Sunday, 5 February 2017

Sketching by the lake

We've had another horrible week of high heat and humidity. The nights are hot and muggy too so no relief. I dream of faraway places with snow...

This weekend marked the second month for the new Moment Catchers project over on Candace Rardon's BLOG. I was considering a trip into the city for some Urban Sketching but opted for Forest Lake instead.  It is a man-made lake smack-bang in the middle of suburbia. It is home to quite a few species of waterbirds, turtles, etc.



It was such a hot day so I found a shady spot on a park bench to sketch this tree.


Then a splash of watercolour with more pen detailing

Next up was the water dragon sculpture in the lake.  The heat ended up getting the better of me and we headed home where I finished the sketch off with watercolour.

See below for more daily sketches from the past week or so.

I find sketching with ballpoint pen so versatile. It can be soft enough to almost have the appearance of graphite, yet with more layering, it can be quite dark. Of course, it can't be erased but I can live with mistakes.

I thought you might like another process sketch this week.  A rooster to mark the Chinese Year of the Rooster — the Fire Rooster to be precise. According to Chinese astrology I'm going to be in for a tough year and I can believe it if the beginning is anything to go by. I was born in the Year of the Earth Pig and I have always found the Chinese Astrology to be uncannily accurate. Which Chinese sign are you born under?

A pen sketch to begin with

First pass of watercolour

Final stage with more watercolour and detailing

I'm linking up with Sunday Sketches again. To see the work of other participants for this week, click HERE.

I hope you are all enjoying a beautiful weekend.
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30 comments:

  1. Unknown5 February 2017 at 23:04

    Wow, that Fire Rooster is amazing, so vibrant. All your other sketches are great too: they make me want to get outside and find myself a sunny park bench for my sketching spot.

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  2. Stephanie Faris6 February 2017 at 00:21

    Great job!!! You capture the beauty and intrigue of nature perfectly.

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  3. Christine6 February 2017 at 05:01

    Lovely work Serena, the colours really brings the pieces to life.

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  4. carol l mckenna6 February 2017 at 05:37

    Wow! Serena ~ these are all wonderful ~ my favorite is the little lamb ~ thanks,

    Wishing you a Happy and Peaceful week ahead ~ ^_^

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    1. Serena Lewis6 February 2017 at 10:04

      Thanks, Carol. I like the little lamb too.

      Have a lovely week ~ :)

      Delete
  5. Rita6 February 2017 at 11:02

    I finally found a website that had both the sign and cosmic element. Said I was Cat (rabbit) Metal. I have always come up rabbit so that was interesting.
    Love your sketches. The addition of watercolor really makes them come alive!
    I hope it cools off for you guys! We've got the opposite over here, as you know. Was 4 degrees F this morning. I prefer the cold, myself. ;)
    Love and hugs

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    1. Serena Lewis7 February 2017 at 11:40

      Cool! I wonder why some call it a Cat year instead of a Rabbit year? Glad you like the sketches. We are due to get even hotter this coming weekend — could get up to 39°C/102.2°F. No doubt the humidity will be even worse too. :( OH yes, roll on winter! :)

      Love and hugs to you, dear friend xo

      Delete
  6. Sue (this n that)6 February 2017 at 11:15

    Hello Serena, glad you found that cool spot under the tree - be it temporary! I loved the tree sketch - all the bark and gnarly roots - your treatment of it is marvellous.
    I'll give the ball point pen a go... the lamb is adorable. Rooster boy is stunning - gorgeous colours.
    Cheerio now :D)

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    1. Serena Lewis7 February 2017 at 11:42

      Hi Sue, I'm glad you like the sketches. I hope you enjoy working with a ballpoint pen.

      Enjoy your week. :)

      Delete
  7. Victoria Zigler6 February 2017 at 21:03

    Sorry you're hating the heat and humidity so much. Hope you're finding plenty of ways to keep cool and hydrated.

    I was born in the year of the rat.

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    1. Serena Lewis7 February 2017 at 11:45

      It wouldn't be too bad if we had air-conditioning but we don't, so we have to suffer it with no relief. Cooler weather can't come soon enough for me.

      Thanks for sharing your Chinese Astrology animal. :)

      Delete
  8. Jennifer Rose7 February 2017 at 00:47

    I am a rooster :)

    Reaally great sketch of the rooster, the feathers look great :)

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    1. Serena Lewis7 February 2017 at 11:47

      I'm assuming that, if you are a rooster, this year will be a lucky one for you. Apparently 'Fire' years can be quite chaotic. Glad you like the sketch. :)

      Delete
  9. Victoria Zigler7 February 2017 at 19:37

    We don't have air conditioning either, so I know what you mean. Thankfully, we also don't generally get temperatures as hot as you do. But given how tough I find it when we get hot weather, I can imagine how much worse it must be for you.

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    1. Serena Lewis8 February 2017 at 14:30

      We are due to get even hotter temps this coming weekend — up to 39°C/102.2°F is expected. You no doubt get extremes with the winter temps over there?

      Delete
  10. Alexandra MacVean8 February 2017 at 08:36

    What a lovely way/place to do art. Looks like you enjoyed yourself. If I could, I'd send you some of our snow here to cool you down! ;)

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  11. Shashi Nayagam8 February 2017 at 16:58

    Hope you have recovered after your tests. I hate any sort of tests but then we have to do what we have to do I guess.
    Oh love your cockerel. He is awesome. Reminds me of the one we had as a kid. We often forget what beautiful feathers they can have as they tend to be with lots of hens surrounding them. Stand them alone you can really appreciate their beauty

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    1. Serena Lewis9 February 2017 at 05:53

      Yes, my lungs finally settled down a week after the test. I'm not a fan of tests either but, you're right, we have to do them. Roosters are so handsome. I read somewhere that, in most bird species, the male birds are usually prettier and more colourful than the female. There are varying reasons but I always found that interesting. :)

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  12. Alexandra MacVean9 February 2017 at 13:30

    PS

    I wanted to let you know that my new blog address is http://www.alexandramacvean.blogspot.com. Please make sure to update your newsfeed so we can stay in touch!

    Also, please update the Sunday Sketches icon on your sidebar to this URL
    http://alexandramacvean.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html

    ...and there's an updated SS icon at that URL, too!

    Thank you! :)
    xo

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  13. baili9 February 2017 at 16:59

    how big blessing the sketching is!
    you can express your inner beauty with lines and colors so amazingly .
    i truly loved these beautiful pieces of art.
    how strange to know that when most of the land is bearing cold weather your area is facing hot weather .
    hope it gets better and you get relief friend!

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    1. Serena Lewis9 February 2017 at 20:58

      Thanks so much for your lovely comment, Baili! :)

      Delete
  14. Anonymous9 February 2017 at 21:27

    Great post, Mum! I love the photos you took at Forest Lake, as well as the sketches from there too. Love the sketch of the lamb, but my favourite sketch is the rooster. Very beautiful! It has been very unbearable heat-wise. Not looking forward to the weekend heatwave.

    Love Brad xoxo

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    1. Serena Lewis10 February 2017 at 06:24

      Thanks, Brad! Glad you like the rooster. :) I know that we are both looking forward to winter.

      Love Mum xoxo

      Delete
  15. stapeliad13 February 2017 at 10:56

    Ohhh I LOVE!! your dragon sketch!!

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    1. Serena Lewis13 February 2017 at 11:20

      Glad you like the dragon, Jessica. It was sun to sketch. :)

      Delete

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