Sketchbook Challenge 25th and 26th

 

Prompt: Shadows -25th January

Prompt: Winter - 26th January

Watercolour and pen doodles 24 and 25

 

Both 3" square in watercolour Moleskine
Watercolour, coloured pens and a touch of gouache

Mini watercolour doodles 21 and 22

 

Both 3" square - watercolour, pen plus a touch of gouache

Some of this series are based on past studies of plants, while others and purely imaginary.

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")

More Cotswold sketching

Pen, watercolour and gouache 

We managed to pick another good day for sketching this week.   A trip out to Miserden (a charming estate village hidden in the Cotswolds between Cirencester and Birdlip).  An early pub lunch outside the Carpenters Arms, a wander round the village, a bit of sketching and then a short but strenuous walk into the valley and around the lake.  Unfortunately, the manor house gardens are only open Friday to Sunday at the moment, but a good excuse to make another visit sometime.

The pub car park has been converted into a larger, socially distanced outdoor eating area, but there is still a hitching post for the horses!

Cerney House Gardens

With wet and windy weather forecast for several days, we managed to arrange our sketch outing

on the sunniest day of the week.  After exploring this delightful Cotswold garden I settled down to attempt this distant view of the pagoda.  I was rather daunted by all the greens and nearly gave up, but the subsequent pen work helped to bring some order to the chaos.

Watercolour, gouache and pen 8" x 6"

Another sketch outing

Another sketching trip with a couple of friends to a farm cafe in the Cotswolds, complete with adjacent alpaca herd.  We had booked a table for lunch in the delightful courtyard garden and spent a pleasant few hours chatting and sketching.  

The original drawing and initial watercolour washes were done in situ, but I planned to add a bit more detail when I got home. I made a complete hash when I tried to add a background sky, then added more gouache which made it even worse!  The solution - use a strip of the same colour paper from a blank page, cut round the shapes of the umbrella and background foliage and stick it over the offending area.  Total disaster averted.

Pen, watercolour, gouache, wax pastel in
Hahnemuehle cappuccino sketchbook

World Book Night postcard project

Earlier this year I sent off my postcard entry for the World Book Night postcard project organised by the Book Arts Centre at the University of the West of England.

 

All the entries can be viewed here.

My entry was a copy of a drawing done on a sketch outing

Last week I received this package of goodies together with one of the postcards sent in by another participant.

Sketches on black paper continued

Three more sketches in the Hahnemuehle black book.  I had intended to complete the clematis in just the Caran d'Ache Neopastel, but my sketch was a bit small for their broad textured marks.  I attempted to blend the colours in the top two petals with a Colour Shaper, but preferred the rougher application on the rest of the image.  However, it needed something to add more definition so I resorted to overlays of watercolour tinted gouache - I like the resist effect over the waxy pastels.

I like to keep a white gel pen in my sketching kit, but cannot find a make that doesn't let me down after a few uses.  A while ago I picked up a set of three "marbled", multi-colour gel pens - the colours are very muted and they look more like silver on the black paper, but they've certainly been more reliable than the white.  Unfortunately, they are no substitute for an opaque white when adding highlights to a pen and wash sketch on white or light-toned paper.

Different media on black paper

Another page in the Hahnemuhle Black Book.

The small knapweed sketch made with metallic gel pens certainly stands out on the black background.  Colour choices are limited, but I did add a bit of coloured pencil for the brown base of the flower.

I was going to use watercolour crayons for the cape primrose, but they weren't opaque enough against the dark background, so I reverted to gouache plus some watercolour to get the colours needed.

I have only a small selection of pastels and pastel pencils and must admit don't use them often as I can't get to grips with their fragility as a sketching medium. However I do admire the work of artists who use them well, particularly if not over-blended.  In the rose image, I also used Derwent Drawing pencils which are a soft, wax-based product, available in very muted colours.  To me they feel very similar to pastels.  I did use a fixative on this sketch which appeared to dull the colours slightly.

Sketches on black paper continued

I picked the mallow (on the left) whilst out on my daily walk.  I started with gouache for this study and was finding it difficult to get a dense coverage and, as I only have a limited range of colours, I finished by mixing my watercolours with white gouache.

For the white passion flower I used a base of diluted gesso, with gouache, coloured pencil and watercolour for the leaves and flower details.

A bike ride, breakfast and an urban sketch

Most mornings, weather permitting,  I go out for a 3 or 4 mile cycle ride before breakfast.  With the warm weather we've had recently, I decided to combine my trip out with some sketching at a local park, taking a yoghurt and a piece of fruit to keep my energy levels up.

