2026 Ferens Art Gallery

 I am so pleased, ecstatic, to be awarded first prize. Hoping to visit soon to collect my award.

St. Mary’s Church, south aisle ‘Sharpie’ sketch.

Traveling home from Thixendale, a detour found me at South Dalton. I had a thought to try another ‘Sharpie’ Pen exercise and stopped at St. Mary’s Church. Using a 12 x 10 inch canvas board which I had primed with Michael Harding raw umber transparent acrylic ground, I started to look for a view to sketch. The proportions of the board meant that the large east and west windows would not have worked. I needed a more modest subject. Then I saw the sun lighting up the south aisle window. This was a good subject for the board proportions, the window, perspective and lectern supported on an elaborate brass stand would be the main elements. Using the ‘Sharpie’ pen is  excellent  for recording the main elements and proportions, it also helps on develop a sharper way, perhaps a ‘Sharpie’ way of looking. You are discouraged from trying to record any fine detail. I sketched, methodically, the main window, followed by the enveloping arch, then the pews. I left some of these pews detail vague as my main focus was the window, lectern and also the perspective. I made mental notes regarding the colour and shade adding these later at home. The floor is tiled with an elaborate repeating pattern which I only suggest here. Looking at the sketch I can see areas which I would otherwise have detailed much more, yet, as it is it has a value, a charm of it’s own. I also like the notion that this view is one which is often overlooked.

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The calendar is A4 format opening to A3 when opened up. Email me if you would like a copy. £12 including p+p via bank transfer - details by return email.
Video link here showing the format and paintings

If you would like a 2027 calendar, please complete.

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​BOOKS

Below are art books, Except for the sketchbook, which is intended as a simply that, the rest are an immersive, literary and artistic experience. They are much more than simple art books, they are informative, in part a diary, a record of the countryside through observation and notes. Each is fabulously produced in hard back. More details on my blog.

If you would like a book, please complete.

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2027 John Geekie calendar

The calendar is A4 format opening to A3 when opened up. Email me if you would like a copy. £12 including p+p via bank transfer - details by return email.

Video link here showing the format and paintings

If you would like a 2027 calendar, please complete.

​

Your Name:

E-mail:

Your postal address to receive your 2027 calendar:


 

​BOOKS

Below are art books, Except for the sketchbook, which is intended as a simply that, the rest are an immersive, literary and artistic experience. They are much more than simple art books, they are informative, in part a diary, a record of the countryside through observation and notes. Each is fabulously produced in hard back. More details on my blog.

If you would like a book, please complete.

​

Your Name:

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Now then Flower…

…. as my late father was wont to say. Here are some quick studies made on 7x5 inch canvas board. The weather outside is now bright after a shower, it is October and I am recovering from Covid. Producing these simple observational studies has been a perfect distraction. Click the image above to see a short video on which I add a talk over. 

Essential points are

1    Michael Harding raw umber transparent ground

2    7x5 inch canvas boards

3    Winsor and Newton professional acrylic paint

_________________________________________

BOOKS

Below are art books, Except for the sketchbook, which is intended as a simply that, the rest are an immersive, literary and artistic experience. They are much more than simple art books, they are informative, in part a diary, a record of the countryside through observation and notes. Each is fabulously produced in hard back. More details on my blog.

If you would like a book, please complete.

​

Your Name:

E-mail:

Postal address to where the book is to be dispatched. Also please specify which book (title) you would like:


 

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2027 calendar preview - March

A less seen view, of a distant Castle Howard. When I see this, I remember dear Waggott.

The calendar is A4 format opening to A3 when opened up. Email me if you would like a copy. £12 including p+p via bank transfer - details by return email.

Video link here showing the format and paintings

If you would like a 2027 calendar, please complete.

​

Your Name:

E-mail:

Your postal address to receive your 2027 calendar:

​BOOKS

Below are art books, Except for the sketchbook, which is intended as a simply that, the rest are an immersive, literary and artistic experience. They are much more than simple art books, they are informative, in part a diary, a record of the countryside through observation and notes. Each is fabulously produced in hard back. More details on my blog.

If you would like a book, please complete.

​

Your Name:

E-mail:

Postal address to where the book is to be dispatched. Also please specify which book (title) you would like:

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Summer memories

 

Well it’s a Sunday morning, and I am looking at the garden in October. There is still quite a lot of colour hanging on, the salvia‘s are looking great still. The sunflowers have gone to seed mostly, some defiant strands of yellow remain fringing the disc heads. Leaves litter the grass from nearby trees, pale umber on fresh grass green. It is a time of change. The long summer days are passed. It reminded me of an old drawer painting I had done in the summer of 24. It was an experiment using acrylic paint and large canvases. My intention was to create something that one could walk along-side, almost getting a feeling of being inside the painting. I’ve had a few thoughts since about how it could be experienced. Quite exciting. Anyway, I thought this would be a distraction for you as we move into late autumn to remember what summer was like brackets (though this was in the summer of 24). Best wishes to everyone.

