My Plein Air Sketchbooks
I started keeping a plein air sketchbook to paint the local scenery so I could bring the freshness home and capture the essence of the scenes to work on back in the studio.
Sketchbook A | 2022
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My first sketchbook contains a collection of local scenes where I live, and soul places where I go for inspiration. These are the places where I walk, meditate, and take little picnics to. Some of the pages are scattered with places I’ve been on holiday. In the early days, my sketchbook was used on special occasions. Now, it is an essential part of my painting practice, and I have whole books dedicated to certain places that I build up a working practice with. It’s a kind of relationship with the place as much as a process of work.
Sketchbook B | 2022
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My beloved Marlay Park Sketchbook holds a special place in my studio. Each page holds a different story of the day I spent painting there. Some paintings left unfinished as I’d had to rush off, other paintngs hastily sketched in, with the promise of coming back later. Before this became solely dedicated to Marlay Park, I brought the sketchbook on ‘pilgrimage’ to Glastonbury and painted two scenes there. This sometimes happens with a sketchbook, when I don’t know where to start. I’d just moved into my studio, and wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to stay. But stay I did, and the scenes just flowed out!