Helen Birch - drawdrawdraw

@drawdrawdraw.bsky.social

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Drawn to drawing. Art lecturer turned author and online art tutor https://linktr.ee/helenbirch_drawdrawdraw

A sketchbook top left containing a series of rectangular blue drawings drawn with blue coloured pencils and dip pen plus two types of blue ink. These are shown next to it. To the right a selection of sketchbook drawings and mark making experiments, plus a viewfinder - used for the source and selection of there blue drawings.
Coloured pencil head and shoulders drawing of a young Sir Elton John. He has short hair and is wearing large diamanté glasses with orange tinted glass. The drawing is made up of mainly warm tones - yellow, orange, pink. His open shirt and jacket left as a line drawing.
At the top of a photo: a white ceramic plate patterned with coloured dots. Arranged on it are 5 strawberries and 5 cherries. Below it are 2 renditions - on the left a drawing of the same in a sketchbook, on the right a collage on cream paper.
An open sketchbook + Winsor & Newton pan watercolours and travel brush. Watercolour over black ink drawing of coastal village, sea wall and beach with boats sitting on sand at low tide.
Several charcoal pencil and carbon ink line drawings of a burlesque / drag performer.
Drawing of a sunflower in a landscape oriented sketchbook. Materials used shown next to it.
Three coloured pencil, marker pen drawings, portrait format. On the left a study of the first hot air balloon made by the French Montgolfier brothers in 1783; in the middle a rare Lady's Slipper Orchid - both of these drawn from Brooke Bond Tea cards. On the right a red pencil drawing, on tan paper of a Lithuanian postage stamp. Chunky red lines done with a woody pencil.
A head and shoulders portrait built using a grid. Multi coloured 'beads' - hollow plastic circles, positioned on a peg board. Method: a photograph was posterised to help simplify the colours, a grid drawn on it, beads placed on the peg board corresponding to each square on the grid.
Three drawn portraits in a row - a smiling, bearded Morris dancer on the left - his hat bedecked in flowers and leaves; in the middle a man costumed as the Green Man - green skin, leaf moustache, green foliage all around - both of these drawn with water based markers and black pen; on the right a 2B pencil drawing of a girl. She gazes directly at us, wearing a large, pale headdress.
3 x landscape drawings. Top left mixed media on a gel print background - river between rocks; top right rocky landscape - black pen and coloured pencil on scan of old book cover. Coloured pencils and black pens used shown next to drawings. Bottom row - photo of US mountain landscape next to drawing of same - all in style of J E Yoakum.
A group of 6 animals variously drawn using brown and grey uni pin pens, 2B pencil or a fountain pen with black ink.
A loose, ink pen and tempera stick drawing of a tin of Lyle's Golden Syrup next to its subject matter. Greens and gold predominate.
A lichen covered twig drawn in a black paper, landscape oriented sketchbook. The botanical study stretches edge to edge. Image above taken in daylight, image below lit by UV light. In the latter the lichen is glowing - it was coloured with a neon green tempera paint stick pretty much invisible in natural light.
On the right the leaves and flower stalk - with bud, of a dandelion. On the left a freehand cut / collaged version of the same using green / blue printed papers.
5 cards - 3 landscape, 2 portrait format. Pen and ink line drawings of Spring botanicals in close up - variously flowers, leaves and blossom. Compositional placement of the studies suggested by the yellow / green abstract backgrounds - these I completed previously by listening to various sounds and going with the flow.
A sequence of drawings on black and white paper of ceramic forms - a plate and vases. The shapes are taken from Picasso and Miro pieces; the markings, patterns + touches of colour on them from the same, plus Tàpies & Kandinsky ie abstract patterns except one with a face (after Picasso) on the vase's main body. The drawing materials - collection of oil pastels & scraper tool shown too.
Top of image a cutting of white magnolia flower with pink lined petal centre attached to its multi stemmed branch. Below it a sketchbook rendition of the same - done with scratched back oil pastel - a grey top layer with flower coloured exposed beneath.
Drawing of a stylised ceramic bird - its body is rounded, no legs are visible. Oil pastel - shades of yellow, green, orange, blue are laid down then covered with black. The black is scraped back to reveal the colours underneath. Various crosshatching mark making reveals feather patterns, a spotted breast and wing, and a black eye. The outcome looks a little like a wood/linocut print.
6 sheets of paper - mixture of A3 and A4, most white, one black. Each piece covered with experimental mark making - all greyscale except one which employs a 'Spring' colour palette: yellows, greens and a touch of pale mauve.
