Eating out in Paris

One of the many lovely restaurants in Paris. This one in the suburb of Bercy.

Trying out Procreate 2

If you have an iPad I reckon the best paint app by far is Procreate. I've just been trying it out since they upgraded to version 2. My only gripe with painting on an iPad is that when using a digital pen, it needs to have a 'fat' tip like a fingertip. I get on much better with fine tip like the stylus I use with my computer, so I'm not sure I'll ever get to master this beautifully designed app.

Being creative on the iPad

Paris Metro people

The pain of supervising homework

Pont Alexandre III

Trip along the Seine and coffee

Playing before school

Another tower, another sketch

Inside and outside Notre Dame while my non-acrophobic sister queued to climb up  Quasimodo's residence.

First day in Paris

My sister had never been to Paris, so a panoramic view of the city was the obvious place to start the visit. Me, I've conquered my fear of heights once by going up the Eiffel Tower in my teens, so I stayed safely on the ground sketching.

Sandridge Judo club

Summer 2013

It seems like you can go for ages without a holiday in foreign parts and then like the proverbial buses, two come along at once. A girls' holiday of culture, food and art in Paris with my lovely sister Rachel followed by a family break in Turkey. So I'll be scanning the sketches and uploading them over the next few days.

Also I really am going to give this blog some love. I've been copying all my Flickr images to Ipernity (as I really can't stand the look of the new-look Flickr and Ipernity is like Flickr used to be). Seeing all those family moments recorded in the ether remind me of how much I enjoy sketching and blogging. So, back to almost daily blogging and sketching.

Xavier reading

My ten year old son engrossed in a Darren Shan book. Personally, I'm not fond of the books but if it keeps them reading I'm happy to go with it.

Grimston Road

A friend of mine used to live in this house near to St Albans railway station. I sketched it while waiting for free parking to start before catching the train into London. St Albans to London is the most expensive rail commute (per mile) in the whole of the UK, so any saving helps to make a London visit more affordable.