The Dark Water

Wax and grow, spreading, slow,

Trickle and wend, around the bend.

Gurgle and flow, up we go,

To laughter's death and smile's end.

Seep, creep, up the wall,

Grip the pipe, grasp the gutters,

Up to the highest windows tall,

To parch the life behind the shutters.

Bubble and creep, quick and steep,

Ooze and pour, onto the floor,

Through the window, in we seep,

To the light blue room, with the painted door.

Inktober 9,10,11

Inktober Drawing Challenge 7&8

Vancouver Science World

Thanks Kendra and Cody for an awesome day at Science World! The staff had never seen someone scrutinise the human arm for so long. At one point we were standing around this poor woman, everyone with their sleeves rolled up, trying to match muscles with a real disembodied human arm. I have so little pigment in my skin, I may as well have been an exhibit.

All the Young Nudes - Edinburgh, 30th June

Sketchbook Pages!

Sanba

This is a portrait drawn from life of Sanba, our transport from our time on Jeju. I started with a rough sketch, then finished with a mechanical pencil and coloured in photoshop. We explored the whole island on her in every kind of weather imaginable. We miss you old girl!

Sketching at Britannia Shipyards

Peace Festival at the Jeju Horse Park

 i)

 iii)

iii)

i) Faces from the coffee shop in the Horse Museum. A welcome relief from the heat and lack of indoor toilets. ii) On the first day a peace shrine was erected. The yellow ribbons may represent the Sewol disaster. iii) The cairn. Horse related sculptures are scattered all around the park, although most seem to congregate around landmarks. People mostly slept on the benches.

Asakusa and Central Tokyo

- Aki Oka at dusk -

- Tokyo seabus -

- Coffee sack umbrella -

On Saturday we went on a grand tour of central Tokyo. We saw Kaminarimon (Lightning Gate) which is at the head of a busy market full of fun touristy things and leads to a beautiful shrine. I had a shot at wafting smoke over myself, but can't say for sure that it healed anything. Got smoke in my eyes waiting for Adrienne to take a picture. It was ridiculously hot, and as atmospheric as you could hope for.
We were taken on the seabus. I have no idea how we would have fared without Kuni and Akemi to guide us, but it would not have been nearly as rich and full a trip. Some of the sketches below are from the boat.
We ended up in an indoor craft street called Aki-Oka. Superb handmade stuff of all descriptions, and we ended up in a coffee roasting shop. The barrel is full of unroasted coffee beans, and is sporting an umbrella made from a sack. The photo is of the street outside. Many of the shops were beneath the skytrain.

Seogwipo

A detail from Lee Joongseop street in Seogwipo, named for a local artist. It is absolutely beautiful, and full of little craft stores and attractive buildings. I picked the least picturesque thing on the road to draw, but I love the clutter on the outside of ordinary buildings.