__________________________________________

BOOKS

Below are art books, Except for the sketchbook, which is intended as a simply that, the rest are an immersive, literary and artistic experience. They are much more than simple art books, they are informative, in part a diary, a record of the countryside through observation and notes. Each is fabulously produced in hard back. More details on my blog.

If you would like a book, please complete.

​

Your Name:

E-mail:

Postal address to where the book is to be dispatched. Also please specify which book (title) you would like:


 

​

SUMPTIOUS art books

Please complete short form below - invoice will be sent with payment details. Prices from blog site.

 
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If you would like a book, please complete, with book details.

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2027 Calendar preview February.

 The calendar is A4 format opening to A3 when opened up. Email me if you would like a copy. £12 including p+p via bank transfer - details by return email.

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Video link here showing the format and paintings

Below are art books, also for sale. Each is fabulously produced in hard back. More details on my blog.

If you would like a book, please complete, with book details.

​

Your Name:

E-mail:

Postal address to for the book to be sent to:


 

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Late sunflowers 2

Late sunflowers, hanging on, still standing in October.

Late sunflowers.

 Sketching on a black background is quite freeing. The background on this particular picture was quite dark in any case so it sort of works. This is only a very quick iPad sketch made while I am recovering from Covid. I hope it simply amuses you and perhaps encourages some of you to paint on a black background. Of course this can be a bit confusing, but using acrylics, gouache or oils would get round that. And of course, pastel artists use black backgrounds all the time. Anyway, it is just a little diversion.

Thixendale Dale path.

 No sign of G + C today as I had driven over to update my ‘Thixendale Dale path - over a year’. Hopefully, it will be an animation reflecting the seasons and events. 

Below are art books, also for sale. Each is fabulously produced in hard back. More details on my blog.

2027 calendar preview January

As requested, and probably my last year of producing a calendar, here is my 2027 calendar. It is designed to hang on a wall from a punched hole ( can just be seen below my name). The calendar is A4 format opening to A3 when opened up. Email me if you would like a copy. £12 including p+p via bank transfer - details by return email.

Video link here showing the format and paintings

Below are art books, also for sale. Each is fabulously produced in hard back. More details on my blog.

 

2027 John Geekie Calendar

As requested, and probably my last year of producing a calendar, here is my 2027 calendar. It is designed to hang on a wall from a punched hole ( can just be seen below my name). The calendar is A4 format opening to A3 when opened up. Email me if you would like a copy. £12 including p+p via bank transfer - details by return email.

Video link here showing the format and paintings

Below are art books, also for sale. Each is fabulously produced in hard back. More details on my blog.

Beverley Minster lost view.

In 2012 I made several half imperial ( 15x22 inch) watercolour sketches. It was an attempt to record scenes which were to change as housing developments materialised. This is a view from the ancient Willow Lane to the south of Beverley. At the time Willow Lane ran, unchanged from to Long Lane. Before Voase Way bisected it. At this time David was still keeping his cattle and horses, later only Milo. Now the cattle shed is slowly being left to decay. Though the field remains where the cattle and horses were  kept it is under constant pressure to be redeveloped. Personally, I have a naive  dream that it could become a wildlife refuge, thus linking with nearby Keldmarsh Nature Reserve. Perhaps a mix of development could still provide a corridor alongside the chalk stream flowing from the reserve. This view is from near the Long Lane end of Willow Lane. I am looking across scrubland, now developed, towards the Minster. The large tree was felled when WOODMANSEY MILE was extended to cross Long Lane and Mill Dam stream. So though a modest subject it has a lot of meaning, especially for Willow Lane walkers and also, as a sense of history, for people living in the new housing developments.

Available for sale £75 including p+p

Below are art books, also for sale. Each is fabulously produced in hard back. More details on my blog.

Loaningdale T junction….with a ‘Sharpie’

 Actually, this is the third painting of the day. I sketched using a sharpie pen and then add it acrylic colour all at the site. I used a 12 x 10 canvas board on which I had a Michael Harding ground, Pozzuoli red. I have painted this collection of trees several times, usually in oil and usually 12 or 14 x 10“. I did do a double large canvas sometime ago using a French easel. I think the canvases were about 3‘ x 2‘ but anyway the exercise today was to go to THIXENDale. I want you to update my iPad drawing of Thixendale. It has been an about three weeks, give-and-take since I was there. With the iPad sketch more or less finished I headed to Burdale, and did a painting near Raisthorpe. Then I drove to Burdale ( painting below) and did a sketch of the distant stable. On the way home, I did this one ( above). It is an interesting exercise to use a ‘Sharpie’ pen to sketch out these views, the thickness of the felt tip making detailing tricky which I think is a good thing. It makes one concentrate on the essentials. Then I added acrylic colour with a number 8 flat hog. It’s a nice way to get something done very quickly.

