RHYS BOWEN: Earlier in the week I shared one of my sketches and got such nice comments about it.
I took up sketching years ago when a friend showed me his sketches after a trip to Japan and Thailand. He was an eminent chemist and not very good at art but the sketches were so alive and real that I thought I wanted to try. Since then I never travel without my sketch book and tiny paint box. I've filled many sketchbooks and last Christmas I put the best ones into a hardcover book so that the family could all have a copy.
So on this dark and gloomy wintery time of year I go through those sketches and each one brings back a sharp memory of where I was when I painted and exactly what I was experiencing. So much more vivid a memory than a photograph. I'd like to share some now as i lie with one leg propped up, recovering from knee surgery, and dream of where I might go in the summer.
Let's start with one of my Venice sketches, that were part of the inspiration for THE VENICE SKETCHBOOK: This one actually made it to the inside cover of the book (take off the dust jacket if you have a copy).
Your sketches are lovely, Rhys; thank you for sharing them with us . . . .
ReplyDeleteRHYS: Great sketches, and lovely memories of beloved spots in Europe.
ReplyDeleteAlas, I have ZERO talent to draw for fun! But I did find my scrapbook from that 6-week trip to Europe with my mom that I mentioned on Friday. Included inside were several hand-drawn route maps, a spinoff from mandatory university cartography courses. So much effort to draw each map (35-40 hours/map) on clear mylar & using technical pens!
GRACE: Though I did not inherit the drawing gene from my maternal grandfather, I still like to sketch for fun. My grandfather, Aunt, and both of my cousins are talented artists. I can never be that good, though someone once told me years ago about practicing your drawings. It is easier for me to do sketches of places. As long as I have fun, right?
DeleteDiana
DIANA: I'm glad you had fun sketching. As I mentioned below, I was horrible at it, and got no guidance from teachers on how to improve. I could draw the hand-drawn maps because of hundreds of hours of required training & practice at university. It was a necessary skill I had to learn but I did not enjoy doing it. Computer cartography classes were starting to be taught instead of manual cartography as I was finishing my degree.
DeleteGreat sketches, Rhys. Thanks for sharing. I used to water paint.
ReplyDeleteYou might have inspired me, Rhys. Those are so lovely. I've done a few fun stick figure drawings, but no real sketches.
ReplyDeleteI do so enjoy your sketches. I can barely draw stick figures or stay in the lines in my coloring books. My hands get so shaky these days but I've learned to hold on and read while I'm shaking. LOL I love Thailand and wish I could go to Japan during the cherry blossom season. My dad was stationed in Japan when he was in the Marines during the Korean War and he talked about the cherry blossoms and even bought a painting and had it shipped home.
ReplyDeletePaula, I also have tremors that are sometimes uncontrollable. I mentioned it to a couple artists once, including the famous John Ruthven, who was a family friend. He said to use the tremor to create my own style, that it didn't have to be a negative aspect of my drawings. He was a wise, and very kind, man.
DeleteThat is upsetting, Paula. Is there something they can do for you?
DeleteYour sketches are lovely. I’d frame and hang any of them. All I can draw are flies!
ReplyDeleteI sometimes look at old pictures, but last night I did something different. I started a book byAnn Hillerman, taking place on the Navajo Reservation in southern Utah/Northern Arizona. I spent an important time of my life there as a nurse in the Indian Health Service. Every page of this book brings back a memory, sparked perhaps by only a word in the Navajo language.
Ya’a t’ eeh bilagaena!.
I did not know that about you, Ann. We often visit the Navajo lands when we are at our house in Phoenix. I love that landscape and such interesting people! You should write a Hillerman type book!
DeleteThese are lovely, Rhys.
ReplyDeleteI used to do pencil sketches when I was a kid. As I recall, they weren't horrible, but that's the best I can say. Maybe I should give it another go.
Annette, I did pencil sketches when I travelled. Diana
DeleteThese are wonderful, Rhys. So nicely detailed. I paint a little, but I haven't tried sketching. When I look at these, it's hard to think of them as sketches. I agree they are worth hanging. Did each one take very long to do?
ReplyDeleteThey are all quick sketches. Usually less than half an hour
DeleteWow!
