Watercolour and ink in Moleskine Folio
Sketching at Aarhus Museum of Natural History
6 minutes ago
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Home From Home
Catching up on my journal scanning, here are a couple from the beginning of June, both sketched in my garden from a sunlounger while soaking up the sun.
It occured to me that, while I have sketched my parents home (below) many times before, I have never sketched my own. So here they both are.
They face each other across the yard, there are no houses on the opposite side of the drove, the next nearest house in approx. 3 acres away and is currently being rebuilt by more of our family.
How lucky we are!
Snettisham Weekend - Sunday
We woke early Sunday morning and set off for a stroll along the coast line to the RSPB reserve where I found interest in the curves of both the coast line and the path leading back towards the cottage.
My last sketch was of the lake shortly before lunch.
We ate lunch, packed the cars and, just before we left, we grabbed a towel and some shoes and popped down to the beach to enjoy the warm sea water...right up to our thighs!
Such a fabulous weekend, full of wonderful memories with a very dear friend.
Thank you Ruth and Tony.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Snettisham Weekend - Saturday
Woke on Saturday morning and, after a long coffee, got started on sketching the cottage for Tony and Ruth as a way of saying thank you for their kindness. I took a matt and frame with me and framed it for them before leaving, so the photograph is a little wonky and poor quality I'm afraid...Sorry!
We had lunch on the newly built landing deck; sothern fried chicken breast strips, salad, wine, chocolates...all splayed over various rugs and cushions, and finished by dangling our feet into the warm lake.
A quick stroll along the beach, where the colours changed every second...stunning! I produced all of my sketches with a size 12 brush and with the hot sun drying everything so quickly and the brush size I found it quite a challenge.
On finishing my quick sketch I had just enough time to capture Joannie in all her beautiful colours, looking ever radiant.
Early evening I popped our lasagne in the oven and while it cooked, and Joan went out to find more wine supplies, I captured this guy appreciating the wonderful view.
Our dinner was delicious...as was the wine!
Snettisham Weekend - Friday
Joannie and I arrived at the cottage in Snettisham just a few minutes apart and Tony and Ruth greeted us with a delicious lunch which we ate on the patio at the rear of the property with the most wonderful sea view...infact the beach was just yards from us!
When Tony and Ruth said goodbye, Joan and I took a stroll along the sea front up to the yacht club and back along the lake at the front of the property...again, the lake is just yards from the front door.
About half way through our little stroll we sat for a while and sketched.
What a wonderful location, Ruth and Tony are so kind to share this little haven with us.
The electricity in the cottage runs off a battery, so we lit the cottage with candles after a long dinner and sketched with a glass of wine. You really could not see very much at all so I was quite surprised when I took another look at my candle sketch the next morning...a bit wobbly but a fabulous memory captured in my journal.
Monday, June 28, 2010
I'm Back!
I had the most wonderful break with my friend Joannie, we chatted, lunched on the deck over the lake, ate dinner on the patio with the sea just infront of us, walked a little, talked alot, drank wine by candlelight, paddled in the sea, dipped our toes in the lake and even managed to find time to sketch! I will upload my efforts as soon as they are scanned.
For now, I give you my last sketch session from Tesco supermarket cafe, created, rather quickly, over a latte before beginning my weekly shop.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Hi Ho....Hi Ho
...it's off to sketch I go!
I'm off to Snettisham today, on the Norfolk coast, to meet with my dear friend Joannie for a weekend of sketching, chatting, wine and , hopefully...sun!
We've rented a cottage for a couple of days to catch up and chill out.
Can't wait!
I leave you with one of the many journal entries I have just managed to get around to scanning.
The wild poppies are bursting into bloom all over the place here, they look so beautiful, I just had to cut one and sketch it in the tiny vase Joannie gifted to me some time ago...I thought it was the perfect time to share this entry in my journal.
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Timothy Schorre for JKPP
Watercolour and ink in Moleskine folio
Best viewed large (Click image)
I used a limited, cool palette of Burnt Umber, Lunar Blue and Imperial Purple for the skin tones to enhance the perspective and light....going for a spooky atmosphere.
A little Sap Green and Cerulean Blue were added for the eyes.
You can view the reference I worked from HERE
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Jennifer Lawson for JKPP
Ink and watercolour in Moleskine Folio
Another quickie for the party, this time Jennifer in her beautiful hat.
