What’s around the bend? The very point at which the road (or river, come to think of it…)
disappears from view, the geometry of perspective rudely blocked by hedges, buildings, hillside or trees, there lies the fascination. Seeing what you’ve not seen before…could there be that perfect view, the dynamic and satisfying arrangement of shapes, or something new to satisfy the curiosity?

 

This first drawing is taken from a sketch made on a very cold, dull afternoon in Essex,
and the second drawing is from over the border in Hertfordshire. Both views have a lane dipping down and then rising up and away around the bend, and both feature neatly trimmed high hedges and in the Herts lane, manicured and neat ditches. Not exactly wild and rugged landscape, but I seem to find our compulsion to ‘tidy up’ the countryside graphically interesting, which is maybe why I chose to use coloured pencils, to imitate that control…

Keeping it simple
The two sketchbook pencil drawings below are from my home turf in Dorset. This day there was warm bright sunshine, combined with a cold breeze and buzzards calling high up over my left shoulder.

In the second drawing, early spring Galanthus snowdrops were in bloom on the shaded grass bank, and as I stood in the middle of the road under a large beech, the shadows cast by its branches danced across the lane and up onto the sun soaked grass…