Cover 2 Cover / In the clouds / Pages 5 to 7

Continuing the trawl through my part of my collaborative sketchbook, themed "In the Clouds". The music links are a little less direct this time, but I thought it would be fun to think of a popular song or two to go with each picture.


Page 5

"The Sterling Cables Tower, Newbury", Graphite.

From the top floor of the Sainsbury's car park, you get a splendid view of this industrial relic. Quite possibly the tallest building in Newbury, and almost as likely to be the most detested, I find it an interesting addition to the skyline, hinting at a time before Vodafone...

Something learnt: Having done very little work in unadorned pencil in recent years, it was pleasing to use it again.



Page 6

"Donnington Castle", Watercolour.

I was really, really pleased with how this turned out. This was actually the first thing that I did in the sketchbook, and watercolour is not my favourite media. It is convenient (small,  lightweight and eminently portable), but it can be very unforgiving of mistakes. 

I painted this from the driver's seat of my car in the car park at Donnington Castle, a civil war ruin just outside of Newbury (no relation to the motor racing track at Castle Donington).

Something learnt: Maybe I'm getting a bit better at this watercolour lark.


Page 7

"Pico", collage.

I don't think that I have ever made a collage like this before. It was very time consuming, but I do like the results. I used paper torn from two copies of the Jackson's Art Supplies catalogue and then - when I realised I was short of certain shades - I ripped up an unsolicited Next catalogue.

The image is based on two sketches of the volcanic peak of Pico in the Azores, as seen from our hotel room in Faial in 1999.

I used Pritt Stick to glue my scraps of paper down. It worked very well until I used water(colour) on page 9... the glue got sticky again and stuck itself to the acrylic on the opposite page. Fortunately, I was able to separate the pages without damaging anything.

Something learnt: Don't make collages with Pritt Stick if there is any chance that they might get damp! PVA glue mixed with water seems to make a reasonable varnish or sealant, however.