A Welsh Sketchbook - Day Four

Day Four- Aberglasney and Cwm Duad

It was time to leave the Brecons and travel to our friends near Carmarthen, which we did by way of Aberglasney, a delightfully restored cloister garden. After a rapid tour with camera before lunch, I drew the house before settling to capture one of the orange trees in the cloister, and later dug out colours to capture the reflections in the pond.

On the main path from the entrance, several people stopped to see and comment on what I was doing. I used to be rather self-conscious, but found that spending time at Geevor Mine had got me over that, and had some good chats while I worked.

While I worked on the orange tree a lady from a coach party settled beside me, and we had a long and pleasant conversation about her adventures at art class, while behind me my husband was being flirted with by her elderly companion.

 Once we reached Cwm Duad Accomodation here- hostel rates and boutique rooms, I rushed off to catch impressions of chickens, cat, horses and stableyard.

The chickens were a good starting point as I've both kept and worked with them in the past and had a certain pre-knowledge of their shapes. I've had many cats too, but Tippy was meeting me for the first time and was not particularly anxious to pose close by.

The most difficult feature to catch on the horses was the shape of their chin line, as they were grazing up and down the meadow below me, moving constantly. Buttons is a miniature Shetland so has far different proportions, a barrel tummy and very stubby legs!

These two sketches of Dizzy, a boxer, while although only partial, I think are the most successful of all the animals. I found trying to draw them to be a bit of a ritual, starting with a quiet moment of reflection to decide the line and then making rapid, confident (or at least fearless) and long marks to catch the essence before they moved again.

I knew I had to make the most of being close up to the animals, particularly the horses, as I don't now have many friends at home who keep them. Luckily we had another day at Forest Edge for me to sketch them.