The only seat which provided the best view of the house within the parkland was a tree stump - in full sun and shared with a colony of ants - so my picnic and sketch were rather hurried.  However, it was good to get back into plein air sketching and I was able to enjoy a leisurely wander through the rest of the grounds before heading home (and a second breakfast).  Later in the day, temperatures of over 30 degrees were recorded so I was glad I took advantage of the slightly cooler hours.

Lydiard House (approx. 8" x 4")
Pen, watercolour and gouache in the Hahnemuhle Cappucino sketchbook

Virtual Sketch Crawl - Rome

It was suggested our Urban Sketchers group might like to participate in a virtual sketch crawl using Google Street View of Rome.  I must admit I got a a bit lost trying to find a view I liked -  so opted for a photo from a travel company's site.  At least it prompted me to put aside some time for my art today.

Pen, watercolour and gouache in the Hahnemuhle cappuccino sketchbook

Glued spine book

This one is from quite some time ago but I have posted it on the Crafting Handmade Books Facebook page in response to April's challenge - " to use something that's been in your craft closet for more than ONE YEAR!"

Certainly when I made this book most of the papers and sketches, etc. were at least that old.

A friend had made me a a small watercolour book with a glued spine, plus instructions on how to make it. I had quite a few strips of painted papers left over from a longstanding project and decided to use them to test out this construction. I also added some discarded lino and foam prints, tiny sketchbook doodles, pockets and papercasts. The finished book measures approx. 5” x 4”.

I have had to cut the video (below) by half a dozen pages
as the file was bigger than allowed on the blog

Urban Sketching - April 2020

Despite finally seeing some nice Spring weather, we cannot wander far from home for our Urban Sketch meeting this month.  Some of us are finding views from our windows, others finding inspiration on the internet.  At least I can get out and enjoy the garden.

Pen, watercolour, gouache and oil pastel in the Cappuccino Hahnemeuhle sketchbook

Amaryllis

I am always amazed how a scruffy looking bulb in a small pot can shoot up within just a month to such a beautiful, graceful flower.

Neopastel, Neocolour II, gouache, acrylic ink and Inktense pencil

Starting afresh

My artistic output for the last six months has been minimal so I am feeling a bit out of touch.  This week I decided to jump in and start scribbling away with my art materials; anything - just to break the block.  So I have made a start, trying to be bold rather than tentative ...

Neopastel, gouache, acrylic ink and walnut ink
in brown paper sketchbook

Sketches and linocut lilies

It is lovely to receive a bouquet of flowers, even better when I have time to really concentrate on their colour and form by making pen or pencil and watercolour studies of them.  I file any usable sketches in ring binders so I can refer to them, sometimes years later, for reference or inspiration.

These sketches gave rise to more considered work in acrylic, watercolour, collage and lino print; with the latter I experimented further by printing on different painted backgrounds.

The flower petals were lightened with white acrylic,
with gold gel pen accentuating the stamens

A fine liner pen and silver gel pen were used on this print

A couple of early proof prints in my "Experiments" Moleskine -
on the left using fluid acrylic which wasn't successful as a printing medium;
on the right,  gouache and gum arabic print, collaged over a black gesso background

Urban Sketchers June

We had glorious weather for our June sketch meeting today.  Our venue was the small Wiltshire town of Cricklade - the first town situated on the River Thames as it flows, from its source, towards London.  Just outside the town are the water meadows which are famous for an extensive display of snake's head fritillaries in April.  A previous post gives details of the artists' book I made about this beautiful wild flower location.

Today, most of us opted to sketch in the tranquil surroundings of St. Sampson's Church.

Trying out a suggestion by (Karen Stamper) which I recently found on on the internet, I pre-prepared two pages of my watercolour Moleskine.  Torn strips of masking tape, labels, etc. were added, followed by random washes of Indian ink, walnut ink, a little orange fluid acrylic and areas of white gesso scraped on with a credit card.

Some of the masking tape has been removed, but a couple of the labels
threatened to tear the paper surface, so they were left in place

I chose to record this corner of the churchyard

A somewhat messy outcome (and a missing gable window!),
but a fun experiment

I used a fine liner pen, burnt sienna watercolour marker, black Pentel brush pen, watercolour, white gouache and oil pastels.  I'm not sure I will adopt the masking tape and label idea, but the dark background encouraged me to be bolder with my sketching in an attempt to bring the image out of the chaos.

Urban Sketchers May meeting

Lots of people enjoying the sunny weather at Coate Water this morning. After chatting to Maureen, who came along from the radio station "Swindon 105.5" to interview some of the group, we dispersed to find sketching spots around the lake sheltered from the chilly wind.

The Diving Board - Coate Water Country Park
Pen, watercolour, gouache and white gel pen in the
Hahnemuhle cappucino sketchbook