Salford, 24th September 2018
Sat on the corner,
a man sits with his pencils, paper and paints
lovingly capturing local life
for years he’s being perfecting his craft
only using the same palette of colours to bring
reality of the places he
draws in pencil or charcoal to life
Salford , 30th August 2017
Sat by the great stretch of Ontario,
Aware of the place i was in
Lowry’s backyard, I
Found myself a bench facing
Out onto this great stretch of
Royal waterway, in sight of Rileys Flat and began to
Draw a scene in simple pencil – one the great man would appreciate
Loop
like you go around in circles with the pen
Over time, you begin to repeat, going
over and over , changing position each time by degree till a
Pattern emerges on the paper
(alt title : tip toeing through the drawings)
One of my first pastel drawings
I’d been sat in the front garden, of the terraced house i live in and decided to bring some colour to my drawing pad
The trees in the garden were coming into bloom , whilst the fuschias and minature roses were coming into their own. They danced around like ballerinas in the slight breeze
I tried to get some detail in, my talent more observant of the leaves than the petals.
But in what seemed to be a short while, i’d frittered away two whole hours on the garden bench. Pausing on the hour to enjoy a Corned beef Sandwich and a cool lemonade.
Playing around with the Greens , Pinks and Reds. With Blue making a cameo appearance.
#coloryourworld #cyw #grey
Pencil drawings are a marvellous thing
enjoyed by many
now – it might be said that there’s a lack of vibrancy in a
choice of a pencil drawing – but
in fact –
Landscapes come alive as
Delicately drawn forms are transferred
Rocks and boulders , lakes and streams
All take their place, taking form
Water flows in the form of line and hatching
Indeed, the pencil clings hard in the rain – this
Never happens with an ink sketch
Great things come with a little patience.
Salford, 7th March 2017
The drawing originated from the last family holiday we had in Oludeniz, in Turkey.
I took my notepad and pencils with me to do some scribbling when i got bored of taking camera shots with my Samsung web camera.
Just by the complex we were staying in were the remains of some roman buildings. The temple part remained intact in the centre of the city, but i was given the opportunity to take a drawing of the ruins nearby…a path between the complex and the beach ran right past the ruin.
so, i found the perfect place to sit…someplace i could see the plants, the sea and the stonework, and started drawing.
and whilst drawing, I drew quite a crowd…even if it was the lizards who lived around the Roman Ruins.
Upon landing back home at Manchester Airport….I picked up my watercolor pad and drew a copy of the scribbled drawing from my notepad
I used vermillion and burnt umber for the far away stones, and yellow ochre for the bricks nearest to me. To create the bushes on the path, i used sep green, and the centre of the painting was filled in with shades of cerelean blue.
Roman Remains at Oludeniz , Turkey in Watercolour by B.F.Kirkham
Salford, Sunday 29th January 2017
A Watercolour painting of the Roman ruins at Oludeniz, Turkey
Mum and Dad were out of the house this weekend, visiting my little sister and her family,
A marathon session of CSI, NCIS and FA Cup football were planned – and went very well,
(Manchester Utd winning 4-0 on the big tv)
but in between times, i’ve been painting scenes from old holiday snaps and diaries
Rough pencil marks guided me around the page as i blocked out the scene in paint.
Colours used on this one –
Cerelean Blue for the sea,
Burnt Umber for the sand
Sap Green for the plants on the path
Vermillion, Burnt Umber, Crimson and Yellow Ochre for the bricks
Cat (alt title : Marmalade) By Brian F Kirkham
Pencil sketch of cat water coloured by the Artist
Sap Green was used for the Cats eyes
Vermillion , Burnt umber and Crimson for the Cats Fur
Eyes and mouth detail were painted in camp black
Background painted in Cerulean Blue
Salford, 9th August 2016
I see them as a fine artist sees a piece of canvas.
Decorated, Labelled and in different colours
I take one around with me wherever I go – depending on weather conditions i’ll use my trusty Parker pen to scribble down my thoughts or a standard run of the mill pencil
If its something that needs my full attention – then fireworks appear – in the form of Luminous colours from a highlighter pen and ticks and asterisks appear if its something I want to share on this blog – or if its something I want to turn more permanent – the scribble gets torn out of the notebook and stored in my Art Materials box. It gets joined with a plan scribble as to what colours i’m going to use, whether or not I use pastel, ink, or paint…and how i’ll approach putting what I captured on camera to my art collection.
Something captures my eye – i’ll write my initial thoughts … plan out what i’m drawing and/or take notes at what’s happening…see it as seeds falling on composted soil
Eventually – something grows
The power of the pencil and paper is immense – ideas for poetry can come out of drawings – articles for blogs on this very website – come from a doodle made on a park bench.
Salford , 18th July 2016
“Just a humble little scribble from my notebooks”
I like writing and drawing, and though i’ll never be the next big thing when it comes to these artforms – I still find them helpful in my never ending mission to concentrate the mind.
Pen Drawing, Roman Ruins, Oledeniz, Turkey
Whenever i’m off somewhere nowadays – I take my kit of supplies with me – notebook (A5) , pencils and paper, Bridge Camera, SD Cards, travel card , cash and not forgetting – supplies for lunch.
I get to my intended destination – I’ll have my lunch, find a suitable vantage point and begin recording what I see. Sometimes – it’ll be a poem or verse, and others – it’ll be a photo or a drawing. The inspiration comes from what I see. The process, concentrates the mind. As the basic forms take shape on the page – either in word, or in drawing – ideas come alive on the page
Impressionist painting of the Roman Wall, Castlefield, Manchester (c) Brian F Kirkham 2015
When I get home – I’ll play around with the scribbles and drawings. Thanks to my laptop I now have two marvellous sets of tools to turn my images into artworks – I principally use Adobe photoshop elements, but also use Corel’s Painter Essentials suite for its wide range of brushes.
Of course, if I want to use the time to concentrate – the computer gets switched off – the box of paints comes out and i’ll put something together from my notebook drawings onto my painting pad in Coloured pencil, pastels, watercolours or even oils
Painting of IWM North, Brian F Kirkham, Salford 2015
In response to the prompt : Opposites
A picture of a pastel drawing
Subject matter red and green apples : the two halves interlocking on opposite halves of the serving platter…both different, but both apples.
feel free to give us your thoughts.