Several drawings of a pineapple - black line study, acrylic pen detail in imagined colours, black brush pen on gel print backgrounds - one mauve one grey; a coloured pencil/pen drawing of the textured flesh, and lastly, a Sailor Fude pen drawing, in black ink of the leafy top of the fruit.
Three drawings of lemurs on black paper. At the top a Fork-marked lemur drawn with white gel pen and pastel pencils; in the middle an Aye-Aye - I used yellow stickers for his eyes and metallic pencils for the line work; lastly an Indri lemur - his luminous green eyes are achieved with tempera stick - everything else pastel pencil.
A small houseplant in a terracotta plant pot positioned above a spiral bound sketchbook depicting the same in pen and wash. The media of paintbox, ink bottle and pen shown as well. Plant has variegated green leaves & thin stalk topped with two delicate white flowers.
An open A5 sketchbook with a tonal, charcoal drawing study of pears (one whole, one leaving composition), and an eroded stone in a white bowl. Next to the drawing the media used to draw it - white charcoal pencils, black charcoal pencil, willow charcoal, putty rubber and blending stump.
Three stylised horse drawings. At the top a study of an historical Japanese drawing reinterpreted in tinted charcoal - blue, black and white. The horse has a dappled hide and is on a tan and gold ink background. Lower left a loose drawing from a Chinese artwork - black charcoal lines with touches of red, yellow and white. Suggestions of Chinese lettering and a red stamp added. Lower right - a red, cartoon like horse on wheels - from an Indian 20th century drawing.
Three drawings of gateau and the media used to draw them. A bright, layered cake of pink, green, blue with cherries on the top; a stick drawn gateau with fancy piping coloured with light and darker pink; lastly - a book page stained pink with a black line drawn gateau.
A flat lay of oil pastel drawings and their inspiration - the end credits of old films - black and white and colour - a mixture of upper and lower case - mostly cursive script. The drawings are layered oil pastel - the top layer black. Scratched back - tools shown - the under colour comes through.
A photo of two white plastic signs screwed to a wall. The top one a black arrow pointed to the left, below it a notice saying 'Permanent'.
Large cream/yellow sticker/info' graphic. Top left a starry edged orange sticker stating 60pence for a laundry bag - with details of which coins to insert. On the right a woman in black outline grasping a patterned 'Giant Heavy Duty' bag. From her hair and garb, she looks like she was designed at least 50 years ago.
The underwater gear of a deep sea diver - a round, brass/copper helmet with round 'porthole' in front of face and gridded/glassed similar each side of the head. Body outfitted in heavy, sealed seam canvas. Looped around the neck a thick rope from which a large, silver, horseshoe weight is suspended.
Front cover of David Hockney's book Secret Knowledge.
An excerpt from David Hockney's book: 'Secret Knowledge'. On the left 2 photo montages or 'joiners' of the same contemporary man showing 'real' and extended proportions by shifting the collage pieces. On the right a figure from a Frans Hals painting 'Meagre Company' - 1633-37, showing same use of lengthening. My demo' drawings on far right show how much taller the painted man has become.
A gathering of several botanically based oil pastel drawings on black and white paper, with a scattering of the media used to produce them. As well as pastels that includes masking tape, craft knife and a 2B mechanical pencil. The greens are saturated hues. All bright and breezy.
A photo of the lowest part of a Beech tree trunk. Its roots, on the surface of the soil, fill the majority of the picture frame. They're spread out widely with some ferns and fallen dried out orange brown fallen leaves in between the fan of roots.
A red winged moth - Chrysoclista Linneella - wings closed. Black spots and back 'fringing' on them. Head of moth pointing directly upwards. It has long black antennae, and legs which are considerably shorter. Drawn with loose charcoal lines and painted with equally loose watercolour. Some splashes of red paint splattered to echo the black dots of the wings.
A mirrored photograph of a purple mauve hydrangea flower. New forms arise because of the symmetry caused by flipping the image down the centre.
A flat lay arrangement of magnolia flowers and beetle drawings. Flowers drawn from life - specimens shown; shiny, green beetles from photographs. Materials used are laid out too: acrylic pens - pink, pale green, white; biro/bic pens - dark and light green, black and pink - they help add the metallic sheen to the beetles' carapace; and dip pen plus a bottle of black ink. Drawings are done on tracing paper and deli paper - so that the flowers and beetles can be layered together in different configurations.
Winter trees silhouetted against a roofline and sunset sky - orange, mauve, pale yellow.
