The first meeting of our urban sketching group for almost two years. A very cold, but mostly bright morning. Just over a dozen turned up and sketched in the grounds of the Richard Jefferies Museum (the cottage was the birthplace of this well-known Victorian nature writer).
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| Pilot G-tec pen and watercolour |
The last two of this challenge. I'm glad I managed to complete it, although occasionally hurrying to get my day's contribution down just before midnight!
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| Both 3" square in watercolour Moleskine Watercolour, coloured pens and a touch of gouache |
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| 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.
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)
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| Gold ink base, with watercolour, gouache and gel pen (3" x 3") |
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| Watercolour, gouache, watercolour pencil, gel pens and Neopastel (3" x 3") |
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| Watercolour and fine liner pen (3" x 3") |
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| Watercolour, fine liner and gel pens (3" x 3") |
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| Pen and watercolour 3" x 3" Cobalt Orange, Magenta and Cobalt Turquoise plus white gel pen |
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| 3" x 3" in watercolour Moleskine |
I tried out Golden high flow and fluid acrylics on this one. After the subtlety of watercolour, I was a bit overwhelmed by the strength of just a small amount of acrylic. I went overboard and added a background glaze of gold ink, then decided to try and tone that down with some hatching in watercolour pencil and white Neo-pastel.
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| Watercolour, black fine liner, white gel pen 3" x 3" |
I have been having issues with the removable tape to mask off the edges of these small images. Stix2 removable tape worked OK with my first two efforts, but subsequently began to tear the paper surface in some places. On this image (and a subsequent one) I put down a band of matte medium around the edge of the square, then used the tape, but that only resulted in the paint bleeding under the tape.
I have since raided the first aid box and tried out some microporous dressings tape - so far this seems to be a better option.
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| Watercolour, black fine liner, white gel pen, silver acrylic ink (3" x 3") in Moleskine watercolour sketchbook |
In the main, I have used my watercolour Moleskine books for experimenting, trying out new materials etc. I must admit I haven't used my latest version much at all this year. However, after watching a recent video tutorial by Tracy Weinzappel I was tempted to try a bolder approach to a technique I have often used in the past.
I taped off an area of my page, liberally coated it with water and then randomly dropped in 3 or 4 watercolours, allowing them to blend at will. Once dry, the arrangement of colours might suggest a subject or composition and here I have drawn this in a black fine liner. Several negative glazes have been added to enhance the main image.
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| Watercolour Moleskine, black fine liner, watercolour, white gel pen highlights (6" x 4") |
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| Pen, watercolour and gouache |
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!
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| Watercolour, gouache and pen 8" x 6" |
After a couple of dismal days, our small group were fortunate to choose excellent weather for our planned sketching trip to Eastleach village in the Cotswolds earlier this week.
We met up for coffee on arrival and then later for lunch on the terrace of the Victoria Inn. My first sketch was of the Clock Tower Cottages, just across from the Inn. Lots of awkward angles to contend with here. These five cottages (built in the early 1870s) were designed by a renowned Victorian architect, Henry Astley Darbishire, at the request of the squire, Sir Thoms Bazley. It is understood they were originally used as almshouses.
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| Pencil and pen sketch (8" x 5.5") |
After lunch we made our way over the old "clapper" footbridge and alongside the River Leach, where I found a shady spot near one of the two churches in the village.
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| Pen and watercolour (8" x 5.5") |
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.
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| Pen, watercolour, gouache, wax pastel in Hahnemuehle cappuccino sketchbook |
My niece has tried her hand at producing a watercolour demonstration video.
A wonderful garden setting in the Brecon Beacons (Wales) - with added vocals by the chickens!
