A pen study of part of an old farmhouse.

Embarking on a long journey...

I have been experimenting again...here's a self portrait using a stipple effect. UniPin fibre tips 0.1, 0.5 & 0.8.
 The photos below show the various stages of the drawing from pencil outline to building up of the shadows and tones.
It took about 5 or 6 hours in total.

Stairs leading down into the Seine.

A little rendering I did last night using Unipin fineliners

This morning the sun was out so I walked up to this high point near the Sacré Coeur church for a view over the rooftops. I started with the smaller study (second photo) and then did a larger one of the same scene (A4 size). It was quite blowy and there were a lot of people about. It might be interesting to try and redo this scene at home where I can spend more time on it...

 On the way back I ducked into La Tiborna, rue Durantin, for a hot chocolate, and to dry off. I ended up spending the evening there and two glasses of wine later (Mar de Lisboa 2012), I staggered home :-) I drafted the scene out in pencil first then inked it in using a variety of pens from thick to thin...

 I was unlucky with this one :-) The heavens opened and I crouched under my umbrella trying to keep the rain of the page. A bit of a learning experience. I realized that too much Burnt Umber in mixes leads to muddy colours. Better to use Burnt Sienna. It got off to an interesting start (see second photo) - perhaps I should have stopped there ;-)
I reworked it a lot when I got home later.

A watercolur sketch of the Piccolo Toscana restaurant, 10 Rue Rochambeau. I knelt on the pavement opposite to do this, hoping it wouldn't rain just yet. The owner of the restaurant saw me there and offered me a coffee!

This is a drawing from when I was studying in Cardiff in Wales in 1990 (!). Long time ago...
I used a Rötring pen with a 0.25mm nib if I remember rightly.

Another watercolour study....now I can eat it!

...and here's a close-up...