I took part in the National Gallery talk and draw on line event this afternoon. We had a fascinating talk about the Battle of San Romano, a painting by Paolo Ucello. We were then shown close ups of sections and given around four minutes to produce a quick sketch. Finally we had around 8 minutes to sketch the whole piece, quite a challenge but great fun and very educational.

We went to Middle Beach, Studland for today’s plein air with PEDAS. It’s not as crowded as other parts of Studland because access to the beach is down a steep slope but it has a nice cafe and toilets and wonderful views of Studland Bay and Old Harry Rocks.

Just got around to day 6 of the Sktchy Bodies in Motion course. Today’s tutor is Elena Mahoney Sanchez. We started with a couple of warm up sketches in pencil but I can never resist adding a splash of colour then the main pose in the orange dress. Elena used gouache but I am happier with pen and watercolour.

Another sketch from the art market yesterday. I was trying to sketch people walking past using a brush rather than a pencil or pen. The highlights were preserved using a white conte crayon as I didn’t have any masking fluid.

I exhibited at the Bournemouth art fare today, not very successfully. Bournemouth was crowded but people we’re only interested in football or the beach, not much interest in art. I spent the day people watching while sketching and painting in the sun.

I am sure I am not the only person looking forward to the return of Park Run on 26 June ( possibly!) I won’t be running but trying to sketch the runners as they flash past. This is done from a composite of sketches and photos but I feel it lacks the spontaneity of doing it from life even though I tried to sketch quickly in pen. Fingers crossed for the real event.

I couldn’t resist doing a sketch while we had coffee at Highcliffe Castle yesterday.

Today’s en plein air outing with PEDAS was a visit to Highcliffe Castle. The weather wasn’t great for June and the light very flat so I may have brightened the colours a little!

Day 4 of the Sktchy Bodies in motion with Patrick Hostenbach. The pose wasn’t very dynamic but the idea was to draw very quickly using brush and ink. After several attempts with a brush which were not brilliant I resorted to a Sailor fountain pen to get the proportions and the brush for the rest.

Day 3 of the Sktchy course Bodies in motion. Today’s tutor was Juan Perednik who did a super graphite drawing of this dancer. As usual I did my own thing with pen and wash. Today’s pen was a cheap Bic biro which seemed to work well.