Here is the picture of Burdale the ash tree on the roadside on the right hand side looks well. It casts a long shadow across the field. A smaller ash tree hidden by the big one produces another shadow, telling me it is there. In the distance, the stable can be seen where in the past Nettie was stabled.

Click image to see a short video. Your chance to have your own copy

Steep climb at Raisthorpe, near Burdale

This is one of three quickly painted scenes on canvas boards. I had prepared all of the boards with Michael Harding Pozzuoli transparent acrylic ground. Then I used a ‘Sharpie’ pen and sketched a necessarily simplistic drawing. I added acrylic paint, at the venue, using a largish number 8 flat hog. I wanted the paintings to be freer than my usual detailed work. I saw a trailer park and drop off some people who turned out to be beaters. All but one climbed the steep hillside before spacing out in a line. Birds were driven towards the road where a man stood with a cerise flag. As the birds dropped down the hillside he waved his flag forcing the birds to fly higher over the road. Then I heard the guns responding. On the road a group of phlegmatic grouse searched for food.

Click image to see a short video. Your chance to have your own copy

Kirkham Abbey, It’s a ruin.

September 19th, third sketch of the day. I descended the narrow, steep road to Kirkham and was surprised to find the rail crossing barriers down. A modern, swish train was on its way to Scarborough. It may have been a trans-Pennine from Lime Street, Liverpool.  Stopping at Kirkham Priory after visiting  Castle Howard I parked near the Priory. My attention was grabbed by seeing people jumping from the bridge over the deep River Derwent. Not far away from here, up river is the fascinating hydroelectric Archimedes screw project run by the Howsham Mill renewable Heritage Trust. I had visited some time ago with a dear friend, now deceased, who introduced me to M and his wife. M was one of several people who drove the project forward, overcoming many problems.  The young men jumping into the river carried on. It is a significant leap and I worried about submerged hazards. Looking at this old ruined  entrance ( no charge to wander on this day) I decided to try and sketch it. I noted the shallow puddles which reflected the facade. As I was working a family group stopped and we chatted briefly. So, if you see this it was lovely meeting you all. The late September day proved exceptionally warm and as I sketched I could see cattle roaming the ‘greened’ up pasture adjacent to the river. They looked well conditioned as they walked by the ruined Priory. They were prevented from entering the Priory by a ha-ha. Though this sketch shows what remains of the entrance, the ruins inside the grounds are rather extensive and well worth a visit.The site is under the custodianship of English Heritage who charge for entry, though as I have said, it was free to roam today. As I was leaving I remembered P and her father with whom I had chatted earlier about art. I stopped a group who were entering and asked if they would pass on a book for P. They happily agreed and it was confirmed later that the delivery was indeed successful.

Pausing, 

Looking down

At the water,

Bare chested, 

Standing on a thin stone lip,

Holding the parapet behind,

He looks down.

The young man waits,

Considering,

Speculating.

Then with a small push,

He is airborne,

Gravity and fate combine

To create an explosive splash.

He disappears 

In a mist of bubbles 

Time is stretched,

Where is he?

Is he safe?

A head pops up, to the sound of

Cheers from peers,

 He swims to the shore.

Books available

Art books featuring the Yorkshire Wolds ( Low and High) full of paintings done at various venues. Video here of the HIGH WOLDS book.  Other books feature panoramic sketching using a concertina sketchbook, a Yorkshire sketchbook and how to paint plein air and make your own painting box

Nunnington Hall, Ryedale.

September 19th, second 12 x 10 ‘Sharpie’ sketch of the day, was made possible by sitting in a deckchair on the lawn. This was challenging, where should I start and would it fit in? I looked hard at the symmetry and was concerned that the right hand gable looked narrower than the left. But it appeared as shown, maybe it was some kind of perspective distortion? This image appears a little pink, the original is fine. Again, detail is limited to the essential information. The ‘Sharpie’ pen is not designed for detailing especially on smallish canvases. It was lovely to see people enjoying the bright sunny weather, wandering through the garden, bringing it to life. It had rained earlier so the change was very welcome. To my left up a slight incline is an apple orchard. Signs telling people not to pick them from the trees also stated that, fallen apples could be taken away. I popped into the cafe on the ground floor and had a …’vegetarian cream scone’ it was delicious. I like to visit  Nunnington Hall if I am in the area. The car park is wonderfully shaded. It makes me remember George who died 17th April, I find I am missing him more and more. He was my last Briard, having had them for 50 years. He and my previous dogs loved walking the grounds, exploring, sniffing and taking in all the sights. We would cross the river which bounders the car park. Originally a flat wooden bridge, now it is superseded by a modern arching bridge, a composite structure of metal and wood. When crossing I pause and stare down looking for fish. Sometimes, if the water isn’t coloured I see some trout.

