At this time of year our Instagram feeds are full of everyone’s “Top Nine” images based on views/likes. It’s always interesting to see what they are and speculate on why those nine images were the most popular. Last year I was a touch amused that the top nine posts were all coffee or collection images and I didn’t include any individual urban sketch.

But this year the result was pretty good and I’m happy with the collection. It does contain some of my personal favourites from the year, however my top two sketches didn’t make it. But I’m not that surprised, as they are a little abstract.

So what are my favourite four?

Palladio’s Tempietto in Maser, Italy
This sketch done during the second Palladian Odyssey Tour and is my absolute favourite of the year. I have sketched this building many times and this quick sketch was done in a few minutes during a workshop. I managed to record the essential elements in a minimal way with a bit of watercolour magic thrown in.

St Andrews Cathedral in St Andrews, Scotland
This was done at the end of a good sketching day in about three minutes and was my third attempt to capture the essence of the ruined cathedral. The first two were a lot more detailed and a little overworked but this one just came out.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, USA
This my third sketch of the bridge during a local sketchmeet and a direct watercolour version that has a similar feel to my sketch from last year.

Belem Torre, Lisbon, Portugal
This experimental sketch was done after I had done a more traditional ink and wash version.

So there you have it – four very loose quick sketches were my top four for 2018. I think it would be too hard to choose my top nine!

My goal for 2019 is to do more sketches like these but I hope to
1. do some in Sydney
2. work out a way to achieve these results for my first sketch of a scene.

If you are on Instagram and created your top nine…

What did you think of the collection? Were you pleased with it?