Michael Gage

Two of my linocuts have been accepted for the Royal Society of British Artists exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London: 17 March - 2 April (includes Easter weekend).



"Blackfriars" and "Bankside/Southbank", each 30 x 24cm.

It's unusually warm for January, and the sun breaks through the grey clouds long enough for me to add some shadows. While I'm drawing, a couple from Jordan approach, and ask if they can take a photo of us all together. They're so excited because it's their first trip to England, and one of the things they were looking forward to seeing was someone drawing on the streets.


Ink and watercolour, 43 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

Though Worth Park has some very attractive parts, this isn't one of them -- except when you're looking for something interesting to draw. This corner has an old skip and a collection of abandoned builders' bags, concrete blocks, and a traffic cone. Bonus: It's right next to the car park, so on a cold day, you can draw it without having to get out of the car.



Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13 cm. Click to enlarge.

Mist on Worth Way, the old railway line from East Grinstead to Worth, now a public footpath and bridleway. Lots of people and horses walking and jogging.




Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13 cm. Click to enlarge.

Under the motorway: All quiet in the January cold. The undergrowth has disappeared, and the puddle turned to ice. For the first time in this series, I had to do this picture over two sessions as it was so cold: in the first session, I drew the scene in ink and added the first layer of paint, and then in the second, I added more layers and detail.



Ink and watercolour, 31 x 23cm. Click to enlarge.

(Eighth in a series: Click here to see the rest.)

Also a picture of me at work, so you can see just how close the motorway this is!

The windmill at Outwood: built in 1665, and the oldest working windmill in Britain. It actually appears twice in this drawing.



Ink and watercolour, 35 x 13 cm.

Another exciting day with the Urban Sketchers London group.

The first drawing is the building work at Newfoundland Point, where you can see the "Shard", the "Cheesegrater", and the "Gherkin" on the horizon. The challenges here were:
1) the freezing cold wind
2) the surveyor who needed to plant his theodolite right in front of me
3) the clouds of sooty smoke belching from a vent
4) the fact that cranes move (there was actually only one orange crane)
5) did I mention the freezing cold wind?



In the afternoon, we moved to the Roof Garden above the new Crossrail Station, where it was slightly less cold!



Nonetheless, Canary Wharf is full of interesting drawing subjects and it was a great day out; many thanks to Katherine for organising it, and to everyone who came along.

Both drawings: Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm.

Winter greens in Worth Park. Another drawing that took two sessions. The first was rained off after twenty minutes. Today, the sun was at least trying to shine, but it was still so cold that I had to draw with gloves on. Which isn't easy.



Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13 cm. Click to enlarge.

Worth Church: Too cold to paint outside -- so I'll go inside. Where it's even colder, and the paint takes ages to dry. (This was drawn a few days ago, which is why the Christmas trees were still on display.)



Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13 cm. Click to enlarge.

A bitterly cold day up by the village pond. The two ducks on the island did not move the entire time that I was there, even the one in the water.  I hope they're all right.



Lingfield Pond
Ink and watercolour 31 x 23 cm. Click to enlarge.

The confused seasons: amongst the dead flowers hanging on from last year, there are already tiny green leaves sprouting on the buddleia bushes.

Too wet today to even get out of the car, so here's a corner of the car park. At least I can be fairly sure that this is the first time that anyone has drawn this view, ever.



Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

It was so cold in the wind that this drawing took two sessions. In spite of some sun breaking through the mist, I couldn't manage more than twenty minutes outside, and even then, it was a bit hurried towards the end. This is the bridge where the M23 motorway cross a footpath on the outskirts of Crawley. You can just make out the cars and lorries rushing by.



Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

One of the good things about drawing is that you notice things that you hadn't seen before. For example, I now know where I left the screwdriver.



Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.