A photo of winter trees in black silhouette against a vivid pink and mauve sky. Taken 11 December 2025 at 07:52:10
A short (time lapse) demo' video of me painting an architectural facade. Art Nouveau / Gaudi / old Havana, Cuba like source material. Pinks, yellows, blues. Loose lines and paint application.
Photo of plastic objects / toys in a shop window. A grey 'Thomas the Tank Engine' toy on the left, stacked robot figurines on the right. Between them a turquoise dressed Queen Elizabeth II, with pink scarf and pearl necklace. She's wearing white gloves and has a handbag hooked over her left arm. The right is used to make a royal wave.
A wooden table top with five 'boats' on it. They're shaped from hardy and tough green grass that grows on the uplands of UK moorland. The stems have been creased, bent and shaped in to simple boat shapes. The upper parts of the stem - the greener part is then woven through the bent stem so that the boat retains its shape.
A coloured pencil drawing of a white dotted blue ceramic plate with three quarters of a cut orange arranged on it.
A crusty, round, brown loaf of bread - deep fissures baked in to the surface - which is sprinkled with rolled oats. Photo taken from above. The loaf sits on a grey textured surface.
A flat lay of media and drawings - three Dalmatians on black and white paper, two cartoon like dogs after the work of Yayoi Kusama on red/brown. Media includes: hole punch, circle cutter, acrylic pens, coloured pencils, masking tape, sheets of coloured stickers.
A photo of a giant floor painting in progress. Top right corner we can see the foot and lower leg of the artist plus the long handled paint brush they are drawing on the ground with. The bristles are loaded with white paint. A thistle flower is already sketched in - white paint over preliminary red chalk lines. The artist is working on the plant's leaves.
A loose line and wash drawing of a chihuahua sat down gazing to the left. He's wearing a harness. His eyes and nose utilise the darkest tone of blue.
The head of a dog looking down in to the camera, sat against a blue sky. He has a silver grey snout with floppy black ears and a black patch of fur over his right eye. He sits bottom left in the frame, his head going off the frame - no nose! - the photo is about his gaze at us.
Two landscape format sketchbooks resting on a large scale drawing of a winter tree. Each of the sketchbooks has four drawings of sections of tree trunks. The bottom one all black and white, the top with washes and lines of colour. Each drawing 'in the style of either: 'Georgia O'Keeffe, Constable, William Blake or Samuel Palmer
The head and shoulders of a man wearing a red hat and dark green tunic. He has long, wavy brown hair. He's holding a large gold seal - thumbs at top, fingers wrapped below. A distant, flat landscape can be seen behind him.
Sunflower with half of its yellow petals missing, laid on a wooden table top. Beneath it a drawing of the same. Yellow and green added loosely with tempera paint sticks. Black ink pen used to define detail.
Sweet treats and a handful of nuts. Top left a cream topped ginger cake on a blue saucer; centre top a marzipan, stem ginger topped petit four in dark brown, frilled paper case; to the right a chocolate rum truffle in pink paper case, bottom right corner - un-cracked brazil nuts and almonds. All are positioned near their watercolour, water soluble graphite, brown pen versions.
A collage of broad beans - some drawn / monoprinted in green ink, some photographed from the actual vegetable - both cut out and arranged on a scanned / printed blue plate. The plate is photographed from above ie it’s a full circle fitting its square format equally edge to edge.
Apples and tomatoes on a wooden table top accompanied by a drawing of the same - the former at the top, the latter below. The 2 apples are mostly red, the one with more green has a gnawed wasp hole in its side. 3 cherry tomatoes super ripe and red.
Watercolour studies of stylish looking Auricula flowers. Loved by the Victorian botanical world for their bright colours. On the left a green petalled version with yellow centre against a black background; on the right - one with magenta/peach/cream variegated petals and a yellow centre, against a more washy purple black background.
An open sketchbook. Drawings show gradual consumption of a red/green apple - one bite at a time. Left page - whole apple, one bite taken. Moving clockwise, on to the right page each of the 3 studies signifies another bite. Back to the left page, and the last 2 drawings take us down to the core. Red and green tempera stick applied loosely, black pen used over the top to 'pull' the gradually consumed apple observations together.
Felt tip and fine black pen drawing of lorikeet (parakeet like) - a bright green backed bird with blue head and red breast. The bright feathers are accompanied by a red beak and eye. It turns its head sideways, stepping downwards and towards us, looking quizzically whilst balancing on one brown clawed leg.
Coloured pencil studies of the heads and shoulders of four teddy bears - all facing us - in landscape format sketchbook, two per page - one large, one small teddy on each. Middle pair wearing pink/red ribbons around their necks.