Wimblington, Cambridgeshire UK

 

Felt I just needed to get back on location with my sketchbook, so popped into the next village and sketched a house I love.

 

I have sketched it before HERE

Watercolour and Markers

09-05-13, a photo by Anita Davies on Flickr.

This paper takes both beautifully

Meadow Way South, Wimblington, Cambridgeshire UK

23-04-13a, a photo by Anita Davies on Flickr.

A quick sketch after school run and before work

Wimblington, Cambridgeshire UK

17-04-13a, a photo by Anita Davies on Flickr.

Parked up in the village hall car park and fitted a quick sketch in between dropping Harry at school and work at the salon.

St Peters Church, Wimblington, Cambridgeshire UK

17-05-12, a photo by Anita Davies on Flickr.

A quick detour on the way home from shopping.
Noodlers bullet proof black ink, watercolour and decorative paper in A4 watercolour Moleskine Folio

Wimblington Village Hall, Cambridgeshire UK

22-09-11, a photo by Anita Davies on Flickr.

A quickie on the way home from a food shop.

Catching Up

16-17-11-10
Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

Noodlers bullet proof black ink and watercolour in daily journal.

Finally managing a bit of location work, all be it from the warmth and comfort of my car.
I have been dying to sketch over the past couple of days but being poorly and out of action for a couple of weeks has meant lots of catching up both in the home and, of course, with my Christmas shopping!
LOVE Christmas!!!

This house sits back off the road on my drive through Wimblington into March town, I often admire it but have never sketched it...until now!

Skylark Cafe

11-10-2010a
Originally uploaded by Anita Davies

A quick sketch while Harry and I waited for our fried breakfast to arrive at the Skylark cafe in Wimblington.
The table was actually flat, my error not the carpenters! LOL!

IFJM - April 6th

Another spread from Alphonse's journal.

Sketchbook Studies

A cuppa in Skylark Cafe and a bit of prep for a visit to Wisbech the following day.

Beginning Of The Month

TOP LEFT: SKETCH FROM TOP OF THE DROVE WAITING FOR HARRY'S SCHOOL BUS
BOTTOM LEFT: VIEW FROM PARKSIDE IN WIMBLINGTON
TOP RIGHT: VIEW FROM SKYLARK CAFE WINDOW

The first day of March saw me visiting Skylark garden centre, in Wimblington, for a cuppa and a sketch in the cafe.

I have just one page left in this little Canson sketchbook that I started to fill with people sketches last year.

People Sketches

Here are a few pages from my sketchbooks, I have heaps more!
I am really missing my scanner and my own editing programme so apologies if they are showing a little dark and wonky!

The first two entries were sketched while lunching with Joannie, at The Anchor pub, during her visit, the third are some quick TV sketches.

More to come...

Skylark

A trip to Skylark nurseries in Wimblington resulted in a quick sketch with my cuppa in their cafe on Sunday afternoon.

Sketch Crawling With Harry

I felt a little guilty neglecting my journal over the holidays, so I decided to make up for it and create some fun time for myself and Harry at the same time.

A sketch crawl!

After dropping our bottles into the recycling bins at Doddington, Harry and I went into the post office to check our lottery tickets.
We then headed into nearby Wimblington in search of a bunch of flowers, picking up a hot comfort drink along the way from Sisco garage.
Flowerless, we paid our respects to some friends in Doddington graveyard before heading back home to grab a sofa each for the film 'K9'.
Later in the evening Harry decided to add paint to his sketches, I had coloured mine on location so took the opportunity to grab a final sketch of the day using the red pen selection I won from Andrea which arrived earlier that morning.

A most enjoyable day spent together laughing, sharing and snuggling. Harry made some fantastic studies in the short time spans we had.
Harry's sketches can be found on his blog HERE.

Lunch At The Anchor

After my class this week we all went for a pre-Christmas lunch at The Anchor in Wimblington and, as always, I took my sketchbook along.

This sketch completes my little A6 Venezia journal. You can view all of the pages together on my Flickr account here along with a picture of the Venezia journal itself.
I've really enjoyed working in this little book, so much so that I have already started another.

Close To Home - Update

2 Pond Close, Wimblington

Today was spent signing and mounting the 27 sketches from my 'Close to Home' project ready for the Dickensian Market tomorrow.
Both, the Cambs Times and The Fenland Citizen newspapers have been kind enough to spotlight me and the project this week and response has been very pleasing already.
On Thursday evening the Local Studies Librarian contacted me wishing to place an bulk order of my book to be placed in our local libraries as a reference and I have already been contacted by a few home owners asking me to 'hold' the sketch of their home until they arrive at the market.
The weather forecast seems ok, which is a blessing since I discovered the market is not in the village hall but right in the centre of Benwick high street.
I have my mounted sketches, my book, several other pieces of work in a browser, a couple of canvas and framed pieces, a basic tool kit, my trusty chair, my faithful boots, numerous layers of clothing and a sketchbook all packed and raring to go.

I will, of course, update you all on my return.

Fenland Character

As well as filling 10 pages for the 'Transitions' Maruman and journalling my food intake everyday, I've been adding to my journals.
On Sunday, after cooking lunch and working my way through endless washing I decided to jump in the truck and head to the bottom of my drove. It's a dead end, marked by a narrow river and just before it sits 'Stokes' farm. I parked there for a few minutes sketching the 'broken but not beaten' shed, soaking up the distinguished scent of the rain kissed farmland.

This morning I arrived in Wimblington early and took a left turn into 'The Hook' where I had ten minutes to catch the grain stores in my pocket watercolour moleskine sketchbook before heading off to give a private art lesson.

Close To Home - Wimblington

32a Doddington Road, Wimblington © Anita Davies

Another addition to the Close To Home project is this fairly new property along Doddington Road in Wimblington, a crisp, stylish home with lots of grand wrought iron and a curved brick entrance.

I sketched this one from the truck too, parking in Church Street facing it head on.

I was about halfway through the painting stage when the owner returned home with some shopping, as she emptied her boot I could see her looking over so when I'd finished I walked over to introduce myself in case my presence had made her uneasy.

Close To Home - Wimblington

6 Church Street, Wimblington © Anita Davies

This is my third plein air sketch for the Close to Home project. A beautiful house located near the church in Wimblington, completing one sketch for each village so far.

I have sketched many more since this one but have yet to scan them. The project is going well and I am really enjoying it.

The weather has taken a turn for the worse here in the Fens so I have had to adjust here and there; sketching houses easily visible from the truck and creating the ink sketch only...returning to add watercolour when the sun is out because it creates wonderful shadows that enhance the architecture of these homes. Creating the ink sketch during the dull weather means I can make the most of each day and stay on target for my average of three homes per week. I figure the house won't change in structure so I can get the basics down and wait for better light.

I'm also getting used to the format. It takes some getting used to, trying to put a massive house into a 6x8" space but I have an 8x10" mount that I use as a guide which helps enormously.

I now have three Arches blocks on the go for the project. I started with one and soon found that this restricted me to sketching just one house at a time while I was on location (I don't like to cut them from the block until I've had a little time to view them properly) I moved on to two blocks, which worked very well until the rain set in again and I resorted to completing the ink sketch and returning to add watercolour in better weather. So, now I have three and that works perfectly.

Of course, the beauty of the whole experience is that it all takes place within an approx. 4 mile radius of my home which has made it both enjoyable and very flexible.

Parkfield Angus

While searching for a spot to park and sketch in the nearby village of Wimblington recently I came across The Parkfield where a herd of Aberdeen Angus were casually grazing. I've never sketched a cow before so took advantage of my find before moving on to continue my 'Close to Home' sketch for the day.