Tag Archives: tree

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone, from the Sketcher home to yours!

That’s me taking a well earned break now until Monday 9th January. Some festive family time awaits starting with a trip to see Matilda this afternoon. Have a lovely time over the holidays and join me for more sketching the city fun in 2023.

Oh and don’t forget to buy The Scotsman newspaper on Saturday to see my look back at the year in ten sketches.

Christmas creations

Enjoying some well needed family relaxation this week after a busy December.

The weeks leading up to the 25th were very busy for me with commissions, deliveries and keeping my wonderful retailers fully stocked. And although I am very grateful to be so busy I am now extremely thankful for my down time with my family, relaxing and enjoying not doing too much.

We have been very creative though, enjoying baking, lego building and fimo moulding to name a few. Also my son James received some lovely pastels from Santa and I couldn’t resist borrowing them to make this drawing of our Christmas tree.

I have a hard time doing nothing!

Botanic Lights once more illuminates and transforms the Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh

botanicslights2016_houseAs green spaces are turned orange with fallen leaves and the evenings are getting darker quicker, it is time once again to wrap up warm and head to Edinburgh’s Botanic gardens for a light show to amaze and stimulate.

After being out of the country for a week it was great to be back in Edinburgh and what better way to soak up the autumnal weather which greated us but with a walk around the Botanics. Usually a haven of peace and calm, for a short time every autumn the famous landscaped gardens are transformed into a trail of colour, sound, light and projection.

botanicslights2016_tree

There are food and drinks carts to warm you as you walk – the marsh mallows, hot chocolate and mulled wine went down very well with the Sketcher Clan.

I captured a few of the sights in my sketch book but there was so much more to see, we all enjoyed changing the colour of the trees with little touch screens, and especially the water show on the duck pond which had all the crowd gasping and cheering.

Head along to see the event which runs to November 6th, it will put you in the cosy wintry mood for sure. Book via the links below, tickets cost around £7.50 to £15.00.

botanicslights2016_bulbsilhouette

All sketches were made with black fine liner and a watercolour wash. 

Botanic Lights website

Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh website

Christmas trees out in the rain

ChristmasTrees in streetWhat a difference a few days makes at Christmas!

Once a cherished member of the festive family, centre point of the living room and decorated in twinkly baubles. Now piled on top of each other, leaning against rubbish bins in the gutter.

 

The life of a Christmas tree, in pencil. Sketched thankfully before the current rain and terrible weather started in Edinburgh.

Merry Christmas from the Sketcher household

ChristmasTree2015Merry Christmas everyone, happy holidays and all the very best for 2016.

I hope you all are enjoying the time off and those working are looking forward to a well earned break in a week or two. I have worked in the service industry myself and know what its like to be working when it seems everyone else is putting their feet up!

 

It’s been a great year for Edinburgh Sketcher, with more merchandise selling in new outlets. A wider range of avenues to work in too, from sketch classes in historical grounds to inspiring the young to draw from their imagination. I have had a sgreat year and alot of thanks has to go to you for supporting me on line and in the purchases you have made.

 

So I wish you all well in the new year. I can’t wait to get started on 2016, I will be revamping the ES website and launching a brand new one to run along side, as well as running more competitions and capturing more of Edinburgh in my sketch book.

 

Today’s sketch is a close up of the Sketcher Christmas tree, in pen and ink with a watercolour finish.

 

Loving the lazy days waiting for Christmas

ChristmasTree2014With commissions done and shelves stocked with ES goodies I can take it easy for a few days with the Sketcher family.

I love these lazy days of family games and festive films on the telly. Walks in the fresh air and cosy cuddles on the sofa, the view from which is this lovely Christmas tree the sketcher family decorated together many nights ago now.

 

It may be a little full and too colourful for some, but each trinket and bauble has a special meaning, many of them family made this year.

 

Have a great Christmas everyone, thank you for all your kind comments and support throughout 2014, a year when Edinburgh Sketcher went full time. Here is to a happy 2015 which will see new merchandise competitions and exhibitions for ES and also a lovely new website to showcase my sketches.

 

Below is the Christmas tree sketch before the watercolour wash.

 

christmastreeblack

 

Look back through my sketches of 2014 HERE

Time to recycle your Christmas tree

RecycleXmasTreeThe sad sight of unwanted Christmas trees are popping up all over the city…

 

If you had a real Christmas tree this year be sure to put it out so that the council can pick them up and recycle them. Like the owners of these trees sketched in the New Town today, have done.

 

Here is the official information from Edinburgh Council…

 

Christmas trees can be recycled at any of our three Community Recycling Centres.

If you have a brown bin or live in a brown bin area, please place your tree at the kerbside, next to your bin, by 6am on your next garden waste day. Collection days can be checked by entering an address or by postcode at http://www.greenboxday.co.uk/.

We will also be collecting trees from communal bin areas during January. Please see below for dates in your area:

• City Centre and Leith – Monday 6, 13, 20
• East – Tuesday 7, 14, 21
• North – Wednesday 8, 15, 22
• West and South West – Thursday 9, 16, 23
• South – Friday 10, 17, 24

To enable trees to be recycled, residents are reminded to:

• Remove all decorations from the Christmas tree

• If the tree is 6ft tall or more, please cut it in half

• Do not place trees in plastic bags, as this means we cannot recycle it

Pining for the North…?

MoundChristmasTreeI’m pretty sure the Christmas tree on the Mound came from Norway, which may explain its eagerness to head North this year.

 

There’s a definite lean to the splendid tree on the Mound today. Maybe it’s just the wind, or maybe it’s all the lights from Edinburgh’s Christmas markets down on Princes Street that are attracting him. What do you think?

 

It’s actually more North-East from the Mound to Norway, from where each year a Christmas tree travels as a gift to mark the assistance Scots provided Norway during  World War II. More than 7,000 exiles were based in Scotland and the help and support they received from the Scots has never been forgotten.

Colour for a tree losing its leaves

QueensPark_Tree Today I added colour to this tree, which stands tall in Queen’s Park, Edinburgh and has such a beautiful shape to it.

 

Yesterday I posted the black and white pen drawing and today this is the colour version. I scanned in the mono sketch and added the colour digitally on the laptop. I love the strong colours you can get this way and the layers you can build up, and take away.

The pen drawing got a be response on line, the simple line drawing appeals, and I think it worked against the autumn leaves which I photographed it on. You can see that photo below.

 

So how do you like it with colour?

 

TreeLeaves2