Sometimes I don’t want to draw a full illustration. Something happens in front of me which draws my eye. Maybe I’ve already done a load of drawings from the same place and don’t want to draw the architecture again that day, who knows. it’s different every time I sit to draw.
Bench Views Revisited No. 38 September 2019
This day it was hot and there were children playing in the water fountains in Cathedral Square in Peterborough. Alongside the children were some pigeons also cooling down. Lying on the floor they were alternating their wings under the splashes of water from the fountains. I couldn’t help but try to capture the moment. Because I’ve not really included the pavement stones you might imagine the birds are flying in a weird way to cool down with the water.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
There’s a few things that were around at the beginning of me drawing the Bench Views Revisited which weren’t there after lockdown when I revisited town to finish the series of drawing from the benches. The Market Car Park was one of them. It has now been pulled down and the Market has been closed and partially moved.
Bench Views Revisited No.11 August 2019
This was drawn from one of the benches inside the Market which I can’t now access as the whole area’s closed. Next time I draw the Bench Views it will be all change around here and I don’t know what benches will be available to sit on or draw from.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
It took me a while to find this one and thankfully I’d finished it. Bishops Gardens in Peterborough during 2020 summer had amazing bright pink geraniums. They were so bright it was difficult to walk past and not smile. After having such a horrid and worrying start to 2020 (Global Pandemic) it was such a pleasure to sit and draw the views from the benches in the gardens.
Bench Views Revisited No. 162 September 2020
Whilst you can see the Lido (open air swimming pool) in the background it wasn’t open when I drew this illustration. The Lido didn’t open during 2020 after the start of the Global Pandemic COVID-19.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
There’s a bench which looks at nothing. Well, it’s next to a busy road and is at an angle down a footpath which heads to the river. It means people are very close to me when passing and if it’s sunny the bush on the other side of the narrow path looks like circles of bright green.
Bench Views Revisited No. 25 August 2019
People passing are often on bikes and whizzing past which makes it very difficult to capture them. There’s lots of my Bench Views Revisited that could fit with Exercise but they’re not finished yet. I’ll try to add some in letters later in the month.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
Of the 190 illustrations which make up the Bench Views Revisited series I’ve only finished about 40 I think, which means there’s well over 100 still to do and probably nearer 150 that are currently drafted in pencil. They still need the watercolour wash then the acrylic inks then the final permanent pen lines which finish them.
Bench views Revisited No. 114 August 2020
Sometimes I sit on a bench and wonder what people must think as they watch me sketching. It’s more obvious when I’m sat on a bench in front of this church but I get some strange looks when I’m sat in front of a building being developed for example and I’m looking at large wooden panels covering a building works. I never know what will pass or what I’ll see. This day was bank holiday August 2020 and motorcyclists were passing with deliveries. As I drafted it so long ago I have no idea how it will look when finished. That’s all part of the magic of creativity and what I love about the Bench Views.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
Oh, of course, C could have been for many other words linked to my illustrations but I’ve not finished the ones which relate to those. As I’m on catch up, I’m using pictures of images I’d already finished and am planning to complete other illustrations for later letters.
Bench Views Revisited No. 44 All rights the artist.
This illustration is of St Johns Church in the middle of Peterborough. There’s lots of benches nearby but usually my illustrations have lots of people in them in the foreground. It’s unusual for me to draw it like this. The illustration was drawn September 2019. I wasn’t happy about it initially but it’s grown on me and there’s something quirky about it that I like.
My theme for A to Z Blogging Challenge is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around Peterborough UK which I started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown.
One of the things we all got a bit obsessed over during the past few years were bubbles.. Who’s in your bubble? Are you in a bubble? I’m not in anyone’s bubble. Can you even be in a bubble? What was a bubble? A bubble was an extended household to make sure those who were on their own during the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic had support. That included single parents who had young children.
A Saturday in September 2019, Bench Views Revisited No. 42 All rights the artist.
What’s the illustration to show household bubbles during lockdown? Probably families and Bench View Revisited No.42 was drawn in 2019 and has bubbles in it at a time when I had no idea that the phrase Bubbles would come to mean something so different. This is a pre-covid bubbles picture.
Friday 20 Sept 2019, Bench Views Revisited No.45 All rights, the artist.
During Covid lockdown December 2020 I had what could have become a blue Birthday. It was a big one and I had to have it isolated from others because the rules were that we were in the and I’ve already said I wasn’t in a bubble. Somehow it became the best ‘big’ birthday I could imagine and very memorable. Prople dropped of presents without coming in and I had a couple of virtual parties during the day while working my way through a bottle of bubbly, had to be done. Bench View Revisited No.45 drawn pre-covid somehow fits the bill to illustrate that.It ended up very blue with some happy birthday balloons being the bright colour on the page. Like my birthday in 2020, a very happy, bright event surrounded by a more muted world.
My theme for A to Z Blogging is my Bench Views Revisited illustrations done from benches in and around peterborough UK which i started in September 2019. I drew No. 88 in February 2020 then lockdown hit. I restarted the series in August 2020 which meant almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and the rest of the 190 illustrations were done post COVID-19 lockdown, well, after the first lockdown I think.
If anyone’s out there I hope you are able to pop back and enjoy some of the illustrations of Bench Views Revisited that I’ve finished. I might also need help formatting if the ‘like’ button’s disappeared, it’s been four years since I posted here.
It’s been a while. I’ve missed three years of this A to Z blog challenge. I’m not on the master list this year and am joining a week in so if you’ve found me, well done. Hopefully I’ll catch up with some pals I’ve not ‘met’ up with for a while and am looking forward to meeting some new ones.
In theory my theme is my illustrations currently called Bench Views Revisited. These are illustrations done from benches in and around peterborough UK. I first sat and illustrated from benches in 2014/15 and repeated the series five years later starting September 2019. You can guess what’s coming.
I’d got to Bench Views Revisited No. 88 on 1 February 2020 then lockdown hit. Even when I could get out and about I didn’t want to do illustrations with no-one in them so I waited to continue till August 2020. That means almost half the series were drawn pre-covid lockdown and over half were done post COVID-19 lockdown, well, after the first lockdown I think.
If anyone’s out there I hope you are able to pop back and enjoy some of the illustrations of Bench Views Revisited that I’ve finished.
lynnelives 