The sktchy app

Well, having had a major birthday last month (one ending in zero) I finally got hold of an iPad - I've resisted all things Apple for a long time now, but I've had to admit that when it comes to art apps, its hard to beat.  In particular I wanted the sktchy app which presents you with a portrait photograph every morning for you to draw or paint.  I also wanted ProCreate - perhaps the best digital drawing app.  Neither of these apps are available on Android tablets or phones. 

I've loved using sktchy and have done a number of drawings from it in the last couple of weeks.  We went away last weekend for a couple of nights in the seaside town of Hastings, just up the coast from where we live. I enjoyed getting up early in the mornings and immediately looking up the portrait photograph of the day and trying to produce something on paper to do it justice.  Here are a few of my efforts.

Hastings itself is an interesting place with quite a few artists working in the town and a prestigious gallery called the Hastings Contemporary.  We didn't have time to visit but I would have liked to have seen the current exhibition by illustrator and cartoonist Quentin Blake.  

We stayed in a really nice apartment on the edge of the Country Park.  We saw a green woodpecker and a greater spotted woodpecker in the tree outside our apartment and a pair of badgers came around at night looking for food.   

The weekend was finished off by us replacing our elderly Vauxhall with a new(ish) car - a Citroen this time which is a treat to drive with all its various gizmos.  It makes me realise quite how old our Vauxhall was and how cars have moved on in recent years.  

Sussex-by-the-Sea

I live on the South Coast of England and am privileged to have many fine painting locations roundabout.  I often walk on Seaford Head with its fine views over the range of cliffs called "The Seven Sisters".  I have many photographs of these views in fine weather but when it is winter it can look very different.  I've pictured it here on a bright day with a sprinkling of snow on the ground.

Seaford Head in the snow

Photo of the same view a little further down the path

I often visit the nearby town of Shoreham by Sea.  It is a great place for taking photographs with its interesting sea-front and an estuary with many old house-boats moored along the banks.  I painted this picture of the town looking across the mouth of the River Adur.

Shoreham by Sea

One of the photos I worked from

Lastly, the nearby town of Hastings has a lovely old pier which has recently been restored.  This makes for an interesting view even when the weather is mixed and rain is in the air

Hastings pier on a damp day

Photo of the pier

Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem about his beloved county of Sussex which formed the lyrics for a popular song, Sussex by the Sea.  Here is part of the Kipling poem

God gives all men all earth to love,
But since man's heart is small,
Ordains for each one spot shall prove
Beloved over all.
Each to his choice, and I rejoice
The lot has fall to me
In a fair ground[3] - Sussex by the Sea!
In a fair ground - Yea, Sussex by the Sea!