Down came the rain

"The Show Must Go On!"

oil on canvas

8 x 8 in. / 20 x 20 cm.

Open air jazz festivals are always going to be somewhat problematic in this country given our wayward weather. I remember trying to sketch a group of jazz aficionados huddling under umbrellas during a July thunderstorm, while I was holding an umbrella and my sketch book in one hand and drawing with the other. Not ideal! That moment is commemorated in this painting with the audience watching on under their umbrellas while the girl in the yellow dress tries to shelter the trumpeter and sax player under her umbrella.

A couple of the original moleskine sketches

Le Jazz

oil on canvas

8 x 8 in./ 20 x 20 cm.

Based on a series of sketches of the Dutch Swing College Band which I did a couple of years ago at a jazz festival. Using sketches of Marcel Hendriks on piano and Adrie Braat on double bass, to which I have added the singer in the red dress to suit my composition. I often work listening to Jazz, particularly a French internet radio station called Jazz Radio , "La Radio de tous les Jazz". Hence the title of the work, "Le Jazz"! Done just using a palette knife to stop me from fiddling with the detail.

Two of the original moleskine sketches

Note : the painting is not up on my web-site yet..

Degas and the Ballet

Now in its final week at The Royal Academy in London, Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement, exceeded my expectations this week, handsomely. It is a comprehensive exploration of Degas's interest in capturing and depicting movement through dance. The curators, Ann Dumas, Jill DeVonyar and Richard Kendall, have done a superb job in putting together a well structured and beautifully hung exhibition.

The visitor can follow Degas's process of investigation from his quick charcoal sketches through to fully resolved paintings. But he also adopted the techniques of sculpture, and the latest photographic innovations to help him capture and depict the ballet dancers' poses and movement in the practice studio and on stage. As a sculptor myself I could well appreciate the series of preparatory sketches from life he did for his famous metre tall bronze sculpture, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. The displays helpfully displayed how each drawing fitted into his scheme in addressing the figure from 360 degrees, with the bronze itself as centre-piece.

The exhibition has so many points of interest but I would also highlight; the panoramic format paintings of the dancers in their Green Room preparing for performance, and the later bolder and larger charcoal drawings matched with the paintings such as the Blue Dancers which embody the poses from the charcoal drawing. The smaller 1/3rd life size sketches, originally done in wax but cast after his death in bronze, of ballet dancers in specific poses have a real charm. But the curators have kept the best almost to last; the wonderful vibrant pastel paintings of his late years such as the Russian Dancers and Dancers in Blue are visually stunning. The irridescent colours and imaginative compositions almost worth going to see for this room alone.

I spent a good four hours at this exhibition resting periodically to absorb the richness of material on offer. From my vantage point on the banquette in the first room opposite Degas's painting, Ballet Scene from Meyerbeer's Opera 'Robert le Diable' I sat sketching the steady stream of visitors as they filed past. There was I, trying to capture movement, I in my little Moleskine sketchbook, much as Degas had been doing over 100 years ago. The artistic challenge in "picturing movement" is still the same.

Moleskine - Van Gogh, Picasso and me

So I am in legendary company, as the leaflet inside each Moleskine sketchbook reminds me.

Over the years I have used many sketch books, in all sizes and shapes. Given a choice, I have a preference for paper with a bit of "tooth" but in truth will draw in whatever comes to hand, just to get an idea or observation down. I have a collection of half-filled and empty sketchbooks in various formats which I choose from, like trying on different shirts before going out.

On a recent trip to Lyon in France, I opted, for the very first time to go for one of the Moleskines, in the format a bit narrower than A5, and slipped it into my bags with a couple of drawing pens and 4B pencils in my plastic Muji pencil case. On my way down the A6 autoroute I stopped for lunch in an "aire de repos", motorway services which are really just picnic areas with toilets. They can be quite picturesque settings with tables scattered in the shade of woodland trees, sometimes with stunning views and very tranquil - a welcome respite on the long drive down from Le Havre.

The one at Parc Thiery didn't disappoint. And it was there that I pulled out the Moleskine and start sketching. The paper is thick, very smooth and creamy coloured, almost yellowish. But best of all, I found that, because of the way the paper is sewn in, you can open the double page up and it will lie flat. So you can draw on a page 10 by 8 in. (260 by 205 in mm.). It was a busy stay in Lyon and I didn't get a chance to do as much drawing as I would have liked but I did get the chance to take advantage of the Moleskine's double-page spread while sketching a puppeteer in the Place du Change with an audience of bystanders watching on.

Whilst in Lyon I also came across Lyra Aquabrush pens which have two ends. One is a very fine drawing pen and the other behaves like a brush allowing you to vary the weight of the line and create very gestural marks. And they work great on the Moleskine sketch-book paper. On my return to the UK I found that they were readily available here too on the internet but I had never seen them before.

So when I decided to do some sketches of the performers at the Marlborough Jazz Festival in early July I took a couple of the Lyra brush pens with me alongside the 4B's. The jazz festival was very lively at most venues and it wasn't always the easiest environment to draw in but I found the Moleskine's hard cover allowed me to draw using the two page format even when standing jammed in a corner. I am particularly pleased with the use of the Lyra pens which I feel helped to capture the movement of the performers and the energy of the music. For me, the ones of the Dutch College Swing Band were particularly successful in capturing the enthusiasm of the musicians which belied their age and appearance. They wore grey pin-stripe suits, like bank managers, but with bright red ties!

I have posted some of the sketches from Moleskine Sketchbook 2009/1 and the ones of the Jazz Festival up on Flickr if you want to take a look. My Moleskine has definitely become my sketch book of choice when out and about and I plan to continue to add to my Flickr library from time to time. You can bookmark my photostream or sign up for the RSS feed on Flickr if you want to keep up with what I've been up to.