People in Grand Central Station

I felt my people sketches in Grand Central Station were a little stiff. So I decided to practise from photo and figure out what I can improve. I took some photos while I was there and worked from them with a brush pen and some Moonglow watercolour.

Two conclusions:

1. Brush pen makes for looser sketch
2. Overlapping people gives a sense of space

Let's see if I can remember that next time I'm sketching a crowd!  

Still exploring. I like these two.

Still inspired by some of the Pinterest art that I saved, and also by this idea of brambles and squiggles. And red and turquoise. Things I have noticed recently. And brushpen. The colours are definitely very me. Quin Burnt Scarlet, Monte Amiata Natural Sienna, Cobalt Green, Ultramarine Deep. And whatever else was in the dirty wells of my palette.  And I also used a black pencil to drag some of the dark paint around and create more texture. All of this while answering video calls from my Mum. I showed her these to distract her and she quite liked them. So do I. They're not quite completely authentically me, but they're going somewhere I like all the same.

Exploring texture squiggles

Despite the ongoing video calls, I kept working in my art room. Thinking about moving to a larger size from my little thumbnails, I wanted to explore mark making with a brush pen, as I would have to keep the viewer's gaze moving around the canvas. I looked through some of the Pinterest inspiration I recorder a short while back to try and figure out how I would do that. 

This first one would probably look better if I had softened more of these black lines. But I do like the quiet areas. Need more of those in my art in general I think. I also tried with a Sennelier brush pen in Paynes Grey. It kind of ran away from me, but the blue looks quite nice so I might have another go. I also liked the mix of black brushpen with Monte Amiata Natural Sienna watercolour (the little detail I snuck in to the left of the main blue squiggles)

Aimless again, or am I?

This is what I did on New Year's Day, between watching a movie that put me in a sad mood (Maestro, on Netflix) and developing a migraine (full on, with the flashy lights, blue, black and yellow triangles traveling the top right corner of my vision, and a cold nose - I drank lots of water, and it dissipated, but it left me in a funk until the following morning.). 

Really wasn't inspired. But then, I thought that these orange rectangles reminded me of the doors near Sandycove seafront, where they have redesigned the area where the sub-aqua clubs are. And I do like vertical lines. But horizontal landscapes. Go figure.

Then, I looked through notes I wrote in my studio book, and decided to investigate the idea of brambles and the colour red a little further. Or orange. I do like orange and black. And I do like squiggles. Great excuses to play with a brush pen. All of a sudden, the day didn't seem so lost after all.

Down by the creek, other approach

Trying to step away from the original photo now, with a black and white approach, using a brush pen. 

 

Colour Pencil and black brushpen

Not much, but better than nothing, which is what I felt like doing! 

Thumbnails

Trying to visualise landscapes that speak to me. Always inspired by the Irish coastline. I just picked a nearly-dry brush pen and thought of places that matter to me. Sky, sea, mountain. Yes. Narrowing it down. I must try this in Procreate and see if it will inspire me towards more abstract landscapes.

Random - mark making

 Random mark on a page that was used to test pens. I quite like the energy, even if it's dispersed..

And this one was done by pushing a coin around the page with a two fountain pens, inspired by Sketching Playlab. And then added colours that were sitting in my palette. One is Cascade Green. Another is Green Gold I think. I'm not sure what the orange is, and the blue is probably a phthalo. Sometimes it's good to be random.

The same colours again, with Green Gold pushing the other colours around. And a bit of lifting with an eradicator brush.

More paint on top of water-soluble ink. Then black ink applied with a Kakimori brass nib. I do love a strong black!

Cats

There's no stopping me now. I'm trying all the things that I think I can't draw well. Ink bottles, mugs, and now, cats!

I started with Willow from a photo.

Here are a few of Sumi from life. He was in the middle of his ablutions.

And two of Sumi from photo

Experimental mugs

Another thing I find hard to draw is mugs. So I applied the Free-your-pen method from Sketching Playlab and had a great time. Both drawings are the same mug and little measuring bowl. It was experimental, as I said. I kinda ran out of room for the mug on the right, but then I started playing with coloured pencils and I applied that to the drawing on the left and it was very enjoyable and pretty.

