in Amsterdam, which Gail used to run. But not anymore.
Edmundo on the job
A drawing of Edmundo drawing. This was in a restaurant at the Zaanse Schans (on Gail and Dudley’s combined birthdays). People are particularly good to draw when they’re also drawing. Their minds are on their drawing, so they are quite ‘real’ for a change.
Drawing made in ink, pencil, gel pen and graphite. The yellow background is with one of those highlighter pens, but it ran out towards the end, which is why it’s a different yellow on the right.
Kalver polder
Charcoal, pencil and ink sketch of the Kalverpolder, near Zaanse Schaans today.
Landscape near Wormerland
Quick ink drawing of the landscape near Wormerland.
Plant in ink
On the way to Haarlem
This is drawn from the roundabout at Zaandammerweg, in Assendelft, which is on the way to Haarlem, if you’re cycling from Wormerveer, which I was that day.
Made mostly in that fantastic Cobalt Blue fountain pen ink by Graf von Faber-Castell, with some lines and smudges added in purple pencil. The ink is supposed to be a dark rich cobalt blue, but when you dilute it right down, or dab it off when it’s still wet on the page, it seems to go much more purple, even pink. It’s the loveliest ink I’ve ever handled.
Lifting bridge at Wormerveer
This ink and wash sketch, with red pencil and black ink pen, was drawn really quickly in the near-dark outside Café Batavia in Wormerveer. At the time I felt it was a bit unfinished but it turned out to be one of my favourites. It has a sort of Japanese calligraphy look to it, which I like.