Written by My name is Rosie and I’m a sketch artist, painter and printmaker. Watercolour is my favourite medium for sketching, either on its own or as line and wash. Four years ago, I moved from the county of Hertfordshire back to the north of England where I started a sketching group with a friend.
These are some of the images from my new home and its people, together with a Haiku inspired by my daily walk along the river in to town.
Colours watered by
sunlight along the river.
They drift in to town
I often sit in the town square to draw and to try and capture some of the atmosphere. Here are a few snapshots of characters and events.
Howard and his dog Ruby made a great picture of companionship. While Howard drank his coffee and read the newspaper, Ruby would sometimes put her head on his knee to be stroked.
In the covered market there are many small businesses including the lovely lady who gives beauty treatments and friendly conversation.
Once a month there is a farmers market with many local foods and crafts for sale. The jazz band is always on hand to entertain people while they shop. Other street musicians can be heard too.
A girl filled the square with the sound of lilting songs. Four musicians from Eastern Europe made people smile and even dance with their playing. Many people stopped by to talk to the man playing melodeon and he was happy to play requests and favourite tunes in the sun.
On one occasion there was a portrait artist for me to draw while he drew his model!
Our group meets every week and we try to draw outside as much as possible, sometimes even in the rain. I particularly love to draw quickly which is useful for capturing people as they hurry by avoiding the weather.
The town is quite hilly and from the square there are distant views to paint including a church on the horizon. Architecture is varied with styles ranging from Victorian grandeur to tiny, ancient stone cottages. The Victorians also left the town several parks which are still well maintained and enjoyable today.
As well as drawing locally we some times have an outing to a neighbouring town or beauty spot so I have included a street view and some formal gardens in my selection.
My final illustration is the first piece of artwork I did when we moved in to our new house. It is a loose watercolour painting of the chimney of the house opposite.
This is one of my favourite pieces of art as it is simply done with restricted colour but is quite dramatic with the evening clouds behind. As with all sketching, it reminds me immediately of how I felt as I was painting.
I take a sketchbook and art materials wherever I go. This can be a tiny pocket book and pen or a more elaborate range with reservoir brushes, watercolour box, spray bottle, sponge, pencils, crayons, varied papers and sizes of sketch book. Kitchen paper is essential but I don’t use a rubber. Mistakes have to become part of the piece!
In general I like to work in a very simple way enjoying mark-making with brush or pen. Usually these first impressions are the best and I try to avoid over-working. Like the Haiku form in poetry, for me, ‘less is more’.
Rosemary Bradshaw
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Love your work, Rosie, it’s very evocative 💕💕💕
Hi M. L. Kappa, thank you so much for your kind comment.
And , Charlie, the ‘like’ button doesn’t work. Argh
Sorry about that, but it seems to be working fine… might have been a momentary glitch. But let me know if you’re still having trouble!
It was slow for me, a lag of 1-2 seconds, but did work.
How lovely, Rosie, to be able to capture sights so well.
Thank you so much 🙂
Rosie, your work is fascinating. I feel like I’ve visited your town square and the beautiful countryside around it. Thank you for sharing your work with us.
Thank you Sandra for your kind comment.
Lovely painting. I like your less is more style.
Thank you so much for your comment. It’s much appreciated.
Wonderful.. You seem to be having great fun and it shows in your paintings…
Thank you Ramana, I love drawing and painting, especially people I see out and about!
I really like your style Rosie, it looks very spontaneous and fresh. Thank you for sharing your work – beautiful!
Thank you so much 🙂 !
Love that you are capturing so many moments of life in your town. Beautiful work! Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful people sketches!
👌👍👌
You definitely brought life with your sketches and paintings! Thanks for sharing!
Rosie, I feel like I was there as well, love your art.😊 I have been to England one time mostly London amd Bristol. Saw stone henge feom the road it snowed that day, ha ha!
Thank you Nancy, I hope you will visit again. Those are both great cities, though with very different characters!
“Mistakes have to become part of the piece!” This is really inspiring. I need to repeat this to myself when I’m out sketching in the wild. Lovely work.
Thank you for your guided tour of your new hometown! It’s like I walked the streets with you and I enjoyed it really much 🙂
Thank you Janneke for your kind comment 🙂