You can view the reference I used HERE
Julia Kay for JKPP
Prismacolor and ink in Moleskine Folio
You can view the reference I worked from HERE
This is the lady that got the party started, check it out HERE
I am having so much fun with these portraits!
You may have noticed that I have started working in my Watercolour Moleskine Folio rather than the A4 Winsor & Newton I started the project with. I purchased the Folio some time ago and the size (approx A4) combined with the landscape format makes it a little clumsy for use out and about so I've been waiting for the perfect chance to use it. This project is perfect for it because I sketch the portraits in the comfort of my own home!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Emily O'Marra - Inked- JKPP
Inked and a little green watercolour added.
I think Emily's eyes are actually blue, going by the other references she supplied but I was in a green mood today, so green they are!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Emily O'Marra for JKPP
HB pencil
I think I'm going to ink this to simplify it even more but wanted to scan the lead sketch first as I quite like the softness.
You can view the reference I used HERE
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Steve Huison for the JKPP
Steve Huison - HB pencil
It's been a while since I used a pencil to sketch with but I created the quick portrait above with a HB while curled up on the sofa waiting for the rice to cook for dinner....hence the lack of tone, more of a two-tone sketch really.
I don't like using lead in my journals because it tends to smudge with the daily trauma of being slung into various handbags, pages flipped and handled etc... but I'm not planning on using this A4 sketchbook for anything but the Julia Kay Portraits so I didn't have to worry about it this time.
Steve has a fantastic face to sketch, I hope to return to it again with a different media.
Here is the ref I used
You may recognise Steve from films such as 'The Full Monty' and the classic soap 'Coronation Street'...I hope he sketches me!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Ritaflo for the JKPP
Ritaflo - Ink and watercolour
Another portrait for the Julia Kay Portrait Party. This is my attempt at Ritaflo. You can view the reference I used HERE.
This portrait party is so much fun, I have been painted twice myself now by other members of the party...You can see them in my Party thread HERE
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
I've Joined The Party
It's official, I was accepted this afternoon into the Julia Kay Portrait Party and set straight about my first victim....Raena.
You can see the ref I sketched from here
I'm using a nice big A4 spiral bound Winsor & Newton heavyweight sketchbook and it was wonderful having bags of room to swing my nib around on. The paper takes watercolour washes well but is not watercolour paper but that's ok, it works a treat for a quick pen and wash sketch.
I'm looking forward to working my way through all the members reference pics. I am approaching the project in a very relaxed way, just letting the pen and brush move around the paper and seeing where they take me. I hope to capture 'character' in my attempts.
FUN!
Thursday Journal Page
I've noticed that I use my sketching pens quite differently. When sketching with my Lamy fountain pens I tend mostly to sketch with contour lines, when using a pigment liner I sketch more like I would with a pencil, letting the pen 'feel' it's way around the paper.
I decided to ditched my Lamy for this spread and be a little 'sketchier' with my lines.
I really enjoy both styles equally.
Monday, June 14, 2010
New Book
15 min studies in ink
I have a new reference book "Facial Expressions Babies to Teens" by Mark Simon. I thought it would be handy for those evenings lounging on the sofa wondering what to sketch without having to actually move!
I hope to experiment with line, media, colour and style with my studies. I'm using an A5 Hand*Book journal with a green cover for this project.
My first attempts were created using a Lamy Safari fountain pen filled with Noodlers red/black ink and a waterbrush to produce tone. As you can see it's not the best media for portraying children, harsh lines add age and the lines are necessary to get ink on the page in order to create the tone with the waterbrush. All three of these children are actually 4 years old in their reference pictures.
Still, it served the purpose it was purchased for perfectly and gave me something to sketch other than the wall!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Denver Mill
5"x5" ink and watercolour
I sketched this for one the EDiM, EDM challenges HERE and liked how it turned out so I've re-sketched it for Haddenham Galleries.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Friends
7"x12" ink and watercolour
Here's that little teddy again.
A collection of the boys childhood toys sat upon a book sketched from my imagination.
Best viewed large (click image) My scanner lost a few of the valuesbut it's pretty close.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Tuesday Journal Page
I lost one of these shoes for some time and recently found it again in a place I would not imagine having put it!?!...Ah well, at least I found it, love these shoes!
I enjoyed sketching this little teddy so much I later created a sketch with him and his friends for Haddenham Galleries...Will post soon!
Garden Shed 2
5"x5" ink and watercolour sketch
This one isn't my garden shed, it belongs to a friend.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Monday, June 07, 2010
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