Sunday Sketches: Colour swatches and butterflies

Up until now, I've done paint colour swatches, from my different travel palettes, on pages spread out among various sketchbooks.  This can be a bit of a pain when trying to remember which palette swatch was in which sketchbook. Well, I had a light-bulb moment this weekend and decided to dedicate just one sketchbook to keep all the swatches in one place. Duh! Why didn't I think of that before?

These are some of my paint palettes but I will also swatch up my watercolour pencils and crayons.

I've made a start. This will make it so much easier for me in the future.

Kohinoor set

The Sennelier Aqua Mini set

When I was painting up these swatches, I noticed a weird odour in the air — like something was burning but not wood. I went outside and saw smoke rising up maybe a block or two away...

It quickly developed into this...the smoke was very thick and black

We heard sirens so felt safe knowing the fire brigade was on the way.  I got chatting with our neighbour and we wondered what it could be. I thought burning rubber? My neighbour thought it might be chemical. The odour did have a chemical-like tinge to it but I guess we will never know. It was put out very quickly whatever it was.

So back to my art desk I went...

For Sunday Sketches this week, I added another butterfly to the spread in my Moleskine watercolour notebook — getting there slowly.

Close up of today's efforts. I used the Sennelier watercolours as well as some Derwent coloured pencils to strengthen the colours.

I should be able to fit a couple more on the page

Sunday Sketches is hosted by talented illustrator, Alexandra Macvean.  Feel free to come along and join us each week. To see the work of other participants for this week, click HERE.

I hope you have all enjoyed a lovely weekend.

Sketching and decluttering

We have been sweltering in high heat and humidity this past week. As we don't have the luxury of air-conditioning, it feels like we are living in a sauna. The nights have been hot and humid too so no relief there. Winter can't come soon enough for me.

I've been blending up some smoothies to help ease our discomfort from the heat. SO delicious!

Strawberry, banana with coconut milk

Berry, banana with soy milk

The daily sketching continues and these are the ones I have photographed so far. 

My tiny bag which is an ideal size for my mobile phone and keys. 

Ink and watercolour

My favourite character on Criminal Minds - Dr. Spencer Reid - played by Matthew Gray Gubler. 

Pen sketch with a wee touch of graphite for subtle shading

One of my Lamy Safari fountain pens which I had to soak and clean as it had dried up. 

Ink and watercolour

Refilled the Lamy Safari with Lamy water-soluble ink. 

Ink sketch

One of my small travel watercolour palettes. 

Ink and watercolour

It's been quite a while since I've been able to participate but I'm linking up with the Paint Party Friday group today. To see the work of other participants for this week, click HERE.

On top of sketching, I did more decluttering. I sorted through more of my books and donated quite a few. I have a lot of art magazines and instructional art books (some are pictured below) that I no longer want so I think I might put them up on Gumtree for sale. 

Tomorrow, I will be tackling my art studio/space. I organised it a while back but I have way too much stuff so I need to make some tough decisions. 

Sketches and new fountain pens!

Aaron, my baby, reluctantly went on his first ever school camp.  The camp was mandatory and it was a case of GO, or don't get graded for Biology. It was only an overnight camp but I still worried about him nonetheless and we missed him. They weren't allowed to take mobile phones or electronic devices so there was no communication at all.  I was very glad when he arrived back, safe and sound. Did I mention that Aaron is now in Year 11 at high school? hehe  My other four range in age from 26 to 31. I can't help it...I worry about them too. 

Sitting in the car, awaiting the return of the Biology students from camp,

I sketched my thermo-coffee-mug.

The next day I sketched the shoes I bought to wear to my daughter's wedding. 

I walked her down the aisle in these babies back in 2010.

The finished sketch

Poor Mister Jack has had a terrible time of it with severe skin allergies over the past four months. I've had him to the vet numerous times.  They even took a blood sample to check for hormonal imbalances.  The results were clear, thankfully.  

The vet and I did a Sherlock Holmes and have narrowed it down to the neighbourhood cats.  You see, we have lived here for eight years without incident and I've never seen a flea on our dogs because I treat them regularly.   However, over the past four or five months, we've had a few new people move into the area bringing their cats with them. The problem is that their cats seem to love our yard and the vet feels that the cats may be dropping fleas.  It only takes one flea bite for a flea-allergic dog to have a severe reaction. Even though the flea/s will die and drop off because I treat Cody and Jack, it doesn't stop the allergic reaction.  Jack's body develops clusters of pimple-like lumps and pustules that look so red and sore.  They cause a lot of pain and itching which naturally he will scratch and bite at.  I feel so bad for him.

