Drawing, Painting, Retouching

My ten year old granddaughter, Imogen sent me these drawings by e-mail yesterday. I think her line, her shading, and her composition are exceptional.

Today we had a visit from another artist, in the form of John Jones making one of his occasional paintings of the garden.

The day was seriously hot and humid as John set about his drawing in the Rose Garden. We had been predicted a 78% chance of a shower at midday. Sure enough, a brief spell of rain arrived on time. Fortunately our friend was soon able to continue.

Raindrops adhered to several of the roses, especially For Your Eyes Only.

The agapanthuses in the Palm Bed had opened more than they were yesterday.

Jackie produced a splendid salad lunch, after which we enjoyed John’s Lindeman’s Chardonnay 2018 on the patio.

John needed a cap as the sun beat down this afternoon while he developed his painting.

Today’s retouching of the 1926 prints is one of Grandpa Hunter, Mum, and her brothers, our Uncles Ben and Roy. No-one looks very happy.

John, on the other hand looked quite pleased with his day’s work.

This evening Jackie and I enjoyed a second helping of Hordle Chinese Take Away’s excellent fare with which she drank Blue Moon while I finished the Fleurie.

68 comments

  1. How wonderful it must be to have the house and garden painted! Imogen is clearly very talented too, unusually so, I would have thought. Your mentioning that nobody looks happy in the picture reminds me how Mama used to say they had to stay very still for a long while and got in trouble if they moved. I imagine that would have been in the earlier days of photography, but perhaps something similar was going on here.

  2. How lovely to be taking the opportunity to paint when the garden is in full bloom, especially the roses. Watercolours are excellent to put this beauty on paper. Lovely post and photos Derrick, much enjoyed.

  3. A great day-trip into the artistic world.
    How is it that I have missed it being a case of ‘Snap!’ with granddaughters? I also have a talented one named Imogen, but not in art.

  4. Your granddaughter has a tremendous amount of talent…much like our friend Pauline. I can see why John is smiling, his painting is lovely. Going through old photos of my grandparents and great grandparents, I always wondered why no one really smiled.

  5. Clearly artistic talent runs in the family. Imogen’s drawings are fantastic, particularly for one of such tender years.

  6. 98% humidity in Nottingham, which I can’t ever remember having experienced before. The work of your granddaughter is, as you say, outstanding for a girl of that age. Hopefully the more she does, the better she will get. How about talking her into doing your portrait?

  7. Enjoyed your post Derrick, your friend John has great talent it seems, and must be artistically impressed to paint your garden.
    Cheers.

  8. Imogen is an amazing artist already! 🙂 It will be wonderful for you all to watch her talent continue to grow! You must frame some of her drawings and prominently feature them in your home! 🙂 (When my kids were little and produced artwork, I’d frame their art and put it on my walls to enjoy. Now I do that with my grandson’s art. 🙂 )

    John is a wonderful artist! I love his concentration, his painting, and his beaming smile! Beautiful! He brought me joy today! Thank you to John! 🙂

    OH! Sweet photo! They look like they need some snow and a big sled! 🙂 Maybe everyone wanted to go play and were like, “How much longer do we have to sit here like this?” HA! 😀 I remember saying that when the camera came out! 😮

    Your photos are lovely, as always, Derrick! Raindrops on Roses! Love that! 🙂
    HUGS!!! to all! 🙂
    PS…Now I’m thinking about Bond. James Bond. 🙂

    1. Thank you very much, Carolyn. We have framed artwork from Becky (daughter) and Flo (granddaughter). I expect Imogen’s will join them. I’m sure your analysis of the photograph’s mood is accurate. X

  9. Raindrops on For Your Eyes Only roses with a hover fly… These are a Few of My Favourite Things (along with agapanthuses!) ;–)

    Your antecedents were no doubt wishing someone had invented the Instamatic camera already! No such luck. 🙂

    I suspect there may be a career in Fashion Design awaiting young Imogen… i wish her luck. 🙂

  10. I used to suggest that you charge admission from tourists to see the garden every summer, but I suppose having an artist paint it is the nest best way for people to see your accomplishments!

  11. Quite a talented granddaughter! And it’s so wonderful to have the garden’s beauty captured by an artist. We need to celebrate our artists! You’re lucky to count them as friends and family. The roses are magnificent.

  12. I see a future artist in Imogen—what a great name! Must be a treat to paint in your gardens, and that cold salad lunch looks delicious. Just the thing for a hot summer’s day. Hope the heat hasn’t been too bad where you live.

  13. Your granddaughter’s drawings are lovely, Derrick! Sorry I have been away for a while again, but that seems to be the nature of life this summer. I enjoyed John’s painting, too. Looks like you all had a wonderful lunch and a good day in the garden.

  14. We once had our photographs taken at Windsor Station, it was some sort of Victorian day and we were iven clothes to dress in. We were also instructed not to smile, apparently Victorian’s never smiled. I assume when they were being photographed!
    The painting of your graden is beautiful, oh to have such talent. You must also be very proud of your very talented granddaughter.

  15. Imogen is indeed very talented Derrick, her drawings are exquisite. It’s a talent I wish I had. Johns painting of your garden is beautiful, another talented artist x

  16. Wonderful artwork by John and Imogen. Of course your garden is a work of art, too! The agapanthuses in the Palm Bed is exquisite.

  17. Imogen is such a cool name and so are her drawings. I’m impressed by the realism of the work for her age. I hope she’ll keep developing her obvious talent and interest as she grows up. I have just bought 3 new sets of watercolours myself and a smartly illustrated book about painting flowers. So I’ll see where that takes me. What a privilege to paint your gorgeous garden. Bravo John for persevering through rain and shine. I wonder what kind of Camera your family had back then? I should think it was a bit of a luxury to own one and then develop photo’s ! When the photo’s are from so long ago, that camera becomes a mini time machine. Cheers xK

    1. I wish you success with your own painting, Kelly. Actually I bought both Imogen and her sister, Jessica, painting kits several years ago. They have persevered. When I was 14 my grandfather gave me his old box Brownie. Perhaps this was what he was using. A nice time machine observation. Thanks very much

  18. An art-themed post! I agree with your assessment of Imogen’s talent. She’s got an eye of an artist, and so do you. Being able to host an artist in your garden must be a nice feeling. I’m glad that he shared the final result with you (and us!). Your candid photos of him at work are well done.

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