Catching up with mini doodles

"Ginger and robin's egg blue" -
watercolour and sepia fine liner

I have been following Este MacLeod's September Instagram challenge #coloricombo and integrated some of the colour suggestions in my mini-doodles.

"Lemon and elephant grey" -
I saw this dancing couple in my randomly
painted watercolour washes

"Carrot and coffee" -
watercolour, sepia fine liner and 
white gell pen

 

Another cauldron of eco-dyeing

A section of the dyed paper strips.
Smoke bush and wisteria leaves, hollyhock and Japanese
anemone flowers, plus red onion skin

I cut a full sheet of Bockingford hot pressed watercolour paper into 4 strips lengthwise.  These were sprayed with diluted vinegar before laying out leaves, flowers and onion skin and rolling tightly round two 6" lengths of mountain ash branch. I also added a small piece of calico, bound round a piece of plastic pipe.  Water to cover, plus about a third cup of vinegar, then gently simmered for about an hour.

The paper was successful, but the fabric certainly lacked definition.

Calico, with smoke bush leaves,
Japanese anemones and onion skin

More mini doodles

Not all my efforts in this series have been successful or pleasing.  The first two below are rather dull.  I used a base coat of gold acrylic ink for the fuchsia, thinking it would gleam through the subsequent washes of watercolour, but rather it seemed to dull them down.  Adding gouache to try and brighten things up didn't work either.  The hollyhocks were painted in gouache over a watercolour base, with added watercolour pencil, gel pens and Neopastel - definitely lacking the delicacy of the actual flowers. (All in a Moleskine sketchbook)

Gold ink base, with watercolour, gouache
and gel pen (3" x 3")

Watercolour, gouache, watercolour pencil,
gel pens and Neopastel (3" x 3")

Watercolour and fine liner pen (3" x 3")

An embroidery project

Back in 2019 I made a paper fabric case for my mini iPad.  It has been in constant use since then and is definitely showing signs of wear around the edges and corners.  During lockdown I started doing some small embroidery samples and decided to use some of these to make a new case.  This project stalled for a while until I could get out to the shops for some quilt batting for the lining.  Completed at last with a simple wrap-round strap!