Don't get me wrong, I love ALL animals but I'm not too keen on irresponsible cat owners who allow their cats to roam freely, to not only wreak havoc on our native wildlife but also, to poop and drop fleas in other people's yards.  Early one evening at dusk, I looked out my window to see THREE cats lounging in our yard.  Another morning, one was stalking a bird in our yard which I promptly stopped. We are constantly shooing cats out of our yard! Not happy, Jan!! It's not fair and I make no apology for my rant!  I have spent a lot of money trying to rectify the ongoing damage their cats are causing my dog.  Poor Jack has been miserable and has suffered horribly.  He has scratched and bitten himself raw in areas to the point of bleeding and causing secondary infections.  He has lost large areas of fur and his overall body hair has thinned dramatically. He has been on three rounds of antibiotics and cortisone treatments which have given temporary relief only.  I hate to see him in so much discomfort.  At the vet's advice, I have now started him on Comfortis which is a monthly oral treatment recommended for dogs with flea allergy.  I pray it makes a difference.

Poor Jack is not amused either!
Lucky for you, he is showing off his good side,
the other side of his body and his rump look ghastly, poor thing.

___________________________________________________


On a happier note, my fountain pen collection is GROWING!!! 
From the top:
White LAMY Joy with EF nib; contains permanent black ink
Neon Coral LAMY Safari with 1.1 Italic nib; contains permanent black ink
Yellow LAMY Safari with EF nib; contains blue water soluble ink
Platinum Carbon Pen - very fine nib - contains permanent black ink
Aren't they BEAUTIFUL?!!!  

This week, I'm linking up with Sunday Sketches HERE.

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.....

Busy, busy...

I just can't seem to get back into the swing of things. 

Please be patient with me.
I will get there!

Life has been very busy with helping Beau move back home 

as well as going house-hunting with Michelle (daughter).  

Yes, she and her hubby are looking to buy a house. 

All quite exciting!!

I did treat myself to more art goodies. 

All of which are fantastic books that I pore through

at every opportunity.

I filled my large watercolour palette with

artist quality watercolours.
I hope I've done it right as I still feel
quite the novice when it comes to watercolours.

Whatever the case, I'm looking forward to trying them out.

After doing some colour swatches of my new Derwent watercolour pencils, 

shown in a previous post,

I decided to do the same for my little travel watercolour sets.

Kuretake watercolour travel set

And my Koi watercolour field set

The following pics are of an Allamanda vine growing on a fence 

right across the road from the bus stop. 

Gorgeous to look at but highly poisonous! 

And being that it's been forever since I posted a self-portrait shot,
I thought I'd throw one in for good measure.
My hair has that 'just washed' frizz that I dislike
but what's a girl to do?

I'm hoping to get caught up on laundry today and
if I'm lucky, I might find time to sketch.
OH, how I miss my sketchbooks!

Colour swatches and sketching....

Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend!

Aaron is currently on school break so it will be nice having him home for the next couple of weeks.
It's hard to believe the first term of school is already over.

The other morning I woke to a beautiful dawn sky with pink clouds.

It was so pretty!

You may remember that I treated myself to some art goodies a month or so back.

As it's hard to tell what the watercolour pencils will look like once they are activated with water, I decided to create a colour swatch chart for them to make life a little easier.

Now, I will be able to tell at a glance which colour I need to use.

The chart was created on a sheet of A3 CANSON Montval Watercolour 300 paper (300gsm).

I haven't been sketching much since my last post but I have been doing a lot of reading. My copy of 'An Illustrated Journey' by Danny Gregory finally arrived and it was well worth the wait. This book makes a wonderful companion to 'An Illustrated Life' which I bought a couple of years back. I LOVE sneak peaks into the illustrated journals of other artists!  SO inspiring!

I actually did feel inspired to do a quick sketch yesterday.

I sketched my new stainless steel water bottle using Faber-Castell PITT pens, watercolours, and watercolour pencils in large Moleskine sketchbook.

Hopefully, this sketch is a start to many more.