No idea what the colours in my palette are. I was using up colours that have been in a secondary palette for a few months. They're nice colours. I must check what they might be. 

 

Random

Trying mixes with raw sienna, a colour I don't use much. It's a little bit too orange for my taste. And then I felt the need to play with pens and brushpens. I need to do more of this!

This time I measured - is it any more me?

For this one, I actually measured a little - I'm not sure it's got any more of a likeness than the others? But I see a bit of me in all of them. And now I can change my profile picture, as I'm no longer a redhead and I finally have a self-portrait that reflects more what I look like now.

Doodles and mark making, Explore and play

New Year, new me. I'm setting 2 hours a week to explore and play with tools that I don't normally use much. No expectation, no pressure. It's important to me to regain that balance about art-making. I think I will do better in the long term if it's not all about making lovely paintings. And when I say I will do better, I mean my progress in terms of drawing and painting, and also in my mental well-being and feeling happy with making art just for the sake of it. I feel that lately, it's all become too serious, art, the world, my life, and I feel the need to find that lightness of being that seems to be missing at the moment. There are things I can't change, but how I react to these things, I can. Not all of the exploration is going to look pretty, that's what exploration is about after all. But if I can draw/paint three paint tubes that make me happy, it's all been worth it!

Sketching in the hills and fields of the Corbières

We'll call this rural sketching! Two weeks in the Corbières region of France sure was good for the soul! The weather was perfect for walking between the vineyards, up the hills, sketching it all, even the big vendange machine, which we'd never seen before!!

We were in a small village called Montséret, really quiet, but within easy reach of everything and everywhere we wanted to go. We didn't go far, enjoying the peaceful roads in our neighbourhood! Do zoom in on the map and take a walk through the streets and vineyards. It's a gorgeous little place!

All of these will be inspiration for paintings for the months to come!

View of the fields seen from the top of the hill, done standing while balancing sketchbook, small watercolour palette and small water container in one hand, and brush in the other. And it was hot! And yes, the earth is quite orange, so I was glad I brought my tube of Aussie Red Gold watercolour!

When I joined Brendan at the top of the hill, where the castle is, I decided to do a view with a brushpen and a waterbrush, while resting my sketchbook on a wall. Much easier!

Another day, the sun wasn't shining yet, so we walked towards Pradines, and there was this picture-perfect view. And as you can see, it started to rain, but only a few light drops, so I kept sketching. I love to look at all the different vineyards. Quite a few hadn't been picked yet. The Corbières has its own mix of grapes, including one that's left on the vine as long as possible so it ripens and gives the wine its strong flavour. I can't remember if it's Carignan or Mourvèdre. All I know is that it's a balancing act between letting the grape ripen as long as possible, and the risk of thunderstorm that can damage the grapes! Plus the boars that come out from the wooded hills at night and feast on the juicy grapes. Which is why the hunting season starts in mid-September. We did see lots of hunters heading off into the hill in their little vans, all wearing their bright-orange tshirts, with the dogs barking in the back! 

You can also see in my little sketch below that there are really old vines, and also new ones planted all the time. We looked at the local co-op and the oldest vines in the area were planted in 1911 I think!

More on the Corbières wines here!

The big machines for shaking the grapes off the vines! We saw a lot of these. They started work early, 5:30 am! Some fields are still picked by hand, depending on the terroir and appellation. I think the Boutenac appellation requires that 80% be picked by hand. We did see a few of the hand-picking in the distance, but not close enough to sketch! The big machine, on the other hand, was going up and down the field, so I got a chance to capture its basic shape at least!!

One day, while Brendan was flying the drone, I just sat at the entrance to one of the vineyards just outside the village and sketched these. Such rugged textures! Loved it! It was hot work, though!

Can't go to the South of France and not sketch inside a graveyard! They have the most amazing tombs and mausoleums! This one was for the Caraguel Taix family, who lost a son at the age of 21 in 1917.

Here are my urban sketching shots

And a photo of me from the drone. Just as well I was wearing a skort!