Sunday 15 February 2015

some sketching...

Thank you all so much for the kind and caring words you left on the last post, and via email, regarding my Dad.  I appreciate it so much. Dad is doing much the same.  Morphine with sedative when required.  It continues to be a difficult time as it's so hard to see my Dad deteriorate like this. He is bedridden and sleeps a lot but we visit often. I'm going to pamper him with a manicure when I visit him tomorrow.  He enjoyed the last one I gave him.

I haven't found a lot of time for sketching due to visiting my Dad so much but I have grabbed pockets of time where I've been able to.  I'm not overly happy with the following sketches but I'm happy that I sketched something, at least.

On December 4th, Brad had an appointment at Vision Australia to register and become a member. He and I went crazy in their gadget shop for the visually impaired! I bought myself a magnifier lamp which has already come in very handy on my art desk.


Before Aaron went back to school after the Christmas holiday break, we took a drive out to the new Wyaralong Dam near Beaudesert.  It was lovely!  We will definitely be visiting again although, next time, we will take insect repellent!  I managed a very quick sketch of  my view before it started to rain, forcing us to head home early.  It was a nice day out regardless.


I've been taking Liz Steel's 'Sketching Now' online course which has been fantastic. Twelve weeks of fun and learning.  Liz is such a good teacher and puts so much time and effort into covering even the small details.  She is very in-depth and explains everything so clearly.  I've read and watched the videos each week but, as my free time has been limited, I'm only just starting to do homework where I can. Thankfully, the class material will remain available for at least twelve months which should give me plenty of time to catch up.


I created a colour mixing chart from my palette thanks to this very helpful post on Jenny's blog - How to make a watercolour chart. I had so much fun doing this that I'm sure it won't be the last colour mixing chart I do.


Another online class I registered for on Craftsy was Sketching People in Motion by Marc Taro Holmes.  Oh my, another gem of a class!  Marc is an amazing teacher and I'm keen to put some of his techniques into action.  I've actually been enjoying quite a few of the courses on Craftsy of late. Their classes are quite reasonable in price and they give life-time access...can't complain about that. 





I was one of the lucky backers who helped to make The Perfect Sketchbook a reality.  It was the brainchild of Erwin Lian Cherngzhi.  This sketchbook is gorgeous and a little bulkier in size compared to the Moleskine pocket watercolour notebook. I feel privileged to own one because I'm not sure that they will be produced again. It was a one time thing, however, Erwin did mention that he may attempt it once more for an A5 sketchbook.


I was very excited to receive my order for a carbon pen and cartridge from The Goulet Pen Company on Friday!  It was beautifully packaged and they even included a little treat.  I'm fairly new to sketching with fountain pens.  I only have two so far...notice that implies that there will be more. Me thinks I'm developing an addiction.  I LOVE sketching with my Lamy JOY and now this Carbon Pen.


To add a lovely end to my week, I had my two beautiful Granddaughters come for a sleep-over. Their Mummy and Daddy went out for a Valentine's dinner and a movie.  We had a great time with Mikayla and Maddy and I'm sure they enjoyed their visit too.  They have not long left to go home, bless their little hearts.  I miss them already.

Today, I'm linking up with Sunday Sketches HERE.

Until next time.....

Saturday 7 February 2015

It's been a while...

I haven't posted since December 28th so I guess this is HAPPY NEW YEAR from me to you!  
May 2015 bring you lots of love, light, peace, and many blessings.

 We brought in 2015 at Michelle and Alex's place and we made a special toast to Dad shortly after. As you know my Dad hasn't been well and is now classified as Palliative Care so it's been a tough start to the year for us.  They have stopped all his medications and the plan is to keep Dad comfortable and pain-free.  It's not an easy road and this is part of the reason I haven't been posting on my blog, let alone keep up with friends' blogs.  I've been spending a lot of time visiting Dad at the Home.

Here is a recent photo of my beautiful granddaughters, Mikayla and Madelyn,
enjoying a treat while their Poppy sleeps peacefully in the bed beside them.

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Mum had been sleeping over a couple of nights a week from October up until New Year. We're already looking forward to her next sleep-over.  As Mum and I love jigsaw puzzles, I couldn't resist buying one for us to work on together while she was here in December.  I also bought one for her to take home and do by herself.  We became quite addicted I can tell you. 

FINISHED!
It was fairly large too at 1000 pieces.
The total measurement being 700mm/27½" x 500mm/20". 
We were very pleased with ourselves when it was done. 
Bradley even helped here and there too.


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I haven't done a lot of sketching since my last blog post but I will share the ones I have done in future posts.  For now, I wanted to share a work-in-progress I'm painting for Aaron's room. It will be a silhouette of African animals against a rich sunset.

First layer


Second layer


I've had this painting on hold also but I'm hoping to find some time to finish it this month.

Stay tuned for more posts very soon....