"Archie"

5 x 5 inches

Gouache on watercolour paper

Here's a quick portrait sketch I did recently of my late uncle, Archie. He himself was an artist, and earned his living mainly from painting backdrops for photographers. Years ago I had the chance to see him working in his studio, and didn't realise until then just how physically demanding the work was. His huge canvases were laid out on the floor while he flitted about above them, standing, stooping, kneeling, always moving back and forth, and wielding a huge brush that was more like the tool of a painter and decorator. In stark contrast to this, he could also turn his skills to much smaller works, and in particular the very detailed, carefully crafted pen and ink drawings which he did of the local historic architecture in Melbourne, Australia, where he lived. Archie was, as they say, one of life's characters.

One of Archie's pen and ink drawings