The International Friday 13th December

Good news prior to the third meeting at Cheltenham this season - thanks to the excellent Sophia Brudenell at the racecourse to whom I was introduced by my friend racecourse photographer Gavin James, I had a press pass for this meeting!

Listed as 'Artist' - very good! This enabled me to stroll into the racecourse, flash the pass at security and nod 'alright boss'.

This was the International meeting, which ran Friday and Saturday. It was very windy on Friday but initially quite bright, before the clouds and rain snuffed out the light. I tried to catch the long shadows cast by the punters against the winter sun:

I bought a moleskine sketchbook for this meeting. I like moleskines for pencil drawing as they have a sort of coated paper which works quite well; however, I found the fast movement at the racecourse doesn't really suit pencil drawing, and I soon regretted not having bigger pages. Anyway, punters:

I tried my calligraphy fountain pen, a makeshift drawing solution if ever there was one. The ink sort of floats on the coated paper. One of my aims for the new year is to build myself a proper portable dip pen and some way of holding an inkwell standing up. Anyway, this drawing was looking down over a balcony to get the punters deliberating over betting at the bookmakers behind the grandstand:

I then realized my press pass would get me into the parade ring, where the 'connections' gather and hobnob before and after the race, scrutinizing the racehorses, trainers and jockeys. This consortium of owners wasn't happy with their horse's performance as it replayed on the big screen:

 

 I mingled with the great and good and tried to draw them without noticing:

The great champion jockey AP McCoy and JP McManus, the millionaire owner who retains McCoy. They've gathered before so many races I wonder what they have left to say to each other; actually they barely spoke. Nicky Henderson the trainer was standing in between, but he moved on before I could draw him:

Of course, it started raining as soon as I started to draw Mike Tindall and Zara Phillips (who I couldn't even start as it began to hack it down):

I retreated to under the jockey's weighing room awning, and proceeded to attempt to draw them as they weighed in. Their 10 seconds or so on the scales must be about the only time during the day when they actually stand still, unless they are lucky enough to win a race and have to pose for photos or, like this chap, don't have a ride and have to kill time watching the race on telly:

Nina Carberry's head. The rest of her (invisible) is standing on the scales, weighing in:

This steward's job seemed to consist of opening and closing the door and manning the rope that seals off the jockeys' room: 

 

More AP McCoy. He occasionally pauses to watch his performance on the big screen: 

These two journalists were performing some piece to camera or voice-over outside the weighing room. I neglected to note down their channel, of course, so can't check who they are. I ought to know this stuff...

The horses do the parade-ring circuit to give everyone a good look before each race. It's also where the jockeys mount their rides:

This is a view from the weighing room steps. By this time the weather was pretty horrible, so I was glad to finish for the day:

The Open Meeting

Cheltenham's second big race meeting of the season was the Open meeting on 15th, 16th and 17th November:

This was the first drawing I did - using my excellent new marker fluid pen which puts gummy green lines down on the page which take an age to dry BUT which protect the paper from whatever you are drawing with - so has the nice effect of enabling me to 'draw white' in advance, which I used here for the white rails in the background and the bookie's lettering.

Three old boys planning their next move.

I'm quite pleased with these two old girls, drawn in the break between races in the parade ring.

This is actually Mick Fitzgerald waiting to do his piece on camera.

Spectators watching the race on the big screen and with binoculars.

Punters loitering on the lawn in front of the Grandstand in between races.

I drew this more or less during one race again using my marker fluid pen and my brush pens. I used a lot more colour during this meeting with my new tools. I tried to get the bright orange of the bookie's pitches in the dying evening light.

Drinkers loitering at one of the bars under the Grandstand on Saturday evening.

Sunday morning - a group of 'lads' in the Best Mate enclosure.

Guy Fraser - 'bet with the jacket, win a packet!' I did, and I didn't.

Cor blimey - it's David Hockney, at the races.

The criss-cross rails marking out the different courses on the track, and the hills in the background.

Bookies packing up their pitches at the end of Sunday's racing.

Pretty much my entire sketchbook from the three days has gone up here bar a few aborted drawings. I was feeling fairly grotty for the duration with the lurgy so am pleased I managed to get a fair bit done.

I will return and pick some things out to assess and develop over the next few days. But now I need to get the --- away from this computer at which I have been scanning and formatting for an age!

stencil colour experiment

A couple of experiments using paper stencils and gouache colour - applied with paper tissue in absence of a sponge! Might be a useful technique for applying colour to drawings in future.