In the Games Room
Tucked back in a leafy enclave along the North shore of Grassmere Lake in the Lake District sits Allan Bank House. A bohemian National Trust where you're actually encouraged to sit on the furniture. There's a kitchen with an honesty bar, where you can make yourself tea or coffee before heading to one of the many public rooms to sit and make yourself at home for as long as you like. It's in the games room on the first floor that today's story of a faraway view is set.
It's a room I've had the pleasure of spending time in more than once, with a view I relish drawing. If you're lucky and the time is just right, the peace and quiet of the room can be all yours for a precious half hour or so. The window in it is tall and looks out over the fields, tiny houses and the top corner of the lake. Across the water, a generous slope of garden is watched over by a decadent grey stone Victorian Villa of the sort that is so desirable in this area.
During an unusually hot August afternoon, for thirty glorious, peaceful minutes, I drew this view while my family played chess. From memory, I had a couple of bright highlighters, colour pencils, maybe a brush pen and a favourite Mars black graphite pencil. Lemon and lime neon marks exude the heat of the day, while the black pencil enhances the crisp contrast of shadow you find with hot summer sun. Despite the crisscross of scratchy marks suggesting otherwise, I was methodical in my observation. Since the temperature wasn't conducive to moving quickly, I moved the materials across the page in short bursts of purpose, aiming to collect blocks of shapes rather than relying solely on lines to tell the story.
I've mentioned before that this is a technique I've gleaned from illustrators. Having the patience and confidence to capture a shape without relying on the outline to define it. The little white houses and some of the trees are my nod to this type of drawing. Incorporating this type of block drawing requires a thoughtful and restrained approach, which is not always necessary when relying on line, as you have to work backwards to make it work.
I also realise this is a tiny detail to focus on in an otherwise busy, line-filled sketch, especially when today's focus is on faraway drawing. Still, back in 2022, I was getting to grips with drawing in colour blocks like this and really enjoying the process as long as I had time and didn't need to rush. Flexing my eye muscles and doing my best to take in the bigger picture, fitting the vastness into the confines of an A5 sketchbook.
This is why the window in the Alan Bank games room helped. It formed a picture frame of information and narrowed the goalposts of choice to a few buildings, some trees, textured grass and water, as well as a couple of blobs with legs and shadows in the foreground representing sheep. This is a detail I would normally gloss over, preferring an unpopulated view. Well, that and the fact I'm not well-versed in drawing livestock. However, it adds a touch of life to the drawing that helps illustrate the farawayness of the view and gives a little perspective.
It's so easy in a world of devices and screens to keep our focus on the close at hand or middle distance at best. But like any muscle needing exercise to stay in shape, it's vital to work distance vision, too. Gaze into the faraway and experience the expanse of land and sky without getting bogged down in the details of every brick, leaf, or curl of wall on a sheep's back.
What information will tell your story? What colour will convey the mood? How can line direction or blocks of shapes be manipulated to express what you have seen? The bonus is that we're talking about a sketch in a sketchbook. If the drawing isn't quite telling the story the way you want, the beauty is you get to turn the page and play some more.
For a deeper dive into sketchbook drawing and a few more Allan Bank and Grasmere photos, I invite you to read a journal entry on my website.
Drawing in a sketchbook: Look to see so you understand the bigger picture and the details:
A Playful Mindset: One Thing
Here's a crazy secret for you. I have a terrible drawing habit, and it goes a little something like this. I open my sketchbook to a brand-new page, pluck a bunch of drawing materials for my pencil case, and say to myself, "This next drawing is going to be the best drawing ever! It's going to be so radically different from anything you've ever done before. It will literally change your life!"
How absurdly ridiculous is that? I've no idea why I do this. Talk about setting myself up for failure. However, if I flip this to an optimistic viewpoint, it's about living in blissful hope that this next drawing will be the one to turn the tide and make new things happen. In its small A5-sized way, it does. It's one more step forward in a long line of steps that move me forward.
