Landscape Architecture

A set of quick sequential sketches of a hut on the path to the beach at Par in Cornwall.  

As the storms subsided, debris deposited on the sand by the waves created these lovely fractal patterns. Rhythmic and mesmerising!  

The effects of wind and waves on the sand is shown here. Strong winds were blowing the dry sand over the ridges created by the waves leaving a seemingly smooth surface....until the dog ran across it! Ripples visible on the surface of the water show how strong the wind was that day. Big ridge patterns,  created by the big seas, revealed by the ebbing tide, allowed seaweed and seawater to settle into the spaces.  After a couple of calmer days the patterns in the sand changed, becoming more uniform and shallower. More patterns created in the sand but this time by the sea life that lives hidden beneath. Not all sea life made it through the storms as the remains of this sea anemone demonstrate.   The sea can be a hostile environment especially during stormy weather yet those storms can create a beautifully hypnotic and tactile environment. I've always been fascinated by the power of the sea and spent hours as a child watching the waves. It gives and it takes, it comes and it g...

It was suggested that we try using a fountain pen to draw with, and that the scratchier the pen the better. So I bought a cheap pen and set about making a mess, not deliberately but that's what happened. It was a very scratchy mess. Puts my teeth on edge just thinking about it! I found the pen difficult to use without getting ink everywhere and the scratchy nib was horrible to draw with. Rather than give it up as a bad job I decided to embrace the ink blobs and use a smudging technique. I quite like the results but I might look for a better quality pen. Can't be doing with the noise of that nib.   

 A range of quick sketch tree shapes. One of the drawing exercises from Landscape Graphics by Grant W. Reid. Each one took 20 - 30 seconds.

I drew an abstract pattern with Promarkers and gave it some definition with a fine liner. I then photographed it to see how it would look in a perspective view. I scanned it and used photoshop to give me a perspective view and then sketched over it to create a scene. I'll keep the original image in a pattern library. You never know when it might come in useful.