Taking The Line Forward: 1

Here’s what I decided to do with my Birkrigg Common sketch that I posted yesterday (with the Hoad Lighthouse above Ulverston in the background). I did a few of these linear sketches on my recent holiday and I’m working into this one with some watercolour washes. I like blending watercolours directly onto the paper (Khadi). Plenty more to come.

Sketchbook Archives: 33

I went through a digital phase starting about 12 years ago, drawing with my Samsung Galaxy Note 8, using a free Markers app. It lasted a while, it was very convenient to carry around and I didn’t get my hands and sketchbook dirty with charcoal and graphite. I remember those leggings well, I wore them until they were threadbare! These are sketches from September 2013.

Starting With Line: 6

Decisions! Decisions! Here’s the other half of my Birkrigg Common sketch that I posted yesterday. This clearly shows the Hoad Lighthouse, that towers above Ulverston, whose name invokes a “wolf warrior”. I did a few of these linear sketches on my recent holiday and now I have to decide what to do with them. Continue using my drawing pen to flesh out the detail and have fun with mark-making? Or wash them over with watercolours? Or leave them alone? Decisions, decisions…

Starting With Line: 5

It was a lovely warm and sunny day on Birkrigg Common in the Lake District earlier this month and I sat and I scribbled for a while. I used a Faber Castell Pitt pen into my Khadi Landscape sketchbook. On the upper right of the drawing is the Hoad Lighthouse, a famous landmark around these parts. I like to draw across the centre of the book to get a panoramic view. I’ll post the rest of the sketch tomorrow.

The Imaginary Landscape.

I taught a Community Arts class on Friday, at GS Artists, part of the 9to90 Creative Community programme. The topic was painting an imaginary landscape in acrylics, onto canvas board, in 2 hours. I referred to David Hockney’s landscapes for inspiration. The compositions he uses can be fairly simple, the colours intense, and the use of patterns fabulous. I’ve done a couple of my own and used them during the class to show what can be achieved. This is the painting (above) I did at the class. I work alongside my students and it’s good for me, I get to practice what I preach.

I took along a couple I did a while back, one I painted en plein air in the Lake District, the other completely off the top of my head.

#Caturday Silhouette 20: Spring Has Sprung

It’s #Caturday Saturday again and this week I stuck the positive silhouette of our little rescue cat, Bill AKA William ChatNoir, onto a window with a blob of BluTack and took a photo of her framed by our garden. Spring has properly sprung and the plants are growing faster than I can keep them under control!

Sketchbook Archives: 32

Seaside Scribbles and Rock Chick hair. Back to my sketchbooks of August 2013 and I seem to have spent a lot of time on Swansea beach, must have been a good summer. I had a long, shaggy, rock chick hairdo at the time. I really like my hair like that, but it’s a bit of a faff to be honest, gets very hot.

Starting With Line: 4

This is the “other” side of the drawing I posted yesterday, from my Landscape Khadi sketchbook. I like drawing right across the double page to get a panoramic view. I’ll be using watercolours on this – when I find the time! This is somewhere in the Lake District, up a mountain, I can’t be more specific than that 😀

Starting With Line: 3

Here’s another line drawing I did en plein air in the Lake District recently. Husb and I went up for a few days to see family and get out and do some walking and sketching. This is somewhere on the top of the Lake District, I’ve no idea where! Just liked the look of it and stopped the car. I drew into my Khadi landscape sketchbook, across the double page to capture a panoramic view. I’ll work into it with watercolour washes.

#Caturday Silhouette 19: In The Garden

It’s #Caturday Saturday again and this week I stuck the negative silhouette of our little rescue cat, Bill AKA William ChatNoir, onto a window with a blob of BluTack and took a photo of our garden through it.