Along the Ardeche

Labeaume, France

We're back from a holiday on the scenic banks of the Ardeche river, which carves its way through central southern France. There are gorges of impressive limestone cliffs, wooded sections and water that is deliciously cooling to swim in when the temperatures get into the 30Cs or more. Watching kayakers heading downstream, and sometimes taking an involuntary dip, is evidently a popular pastime for those lazing on the pebbled beaches.

Balazuc, France

Part of the joy of visiting this region is to search out quiet bathing spots among the trees that seem to be popular with the locals – although the drawings here of Labeaume and Balazuc, while still quiet when compared with coastal resorts, are of scenes firmly on the tourist trail.

Our six-hour journey home by train from Avignon gave plenty of opportunity for drawing fleeting scenes from the window. After spending days drawing geological formations shaped over centuries, it was invigorating to try to capture the landscape as it passed at 200mph.

From a moving train south of Paris

Portobello: a London sketchcrawl

Assorted sketchbook users from London and further afield landed on Portobello Road market on 12 July. When sketchcrawls take place in such crowded venues it can be difficult to know just how many people are taking part, but even with the massed ranks of antique buyers, fruit and veg consumers and Notting Hill location spotters, it was somehow never difficult to spot someone drawing.
Isabel Carmona, Swasky and Miguel Herranz were in town straight from their Oxford USk workshop, and it was great also to meet Inma Serrano, whose work I particularly love. (Inma and Miguel, visiting from Spain, both have drawings in Sketch Your World.) It was a scorching day, and some had fallen by the wayside by the time we took shelter in the Castle pub later in the afternoon to restore fluids and meet old and new friends.

London sketchcrawl: Portobello Road, Saturday 12 July

There's a sketchcrawl along Portobello Road, London W11, this weekend on Saturday 12 July, attended by Urban Sketchers from this week's Oxford Urban Sketchers workshop. The weather forecast isn't looking too bad, so come if you can.
The plan is to meet at around 11am at Charlie's Portobello Road cafe, which is at number 58, and finish at around 4pm at the Castle pub.
There's more information here, and a plan of the route here.
Bring your drawing materials and join us.