Sunday 7 December 2008

Afternoon tea ...


Sarah and I went Christmas shopping on Friday. Not the usual pushing and jostling and irate people in queues and surly shop assistants. There was an air of calm and - wait for it - I actually enjoyed myself!! We stopped off for a coffee and these two wonderful ladies were enjoying an afternoon tea and scones, how lovely.
I 'm updating my blog because I feel like a fraud - I sneaked a photo with my phone and worked on that at home. It's pen and ink in my moley, took me a couple of hours I wish i could draw that fast!

25 comments:

Indigo Roo said...

Nicely done. Gives a real feel for two women over tea ... what makes it so hard for you to sketch in public? I can't see how these women would have felt anything but honored!

Anonymous said...

No kidding. If it were me, I'd want a signed copy. How long did it take you to do this? I love pencil drawings, but for me it's often too time-consuming. This doesn't even look like a "quick" sketch!

Stephen Hall said...

It took me a couple of hours, which is my problem. I have to speed up and be more accurate when I draw. I love capturing the 'moment' but not a good photographer I love to sketch but too slow.. I'm sort of half Ok with most things but not the best at anything. I am getting better looking at your guys work and the encouragement truly works for me. I have produced more work in the last two months than I have in the last two years. And I have begun to understand a lot more about myself and my relationship with art. Good to hear from you people :-)

Peachtreeart said...

It is amazing how you captured the angles of the hands and body positions in such a short time. Great job!

MILLY said...

I really like your pencil work. This one, the sunday lunch sleeping in laws, your beautiful daughters eyes..well all of them. You capture the moments so well.

Anonymous said...

I can not sketch in public as I know how much I would personally hate having someone sketching me...taking a photo for later use, of me would be kinder--but this is only how I deeply feel--for one thing the amount of time I'd have to stare at them might be cause for alarm for them and even others. That being said, you're work is really fantastic !

Carolyn A. Pappas said...

What a great memory to capture! Did you actually sit there and draw them for the whole time or did you take a photo and then finish it at home? I usually spend a few hours on my drawings too, but I put them in my sketchbook, so I call them sketches!

I know what you mean about being more productive. My productivity has gone up too, a lot in the past 3 years since I started blogging but mostly in the past year or so when I got serious.

Anonymous said...

This is fabulous. I know what you mean about sketching in public. I am still avoiding it. What a great idea to photograph and do it at home. These ladies are just wonderful. The fact that it is pen and ink is even more amazing. Did you sketch it in pencil first? Pen and ink is another block for me.
thanks for the amazing work...

suzanne cabrera said...

Way to capture the expressions! No need to feel like a fraud. No matter your process, the results are amazing.

bettyfromtexas said...

This, like all your work, is smashing!! You are a master with the different mediums that you use. Each and every post is a trerat!!!

Anonymous said...

This is wonderful, no matter how you did it!

I usually take photos to sketch from, so it was really a stretch for me to do 4 recent sketches "on site" during my husband's company Christmas party:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vickysketches/

As I wrote on my Flickr page, my sketching seemed to relax me and the strangers at our table responded in a friendly, positive way.

I, too, was very slow but am learning to not be so self-critical. That seems to help me put down what I want to express a bit quicker.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful atmosphere, Steve! I laughed about your mail to the EDM group, about the fake coffee mug ring in your Moley. (I've think you're having us on, LOL!)

I agree about working in public. Even taking photographs in public gets me. Far too shy!

Congratulations on a brilliantly successful art weekend!

Anonymous said...

"I've think..."???

Argh! Don't you hate it when you can't write English anymore?

LOL!

Anonymous said...

That is SO lincoln. Why do all the women here look like that? And the concentration on their poor faces? Like Oh God coffee is so complicated... Love it! :) xx

owenswain said...

I think cheating in this way is a stupendous idea, in fact recently I was thinking about doing just that. Thanks for the permission. ;-)

E-J said...

Hee heeee, this is delightful! And I think the coffee stain completes the picture wonderfully.

Iwona said...

I like the composition and the expression, pure poetry...wait..pure prose of life;) The two ladies, do I know the type? One looks just like my aunt Alexandra. Well done!

andrea joseph's sketchblog said...

Oh, god. I don't know what to say. Another that goes onto my fave ever drawings. Stephen, stop it now.

Margaret Ann said...

This drawing os so realatable to so many...a wonderful warm capture of friendship...and I also noticed that the tea trays were empty...they MUST have had a satisfying day! LOL:)

MD said...

Stunning work, and i have really enjoyed looking through your blog. You have inspired me to pick up my pencil again.
MD

Sarah Ketelaars said...

absolutely lovely Stephen, and working from a photo is not cheating - it's just a different process, but a useful aid, and in this case well worth it because you produced a fantastic drawing.

Timaree said...

There is nothing wrong with snapping a pic and drawing later. It could sometimes seem rude to draw while in some places or the ladies might have felt uncomfortable about it (even if they wouldn't have minded you drawing them which tends to make people happy).

The picture is absolutely terrific.

Ira R said...

yup.

andrea joseph's sketchblog said...

Yet, another of your works that goes into my all time favourite lists. I love this one SOOOO much.

Anonymous said...

what an amazing sketch... fantastic... linked you on my blog. hope you don't mind. :O)

 
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