The latest sketchbook has mostly been involved with a longer-than-usual family summer break to the Greek islands. I don't always find beach holidays the most inspirational times in terms of drawing. I find myself writing more in my sketchbooks when I am away at the coast (I've spared you the daily diary that intersperses the drawings that I have included here). But especially when hanging around harbours waiting for ferries (such as above, which shows the new harbour at Mykonos while we waited for our late connection to Paros to arrive) or lingering in cafes, it is inevitable that the sketchbook comes out.
Antiparos is quiet in relation to some other Greek islands and in some ways unchanged since we last visited it the week after Labour came to power in 1997. The harbour (above) looks the same, and the road turns into a dirt track at the same point on our route to our apartment. The sun still shines non stop, and the beaches are still just perfect for lazing in the shade with occasional dips into the sea. I don't think Tom Hanks or Madonna had houses on Antiparos when we were here before, which they seem to have now.
The beach at Psaraliki: we went back a lot, although there were two or three beaches there rather than just one, all a short walk away. The general idea was to get a place under the tamarisks and head for the beachside cafes after a decent length of time spent reading, swimming and not thinking about the UK's dire political situation.
Over on neighbouring Paros, we looked around Naousa and inevitably spent some time later on waiting for the bus back to the ferry port. The normality and banality of the scene there (below), and perhaps most other bus stations, was the most attracting scene to draw of the lot for me. There was time to draw the postcardy scenic alleyways around the castle in Paros (bottom image), but at the bus station there was no pressure to get the overwhelming beauty of the place, but just its everydayness. Which is what I like best.
It was a great holiday.
I'm on Instagram. Some of these images can be found there.
