Dublin Sketchers

 A lovely little video about who we are. 

Near Essex Gate

Love this little spot near Essex Gate and Isolde's Tower. Love it that the medieval city wall marker is behind the barrier, a completely neglected little corner, with cans of beer thrown in between the overgrown bushes. That's the Dublin I love. 

I never do just one sketch. Well, never is a big word, but when I am my authentic self, I sketch quickly, with a sense of urgency, and then I do 2 or 3 sketches. They don't all have to be perfect! 

This one was really quick. I'm glad I took a photo of it before I added paint and pencil!

Greens, and a note about my process

I am going back to my painting exploration. This time with cool and warm greens. There is going to be a lot of rinse and repeat (step 6) before I figure out how to paint that cooler pine tree in front of the warm trees. When I squint, I actually don't see it standing out, so I'm going to have to do something radical to make it work. (Or move on to something I can do! I was initially going to paint a light green tree in front of a red cliff, but quickly abandoned the idea. I'm trying to ease myself back into painting, not create challenges for myself!)

Quarter sheet, divided unequally so I can explore formats too

This was my favourite. I like the zigzag, the darks, warms and cools.

It went downhill from there.  Though I do like the dark greens on the right in this one.

I don't think I like anything in these last two. The more I tried, the more it eluded me. Gouache didn't help. Nor did dry brush work.

Glad I abandoned this one quickly!

And the note about my process? Well, it's more a note to myself, but you're welcome to decipher my handwriting if you would like to. Question: how do you paint your emotions when you're autistic and you struggle in identifying them? Answer: pull them out of a box and see how they feel!

Dubh Linn garden

Back from my travels. And back to sketching with my Dublin tribe! It felt good. Although I have to say there are so many tourists on the streets of Dublin that it's quite uncomfortable! Once I was settled, I mostly ignored them.

shadow colours

Would you believe I had a set of these before, in slightly different colours, and I gave it away in a charity bag. But the orange here really caught my eye. So, hopefully, I will use these!

 

Exploration of Creative Shift

I've been sketching and drawing plenty in the last while. Painting, not so much. Struggling with my creativity. Currently doing an online course called Creative Shift. Will see where it leads. I'm currently in procrastination and resistance phase! Also, I'm travelling a lot this year, and finding it hard to stay connected to my art practice.

Here are a few explorations I did while I was travelling.

Lines that express who I want to be at present. I think it's all about recognising who I am as an artist, and accepting it!

Colours (I need to explore other visual elements and figure out what speaks to me in terms of shapes, values, rhythms, dominance, etc)

New brushes

Bought all sorts of brushes in Tokyo. Some really cheap ones in Daiso, some in Sekaido, other more pricey ones in Pigment. Even bought some in a general store in Yokohama Chinatown, only to discover they are cooking brushes!! I haven't tried the hake brushes yet, but I'm looking forward to painting big washes soon.

Clothes I wore

With clothes, on the other hand, I had no problem. There is very little I brought and didn't wear. And I even had room to buy Japanese dresses!

I wasn't the most elegant traveller, but I was comfortable, and I always had clean socks! Important in Japan.

 

Art supplies I used

The art supplies I used. And the long list of the ones I didn't use. Will I ever learn? Also, it's like bringing three different lipsticks with me even if I'm going just for 5 days. If I don't bring them, I end up buying more. And I don't even wear that much lipstick!

 

Last few sketches from my travels

Another hotel, another view. I really enjoyed drawing this one. I didn't sketch much on this holiday, but I did spend two days with Shinobu. We've been friends since we were 16. And I wanted to savour every moment with her. Just like I want to savour every moment with Brendan. Getting old is a strange thing. Not pleasant. But it makes you appreciate who you have in your life. 

Had lots of energy at the airport. Not caring about accuracy. This should be my mantra. 

 

Sketches from my travels - part 5 - Urban Sketchers Tokyo

A wonderful morning with Urban Sketchers Tokyo at Gotokuji Temple. Great location, off the beaten track of tourists (they did arrive eventually). Was made to feel very welcome by everyone. We had a throw-down and a show-and-tell! Really enjoyed Okada-san's company, despite the fact that I had about as much Japanese as he had English. At 92, the oldest urban sketcher I know! And big thanks to Kendra for organising the outing and for the photo.

And a quick sketch from Kawagoe. I could have spent a week sketching this Edo-period town on the very edge of the city, but there was so much to see and eat that I took lots of photos instead. I might revisit it on Google StreetView some day.

Sketches from my travels - part 4, Yokohama

We left Tokyo for a couple of days, and went to Yokohama, though it's only half an hour on the train, and it's really part of the same giant urban sprawl. Yet, it has a very different feel. Big seafront, lovely parks, a great Chinatown, and the Cup Noodle Museum! 

Great view from our hotel, but I didn't have the energy to sketch it all. But on the Tuesday morning, I met up with Jane and we went sketching together. Her positive energy was contagious and it was a real turning point for me. You can see the colours and the energy coming back! And no, I had never met Jane before. We just followed each other on Instagram. But next time I'm in Japan, I will make time to catch up with her again!

Sketches from my travels - part 3

As I was feeling a little better, Brendan felt he was coming down with the same cold (thankfully, it was just a 24-hour bug for him). So I went roaming the streets behind our hotel while he was having a lie-in. I love that area behind Shinjuku towards Yoyogi, lots of little streets where people live and go out, all criss-crossed by the railway tracks. And the crazy power lines of course. I thought I might add colour at a later stage, but didn't get around to it. I didn't even add shading to clarify the scene. Can you see the old man bending down to clear the drains in front of his shop? Most people draw to convey what they saw to others. Me, I like to draw the chaos that my brain sees. It's a record of what I saw. Just for me, I guess. It doesn't have to be readable by others.

 

Sketches from my travels - part two

Things are looking up. You just know by my use of colour. Spent an afternoon in Shinjuku Gyoen. Could have sketched a lot more, but I'm happy with these two sketches. And yes, Hanami was in full swing! Weather was glorious. My cold was still bad, but I was feeling a little stronger.

 

Sketches from my travels - part one

Long-haul when you have a bad cold is just not pleasant. Add to that the most turbulences I've ever experienced on a flight. And jetlag of course. So the first few days of our trip to Japan are a bit of a blur, I have to admit. Really enjoyed Ebisu and Meguro, but didn't sketch there at all.  And as you can see, I haven't yet used any of the bright colours I packed in my sketch kit! Apart from a few colour pencils, and yet, I was quite tentative in how I applied them. The grey marker, on the other hand, a very useful tool.

What to pack?

Do I ever learn?

Here is the art supply swatch I did before our trip to Japan. Definitely too many things for what was essentially a non-sketching holiday! I ended up feeling weighed down by my art supplies, and leaving more and more in the suitcase as I realised how little I was going to sketch each day!