No Nudes
My faces are often a bit dodgy, so I’m doing a portraiture course (before you ask, that is the type without naked people.) Here are the results of week 1 & 2.
Inside and out
Man with an iPad ignores man with a paper.
Snow at last!
Grabbed a few minutes for a quick sketch of the snow this morning. More ‘chiffon scarf’ than a ‘blanket’ covering, but a good try for Brighton. All gone by the end of the day though.
Calm before the storm
Beautiful blue skies in Brighton and Hove this morning. Hoping for snow tonight!
War horses in the dark
Trying to draw a horse is tough at the best of times, but sketching in the dark at the superb National Theatre production of War horse at the Brighton Centre is on another level.
The staggering puppet horses are brought to life by three very talented operators. I confess I ‘cheated’ on the final sketch and did it from a photo at home.
Outsiders
I am standing in church, singing along to a Taylor Swift song which I’ve never heard before. It’s OK though, because the karaoke style lyrics are on the big screen and a choir is leading us through it.
This was my first time at the Sunday Assembly Brighton, a monthly secular church on the border of Brighton and Hove.
The church is packed. This month the theme is ‘outsiders’.
One of the speakers, David, told a moving story about his experience as a volunteer host for the charity Sussex Nightstop. Afterwards we sang Teenage dirtbag.
The atmosphere was great and by the time we were singing starman I was really quite into it. Only in Brighton & Hove!
Entitled of Brighton
My day started with commuters at the Flying Coffee Bean, Brighton station.
Followed by a pilgrimage to Waterstones specifically to sniff books, drink coffee and sketch out of that window.
Can you believe someone had already nicked the table. What’s more, he was ‘reading’* of all thing. Outrageous!
*I very much approve of reading, just not in my seat.
All over breakfast
A damp day at the Trading Post Coffee Roasters, Brighton, UK. Damn fine cup of coffee.
Pretending it’s not winter
Whilst the temperatures in the UK teeter above freezing, I’m warming myself up by remembering lying in a hammock, sipping juice from a huge freshly plucked coconut by the tiny island of Hon Mot, a year ago today.
The island is connected to Phu Quoc by the wobbly ‘monkey bridge’, just visible in the far right of the sketch.
Pasty legs and wonky feet are all you need to make life sweet
In between slaughtering chickens, the charismatic café owner gave these two fishermen (presumably her sons) a right ear-bending every time they stopped work to watch me sketch!
No pressure!
At the foot of the banyan tree
This time last year I was touring the temples at Angkor in Cambodia, which had been a dream of mine for a long time.
The temples date from the 9th Century and cover a surprisingly large area. My first stop was Angkor Wat, the biggest and most well known.
My favourite was Bayon, an eerie forest of multi-faced Buddha’s who stare silently past you.
Then came the Banyan trees in Ta Prohm, aka the Tomb Raider Temple.
Fans may recognise the first tree from the movie – sadly minus Lara Croft. It was early, so I had half an hour pretty much alone, before the non-stop stream of tour groups lined up for their photo opportunity.
I had to abandon the final tree when I nearly passed out from the heat! Having drunk my own body weight in water, I knew lack of salts was my problem.
Disoriented, I gorged on an entire pineapple from a street seller, before flopping into the tuktuk all templed out. 
cmoorelife 