DeleteYour sketches are wonderful, Rhys. They make the viewer want to be there.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these, Rhys. I particularly like the view from a boat on Lake Como and the sketch of Mont St. Michel. It's an extraordinary place. When my husband and I were there two summers ago, I couldn't stop taking pictures of it in every kind of light, from early morning until night and from various distances. I had to laugh at myself and threw most of the photos away when I got home, but it is a magnificent sight. The Benedictine Abbey at the top is spectacular, too, inside and outside.
ReplyDeleteI was the same, Kim. I took a photo around every bend as we walked up. The only annoying thing was so many groups of school children rushing around made it hard to walk
DeleteThese are gorgeous Rhys! You are so talented in so many ways! xox
ReplyDeleteBeautiful sketches, Rhys. Thanks for a trip away from winter!
ReplyDeleteLovely sketches. I can see how drawing them and then looking at them later would bring back more vivid memories of the places you’ve visited.
ReplyDeleteRHYS!!
ReplyDeleteYour sketches are absolutely beautiful.
Wow! Your sketches are awesome! I have visited the Cinque Terre and the Nice area (Antibes) and love the reminder of the beauty I saw there. I'm not a sketcher, but my dear friend Nettie took up sketching and painting in recent years, and I'm fascinated to watch as she grows as an artist.
ReplyDeleteI do a very little bit of sketching, but I enjoy it when I do. Storyboarding is also a good way to shake loose a story that isn't working. I used to give a bit of extra credit when students enhanced their papers with artwork. ;-) Those sketches deserve so much credit! <3 --Storyteller Mary
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely sketches, Rhys. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI love your sketches, Rhys! One of the things I admire most about the British educational system is that they teach drawing. I recall seeing school groups on my UK travels doing Plein Air work.~Emily Dame
ReplyDeleteI wasn’t taught much useful art at school but have taken art classes since
DeleteI love your sketches. What a lovely gift your book must have been for your family. My problem with sketching is that I never seem to know when to stop, and keep trying to turn them into drawings that are “good.” It is the rougher sketchiness that makes for charming sketches like yours. I’m inspired to give it another go and see how I can do. Thank you for sharing these!
ReplyDeleteThat’s one of my problems too. I want a drawing to be perfect when in fact it’s the roughness that makes it interesting
Delete...AND she can draw. You really are amazing, Rhys. I used to love "art" class in school but I was never very good at it. What I'd like to do as a memory book from my travels would be a scratch-and-sniff travel book. Menus and blobs . Somehow I don't think that will work.
ReplyDeleteScratch and sniff! Brilliant. Scent memories are the most evocative, aren’t they ?
DeleteMy Europe & Atlantic Canada scrapbooks would have benefited from being able to include scent memories of memorable meals & the iconic coastal locations!
DeleteLovely sketches, Rhys. And a slower way to take in the scenes while travelling - so much more reflective than snapping a hundred digital pics. Wish I could sketch, but my talents stop at snails LOL.
ReplyDeleteDiana here: Sketching is relatively new to me. This brought back wonderful memories of my living abroad in England for a couple of months. When I visited a Stately Home, I saw this beautiful Temple of Diana ? With a bench. I had my sketch pad with me and I just sat down and sketched what I saw. For me, sketching a building is easier than sketching a human being or a pet.
ReplyDeleteLove the sketches, Rhys, from your travels. I saw the sketches in your Venice Sketchbook novel. Thank you for reminding me. This is something that I would like to do again in the future when I get the chance to travel again.
Me too, Diana. I’ve tried drawing animals. Not too successful!
DeleteLove the sketches and the places they evoke. Definitely frame-worthy! My drawing these days is limited to jellybeans. I make jellybean stories for the littlest ones--each new baby gets their own story book.
ReplyDeleteRhys, you are a true artist!!
ReplyDeleteI can’t draw, and did horribly in art classes in grammar school. A friend who is a retired art teacher told me that ANYONE can learn to draw if they have a good teacher.I’ve thought of taking a drawing class in Adult Ed, but I’m sure I would be the worst student in the class.
DebRo
Deb, do take the class. Your friend is right about having a good teacher! And never, ever worry about being the "worst". There will always be someone not at the same point on the path as you, either ahead or behind. Just compare yourself to your own past self.
