helenic

When I drew Fergus and liriselei in Oxford the other weekend, it was because I was very drunk, and because I was very drunk I gave the sketches to them without looking at them again. I regretted this later: I do draw quite a lot, but on the backs of envelopes or lecture notes, or on my skin, or I give them away, and so I have remarkably little to show for it. So when I was in the mood at the beer festival yesterday to do some sketching, I decided to keep the results. Since working on my tattoo design I've now finished a sketchbook which I started in 2001 - I went through a dry patch in drawing and painting during my first two years at uni, and the only things I produced were a painting and a few drawings of kungfuchaos, all of which he still has. I'm fairly confident that I'm through that now, and although I still don't have time to paint for pleasure I have several commissions lined up and I am sketching again. Mainly I prefer to sketch people, which usually means my friends, and I only ever have the nerve to sketch publically when I'm drinking. My models are therefore mostly under coercion and I rush the things off as quickly as I can. Which is a shame in a way, but at least it's practice.

medieval_bunny, at the beer festival yesterday. She's prettier than this in real life.

cantabulous, also at the beer festival: see above disclaimer. What can I say, I was drunk.

Experiments in deviating from my normal soft pencil into the realm of rollerball pens.

Both of these were done during the same library shift last term. My linework needs, um, work.

romauld, reading. I did this while I was staying with him during the first week of January this year. The fact that I couldn't be bothered to shade his hair to the same extent as his beard adds about twenty years to his age, but I kind of like it.

The cathedral in Prague, sketched moodily and unsuccessfully in late August last year. I'd spilled my over-priced beer, I was paranoid that

romauld was bored, and the stonework was impossibly complex, so I gave up and bought a postcard instead.

Also dating back to last August. I don't know why either - I woke up one morning and discovered I'd apparently drawn it the night before, but I don't remember doing so or what I was thinking.

Downing college, where I study, and where I stayed last summer rather than living with my parents.

The composition study for this painting, drawn last August. I couldn't get hold of any decent pencils and the majority of the shading was done with an HB, which was ... interesting.

These three sketches date back to sixth form, when I begun this sketchbook and then abandoned it for two years. I seem to remember getting the source photographs from online, but I have no idea where. The first two scans date back to about then as well; hence the pseudish © notice.

I can't remember exactly when I did them, but I remember doing the third one during the rehearsal for a concert. I was sitting in the choir stalls in the nave surrounded by people and empty musical instrument cases trying to hide the page from anyone passing by.