From the moor above Pendeen and the lighthouse

Moorland lane above Pendeen, Vivien Blackburn

Coming down the single track, twisty lanes from the moor down to the coast you get these views. Often the horizon is indistinct as it was in the close up of the lighthouse and there is a wall of blue ahead.

The earth banked stone walls are covered with bushes - mainly gorse up in the harsher conditions of the moor - and hundreds of wild flowers.

You see stone built moorland farms, built-into-the-landscape, huddled against the winter gales, old mine engines and small stone walled fields. You are totally enveloped within the banks of flowers and then suddenly turn a corner like this or see through a gateway - one painting opportunity after another!

see why I love it so much?

Hidden rivers

River - Austin Street West - in progress

pastel 10 x 13

I've started a small series of pieces to explore the hidden rivers of the city.

Each day I pass by small rivers and larger rivers, all on their way to the ocean and I, as well as most people, take them for granted.  They become swallowed up with the concrete and buildings and traffic that surround them.

Some are highly visible, some flow underground for most of their life, some are no more than trickles over pebbles and some are like wild rapids.

 River - Austin Street West

pastel 10 x 13

In the area where I work, its very modern and urban, yet there is a touch of wildness in the little river that flows through the land, under the road, and on its way to sea.  This is a small green space in a sea of concrete and glass.  Until I decided to look more closely at the river system in the city and track its path to the sea, I didn't really pay much attention to it.

So now, here is a glimpse into the streams and rivers that flow through the City of St. John's.  These are in soft pastel about 10 x 13" on Canson paper.

I am also tracking the my viewpoints of the river on Google Street View so you can see my vantage point most of the time.

View Larger Map

Maritime Inversion, Big Sur

Hearing about all the very high temperatures people are experiencing keeps reminding me of the  summer of 2006.  In July, I travelled to a convention by car from San Diego to Albuquerque via Tombstone and back again!  This involved crossing two deserts in a heatwave(!) and my sketches started to record the temperature as well as the place and date (You can see the sketches in USA Sketchbook - Southwestern States)

On my return to San Diego, I flew north to San Francisco with a plan of driving down Big Sur in glorious sunshine.

What I didn't realise is that when it's very hot inland California tends to get a maritime inversion along the coastline.  This is what happens when cold marine air underlies warmer air and gets trapped.  So my memories of Northern California mainly involved grey skies and not very warm weather!  (Not very warm being relative when when you've been living with 100+ degrees Fahrenheit for quite some time!)

 Maritime Inversion, Bixby Bridge, Big Sur

8" x 12", coloured pencils on Arches HP

copyright Katherine Tyrrell

You can read the blog post behind this drawing here - Friday 28th July - "Driving down big Sur - at last" which is aboout the drive along the Pacific Coast Highway down Big Sur.  You can also see the original sketch which was done while stood at the top of some very high cliffs staring down at the very turquoise sea below.

The inversion produces fog and I think there was nearly as much moisture in the air as there was in the water in the Pacific Ocean way down below.  Trying to draw fog is a bit of a challenge!

Pendeen Lighthouse

Pendeen Lighthouse, mixed media

It's a while since I've been able to do much painting for a variety of reasons :>(

But .... here is one of Pendeen Lighhouse. It was one of those days when the sea and sky almost blur and the horizon isn't clear - all is soft pearly blues, turning viridian in the shallows. (the black at the bottom is simply the marker ribbon in the Canson watercolour book)

The cliffs a mass of wildflowers, the lighthouse buildings tumbling down the cliffside with the foghorns silhouetted against the sea.

Afternoon on the Water

The best things seem to happen without being planned.  I had worked all morning and was walking the dog, down through the woods, into the little village of Helford then up past the Sailing Club when I was ambushed and persuaded to go out on our little boat.

What a beautiful day, sun sparkling on the water, a light breeze.  I found some old watercolour crayons, some paper, and a scrappy old brush, the dogs bowl for water and did some sketching.  It soon gave way to a bit of dozing in the sun, sipping white wine from an old tin mug and generally relaxing.

We saw a flock of gannets falling out of the sky over and over again, diving on mackerel.  We saw dolphins leaping through the water, so fast, in joyful packs.

Big Dave does all the work, reefing jibs and hauling mainsails, I am still telling myself that I will learn to sail one day, too busy drawing right now, oh yes and snoozing, and being generally lazy.  We sailed right across the bay to Falmouth, where we went ashore, like salty sea dogs and had a supper of the finest fish and chips from Rick Stine's fish restaurant and then a beer overlooking the harbour.

   We came home just as the sun was dipping behind the trees on the Helford river, bowing out on the longest day of the year.

The Thames at Embankment

Charing Cross Bridge & Parliament from Cleopatra's Needle, on the Embankment

11.5" x 17", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Large Moleskine Sketchbook

copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I have a fascination with trying to find the spot where Monet painted the Thames and the Houses of Parliament from the west (as opposed to from the opposite bank in the room he had at St Thomas Hospital).  This is too far west because ths sketch of Embankment Pier was done from the base of Cleopatra's Needle.

However it does provide an excellent place to sketch the Thames without having people peering over your shoulder!  You just need to avoid being on the lower terrace when the tide is coming in!

You can read more about this sketch and location on my sketchbook blog Embankment Pier and Thames at Charing Cross

and some more fish - though stylised

Digital play with the lino below

lino cut

digital experiment

I've been working with a couple of students doing linoprints and decided to have a play myself - it's not something I do very often as I prefer collagraphs as they are more painterly.

Before it gets messy I thought I'd scan the lino into the computer and then of course couldn't resist playing with the image in Photoshop. I think I can do more with this.

Over the weekend I hope to make time to have a go at printing it in oil paints. I'm not so interested in straight roll up prints but may do some later. I like the potential of colour changes with using oils and the brush marks and textures that happen.

It might work to have a shoal of them, or a line of 3 or 5 - lots of room for experimenting.

Sam's book is progressing well but recent illustrations haven't been water so I haven't shown them here. I thought it was high time that I appeared with some water related work :>)