DeleteDEB RO: I think you're right. I could tell I had the wrong proportions when trying to draw the objects in junior high art class. However, my art teacher did not give me useful advice on how to improve my technique, so I was frustrated, and stopped taking art as soon as I could drop the class.
DeleteI agree. Anyone can be taught to learn perspective or how to simplify the shape of a tree or how to use color. The thing is that it’s what you are seeing, nobody else
DeleteI've always loved sketching, and think I'll make lovely drawings when we travel. It rarely happens. The evidence is my too many partly used notebooks and journals. But I just found an entire pad of my drawings from the 1970's, when I was taking a studio drawing class. And the recently ordered oil pastels should arrive one day this week. Love the idea of a tiny watercolor kit, Rhys! It sure elevated your already lovely sketches to add color to them.
ReplyDeleteMy sister is teaching herself to draw in her spare time, and she's doing pretty well. It's a very good stress reliever for her, since her life is chaotic at the moment.
You clearly have art skills, Karen. I’m sure you do wonderful sketches. You should travel and sketch with your sister! Or at a future convention with me we’ll go out and sketch
DeleteYou're on!
DeleteThese are lovely! I sketched in a younger day, but somehow abandoned the practice for photography.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t take it up until maybe 20 years ago
DeleteRhys: You are such a multitalented person! Thanks for sharing your sketches and writing with us ❤️
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWow. Great photographs are to be treasured. Do you frame some? Mine just sit on my phone!
ReplyDeleteRhys, you are amazing! Are these watercolors or pencils? Or some of each? Do you carry the equipment with you when you travel? Xx
ReplyDeleteWatercolors. I’ve a tiny round box with about 12 colors and I start with a pen sketch. The pad I carry is about 4 by 7 so small sketches
DeleteThank you all for the kind comments. It’s been a challenging week to host JRW as I had surgery on Tuesday so wasn’t at my most focused! Luckily the surgery went smoothly, I’ve needed no strong pain pills and I’m walking around
ReplyDeleteWonderful news! Modern medicine is a wonder, isn't it?
DeleteWalking already? That's wonderful, RHYS!
DeleteArt class was a summer school class for me and I remember loving it. Thank you for sharing these sketches, Rhys, they are lovely.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh!! Thank you SO much for sharing your sketches. They are just lovely. Such beautiful memories on "canvas." I don't even do stick drawings well, which makes me admire your sketches so much more. Please post more of them. I will live vicariously through your sketches.
ReplyDeleteThese are really accomplished, and so full of your pleasure in what you're seeing and experiencing. Brava!
ReplyDeleteOh, I am envious. I lack the artistic talent Mom and her sister had. I went to several of those evenings where an artist goes step by step on how to paint a picture. My paintings got progressively worse until I decided it was hilariously hopeless. Your watercolors are wonderful. Do you paint on site or take a picture for later?
ReplyDeleteWhat they said, and I love them!
ReplyDeleteYour sketches are wonderful, Rhys! Do you always work from life, or do you use photos, too? I'm so envious--this is what I would love to do in my journals but I never seem to find the time to really try it.
ReplyDeleteMainly when I’m there. Sometimes I complete the colors from photos afterward
DeleteI love your sketches, Rhys. They capture the architecture of a place as well as the essence. That was a brilliant idea to put them in a book for family members. I'd buy the book for sure. And, I know the many of your sketches from Jerry are personal, Hallie, but that's another book of sketches I'd buy.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest sister was the artist in the family, drawing and painting and even framing. I would love to be able to sketch when I go somewhere, but I just don't think the talent is there.
These sketches are beautiful. What memories
ReplyDeleteRhys, I've always admired your sketches and paintings, and you make me want to give it a try!
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ReplyDeleteRhys! Thanks you so much for sharing your sketches. What a wonderful way to capture your travels. In college, I took two and three dimension design courses which is all that I could manage as an economics major. Yet, I love crafting! So, in retirement, I have ventured into acrylic painting with a local instructor. So, for now, I capture my travels and anything else that I encounter from nature to Facebook postings to cooking ideas with my cell phone!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely, Rhys! Sorry I'm late tot he party. I was putting in new floors - woo hoo - all day :)
ReplyDeleteTesting
ReplyDeleteThese are stunning! You have an incredible talent. You’re wonderful at capturing both the framework and character of the city/town/building. Just beautiful.
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