Seen from the Twickenham side of the river.

This is one of four figures standing around the monument, surely one of the most powerful war memorials anywhere. This is The Driver.

That's her name, or so she told us all at the drawing group.

Here's a very famous view, over the Thames from Richmond Hill.

This was drawn while I was in Amsterdam at the international Urban Sketchers Symposium.

This statue stands in front of Ham House. It's made of Coade stone, a synthetic stone manufactured and sold by Mrs Coade, back in the 18th century. The recipe was lost for 200 years, but rediscovered recently after chemical analysis.

I've drawn this several times over the years. It's the gateway to Richmond Palace, dating from Henry the 7th's time. Elizabeth the 1st died here. During and after the civil war much of it was pulled down, so there's not much left now.

I like to practise by copying masters from the past. This is from Rue Transnonian, by Daumier, 1834. At first sight it might be a Hogarthian satire on drunkenness, but it's much darker. It'a actually about a massacre of cirizens by soldiers, in their own hones, in Paris that year. I drew it with a Fude pen.

The V&A's cast courts are one on the wonders of London. I spent an afternoon there and drew these: Brutus, by Michelangelo; Madonna and Child, also by Michelangelo; and a woman whose sculptor I forgot to note down, but who is French, 19th Century.

I was invited by my friend Nikki Clapp, who has a studio on the island, to show some drawings at the Eel Pie Island open weekend, 8-9th December. So here's the studio, with some of my drawings on display. One of the sales was the brown ink drawing of boats moored on the island that is here on the blog further down.

This is Lieut. Walter Richard Pollack Hamilton VC, who died in Kabul in 1879. Well, it's really a statue of him, in the National Army Museum in London, where it's hidden away almost as if they were embarrassed by it. 

These are the steps from Church Lane. Drawn on the spot, pen and watercolour.

This wreck of a boat is on the marshes at Blakeney, north Norfolk. It looks like it's been there for years, slowly merging with the mud.

This is one of two drawings of mine that have been shortlisted in a competition held by The Richmond Magazine. The other was Boats Moored at Eel Pie Island, posted on here earlier.
There's an online vote for 'the people's' choice, and mine and all the other shortlisted pictures can be seen here: https://www.essentialsurrey.co.uk/art-comp/

The river isn't just pretty, it's a working river. This floating crane was moored up at Twickenham for several days. On the day I drew it, I started when it was lying on the riverbed tilted an an angle, and when I finished the water was lapping over the embankment.

Drawn on the spot and worked up later. I liked the confusion of boats, in varying states of dilapidation, and the old cabin in the woods on the island.

Here we have two of Twickenham's famous Naked Ladies. They are part of a strange tableau in the gardens by the river, quite a surprise when you first come across them.  There's a local beer named after them: twickenham-fine-ales.co.uk/regulars/

There's an old boat winch somewhere in there. Now it's all arranged as a large garden ornament.

Drawn on the spot, on another cold day. It's a beautiful church, inside and out, a mix of medieval (the tower) and 18th century (the red brick nave).

That would be in Twickenham. Actually, it's on Eel Pie Island, and this is the view of it from the Twickenham shore.

Here is an unexpected trophy on the riverside: a shark's head. It's suspected to be plastic.

This, I was told, is the top of a trawler, converted to a house. It was brought up the river, craned onto the island (see the crane, below) and is now someone's home.

At least that's what my children called it, because of the elaborate metalwork around the windows. The entrance under the house leads to a large basin with many boats moored in it. It was a freezing day in December when I drew this.