Acrylic on canvas board.

Books available

Art books featuring the Yorkshire Wolds ( Low and High) full of paintings done at various venues. Video here of the HIGH WOLDS book.  Other books feature panoramic sketching using a concertina sketchbook, a Yorkshire sketchbook and how to paint plein air and make your own painting box

Poplars Near St. Gregory’s Minster.

 After visiting Mathewson’s, to look at classic cars I headed west towards Helmsley. The sign to Kirkdale is small and easily missed. I remembered visiting St. Gregory’s Minster, an ole Saxon church dating back to 1060. That, though is for another time. Today I again took the road to Kirkdale remembering a view of some poplars. Just before a bridge, a field gateway allowed me to pull off the road where I could see this view. I had a canvas board and a ‘Sharpie’ pen. I wanted to capture the scene. It is, in a way reminiscent of  a painting by Monet of the Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil, inasmuch as the dominant feature is the trees. Here a field which had been full of wheat in the summer, stood harvested and being prepared for another crop. The interesting patterns of field preparation creates lines that criss cross. Tractor tyre marks turn and head for the gateway in which I stand. The land is not flat, it rolls down and up to the trees. The sky is grey. As I stood making this sketch the wind was strongly gusting making me remember a previous visit with a pochade box. On that occasion the wind ‘stopped play’. Today, holding the canvas board, I could cope with the malicious cyphers. This is another sketch painting using a ‘Sharpie’ on a 12 x 10 inch board. At the moment I am enjoying the freedom of making these quick sketches, as the pen prevents one from adding too much detail. The essential elements of the composition focus one’s mind in a refreshing way.

Books available

Art books featuring the Yorkshire Wolds ( Low and High) full of paintings done at various venues. Video here of the HIGH WOLDS book.  Other books feature panoramic sketching using a concertina sketchbook, a Yorkshire sketchbook and how to paint plein air and make your own painting box

Angels sing at Beverley Minster

Friday 18th September, popped into Beverley Minster with a couple of canvas boards and a Sharpie pen. Walking to the east end passing through Lady Chapel I stopped at St. Katherine’s Chapel, a place of quiet reflection. Earlier when I arrived I was pleased to see an old friend and we spoke for a few minutes. Here in the Chapel a circle of chairs invited reflection. I sat near the resting place of Benjamin Lambert (d1772) , looking up I saw a complicated tracery of lines created by columns, arches, vaulting and monumental structures. Sitting on a chair I briefly pondered the situation, could I draw it? Where to start? What to include? I considered it as an exercise and it would be a good challenge. So I started. I began by sketching the two far windows. These would then scale the rest of the elements. The sketch is just that, it is not meant to be a ‘complete’ picture. It is meant to invite the eye to ‘look’ more at our surroundings. Of course the history, skill of the builders is fascinating and humbling and being here, inside the building we become part of that history. On the way here I stopped at an art exhibition in the south aisle by two artists which impressed me. Then I stopped at some plaques dedicated to people from the East Riding who had died in far away places,  Egypt, South Africa, Barbados, South Afghanistan and more. I read all the names.  Perhaps this had made me reflect, prompting this sketch. As I was close to finishing, angelic sounds permeated the building. A choir was singing in the main part of the church. I stopped and wandered back to the Nave. A large crowd were seated. The smell of soup wafted around me, then I remembered. It was a lunchtime concert. I walked over to the war memorial plaques and sat on a stone ledge. From here I could see singers arrive and begin to perform. They were Opera 17. Very accomplished and I decided to make a very quick sketch to capture the moment. 

Here is my sketch with colour added.

This is my very quick sketch of Opera 17 performing their lunchtime concert.

 

Check out this ART book

 

Click image to see a short video.

Beswick Hall

Click image to see it grow from start to finish.

Books available

Art books featuring the Yorkshire Wolds ( Low and High) full of paintings done at various venues. Video here of the HIGH WOLDS book.  Other books feature panoramic sketching using a concertina sketchbook, a Yorkshire sketchbook and how to paint plein air and make your own painting box.