Just imagine if your sketchbook stayed pristine and new on the bookshelf. No smudges to spoil it, no mistakes to mar its perfect factory-smooth pages. No thoughts left dog-eared on the page. A sublime shrine to possibility if only you could make the ideal drawing to go inside it. Well, here's the problem: how do you know what's ideal if you haven't made a mark? I know you know this, but ever so often, it's helpful to be reminded.
Get that book off the shelf. Open the first page and all the other pages and scribble all over them. Make a big, old, ugly mess and keep going until your pages are scratched, bent, and torn. Keep going till you're no longer certain what you're doing or while you're doing it. Keep going until a smile creeps onto your face, until your shoulders drop and the furrow between your brows, yes, I know it's there, has unwrinkled itself and relaxed. Only then, when you no longer care about outcome or motive, choose one material and draw.
Watch the marks that appear on the page, and notice the way the material feels in your hand. If you're drawing an object, how does your chosen material represent it? If you are drawing abstract shapes, does your chosen material work with or against the shapes?
All drawing boils down to is a desire to create something on a page. If that desire is strong, you will return again and again, and the results will be evident the more you draw. If you're a little more hesitant, doubtful of the outcome, or scared to make a mistake, go easy on yourself. Choose one thing. One material. One object or one view to see what you can do. Open the page, make mistakes and move on. I'm confident that how you feel about your marks by the end of the book will be entirely different from when you started it.
Sketchbook Playdate Episode 12: Stencils
Are you ready to break free from predictable lines and unleash a new level of creativity in your artwork?
In this upcoming workshop, we're diving into the fascinating world of stencilling techniques to create dynamic and layered compositions. If you've ever felt stuck relying on traditional painting methods, this workshop is designed to shake things up and help you discover the unexpected joy of controlled chaos on the page.
What You'll Discover
We often think that painting has to be intentional, but what happens when we introduce both predictable and unpredictable elements? This workshop encourages a playful mindset, helping you harness the contrast between structured shapes and spontaneous textures.
By exploring two distinct stencilling techniques, you'll learn how to layer textures and build depth in your work, creating compositions that feel rich and alive. You'll leave the workshop with a newfound confidence and rekindled love for manipulating materials and telling a story through rich, varied textures.
This is your chance to step away from the pressure of perfection and simply play. We'll focus on the process, allowing unexpected marks to lead you toward exciting new visual outcomes.
Are you ready to embrace the possibilities of unpredictable mark-making?
With just one more Sketchbook Playdates to be released before Season 2 begins in the autumn, this is a friendly heads-up about a slight price increase. To continue bringing you high-quality, focused sketchbook workshops, the monthly membership for Sketchbook Playdate will be adjusted from £10 to £12 starting in September.
This means you have a fantastic opportunity to lock in the current £10/month rate by joining today or remaining a member throughout the summer!
If you are already a paid BRIGHT Family member, you don't need to make any adjustments to your subscription. Please sit back, relax, and enjoy the play!
It means so much to me that you're here, reading these letters and sharing in my creative journey. There are so many helpful ways to support my work, whether it's through your likes and comments, becoming a paid member of BRIGHT, or helping to fuel these creative explorations. If you've enjoyed this peek into the artistic process, even the cost of a coffee (£3 on Ko-fi!) makes a real difference. Thank you for being here and for all your support!
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Draw to Explore
How I've used stencils in my work and why its a hugely important part of my storytelling process
Playing with stencils is one of my absolute favourite ways of working. Increasingly, stencils have become so prominent in my paintings that compositions are constructed in such a way as to allow the stencilling to be the crowning glory of the piece. Stencils are a way of manipulating paint that's just not possible with a paintbrush. Their finished texture can be anywhere from rough to smooth. They can be precisely predictable and unbelievably wild and free-spirited in their application. Stencils are such a versatile means of telling a story that they are well worth getting to grips with.
It's no secret that texture is a hugely important part of my storytelling process. Paint is freely layered onto paper and board, telling a different chapter or verse to the narrative that's unfolding.