Roadside Sketching

There's something quite unsettling about moving to a new place, even if it's to a county you are familiar with. There is so much to sort out and organize, the endless boxes and lack of cupboard space. From my point of view as an artist, I also need to settle into and become familiar with my wider surroundings.

So, where do you begin? For me it was going back to a place I had sketched and painted many years ago, somewhere familiar and associated with a happy moment in time. It also helped that I could perch, all be it uncomfortably, partially hidden from passers by. I love sketching outdoors, but am still not entirely comfortable about being seen. This poses a bit of a problem, when you are searching for hidden wildlife that is in plain sight, such as at the side of the road.

I had used pen and ink on the last occasion, but I elected to use a ballpoint pen and oil pastels as well as water-soluble coloured pencils this time. I quite enjoy using oil pastels for my sketching, as they force me not to obsess over detail. Having said that, I am rather prone to dropping them & usually end up having to search amidst the undergrowth for that elusive last pastel.

I love seed heads, particularly those of umbelliferous plants. Here the main attraction for me was the giant hogweed. I know that this is an unwelcome invasive invader with sap, which can cause severe burns, but I just love its tall, bristly sturdy stems and dinner plate sized white flowers, gazing skywards in flat-topped clusters.These sketches were made in early September, when just the flat seeds remain dancing in the breeze.

Hidden in the skeletal remains was a beautiful brown and yellow snail, there really is wildlife everywhere, even at the side of the road.