A dark, dank day has me reaching for soft-toned, soft-textured paper. Not, it’s called – a tactile surface somewhere between smooth and rough. It was my dad’s choice for watercolours (I always wondered at the ‘not’) and today, it’s mine because I have small things to draw, in a posy foraged … Read More
Snails. They have a reputation for slowness. But after overnight rain they’re making the most of a garden going over, edibles ready for last harvests and composting. I spot a yellowing squash leaf teeming with them. It’s a bit like a one-minute pose in a life drawing class – swift marks, … Read More
Blustery showers blow leaves and windfalls into the garden so I head out in search of Autumn colour. I’m diverted by the hydrangea. Topped with dry flowers that owe more to a parched Summer than seasonal turn, it’s grateful for the rain. Pairs of buds are tucked into each pair … Read More
Rabbits’ ears. That’s what we called these soft, furry leaves when I was a kid. I was going to write ‘so visiting the plant sale at Copped Hall in Epping, I couldn’t resist buying some’ – but I can never resist a plant sale. I sketch them before planting them in … Read More
I had planned to draw the sage. But the pull of the borage was too much. After a Summer too hot for it, it’s going again and the flowers are what I call ‘hot blue’ – a vivid, almost-purple that needs layers and blends of colour. Its buds and leaves are … Read More
Home in London after a week away, I head into the garden expecting something – well – Autumnal. Mellow fruitfulness, that sort of thing. As I get my eye in to draw, what it gives me is Autumnal but more in the sartorial sense, when nobody knows quite what to wear. It’s … Read More
It’s been a sombre week. As I step into the garden, I’m not quite sure what I’m looking for. Permanence, maybe? Timelessness? No – nature shows me something else. Just as the giant sunflower heads dry, two smaller sunflowers are bursting into bud, tight little knots of fresh green on hairy … Read More
September. After the dry, hot Summer, some of my plants are only just catching up and some are surprises, presents from the birds. I had given up on the chilli. Its sibling had gone to local friends who are good at coaxing them into abundance indoors. Mine had been nibbled … Read More
Snail poo. It’s not what I expect to be drawing on a Saturday morning. Wandering out into the garden to see what the week’s welcome rain has brought, I spot a snail – well, half a snail, peeking out from a squash leaf, and I’m not entirely sure which half I’m … Read More
Early, pottering through tasks, lists in my head, the garden calls me outside with my coffee. The second sunflower is out, glowing in the morning sun. Taller than the first, it’s thrown its petals back, like some young buck with a pot of hair gel. The bees are already at … Read More