I always love sketching while travelling. But my trips to Belgium are about seeing my mother, and my mind is not tuned in for sketching, even at the airport. I thought that it would help to bring my usual size sketchbook and pens that suit my way of working. But no, not really. Still, better than nothing.
We've had glorious sunshine in this first week of April. It's not exactly warm, but such lovely light. A great excuse to go sketching in the Botanic Gardens with Dublin Sketchers.
I loved observing the great variety of trees and vegetation, and the family groups enjoying the good weather.
I do have a stash of Poscas. Rarely used, to be honest. So it was good to be inspired by Liz Steel and experiment with them. I had never really thought of using them for drawing as such. Some of the darker colours are great fun. And that light blue exploded on the page. That's Poscas for you!
Last Sunday in March. Xavier invited us to sketch in Dublin Airport. The sun was shining. And we found out that the old terminal is accessible to the public. It was such a treat. Even though what I drew looks nothing like what everybody else saw. Maybe I was too excited by the hour and a half on tram and bus to get there? Or my brain can't process the big picture (I blame it on being autistic)? Anyways, it was fun. And yes, it took an hour and a half to get home too. But it was worth it!
I found it too cold to sketch outside. Some of the ladies are 10 years older than me, and they don't seem to feel the cold like I do. Irish women don't feel the cold. So I decided to go inside the Ballsbridge library. It is a Carnegie library, like many in Ireland. I found a great spot on the first landing, looking out the window. This was my view. I drew from edge to edge, inspired by Liz Steel's theme for the month of March. And when I got home, I used a Posca marker to paint a bit of sky, which was blue on that day (still cold though). I'm working in a Stillman&Birn sketchbook. It's not an alpha or beta. Can't remember which it is, but the paper is quite glossy and smooth. Lovely for pen drawing. But not good for watercolour. So, tempera sticks and poscas to the rescue when I want an area of colour. The sketch with the chairs was my warmup. I drew the chair shapes with tempera sticks and drew everything then with a Sailor fude on top. Added some Neocolor for background, then Posca on top.
It started with colour swatches from a palette I was trying to empty, then I drew what was in front of me. And Posca markers came to the rescue. By the way, it would take weeks to empty that palette, so in the end, I just lifted the pans and replaced them by pans from another palette.
Random mark on a page that was used to test pens. I quite like the energy, even if it's dispersed..
The more I draw them birds, the more I love them. As you can see, I'm trying different techniques and materials. All part of the process of getting to know the shapes and colours and volumes and highlights. I'm actually starting to enjoy watercolour on that card paper. And a brush pen for black highlights. A white gel pen for light highlights. A blue Posca marker for volume. I tried pastels too, but the paper started piling. And did you know that rooks have a diet of mostly small earth worms that only come out when the ground is wet. So they have a technique so that their chicks are not all born at the same time, giving the first chick a better chance at survival in case the weather turns dry and the source of food burrows out of reach deep into the ground - they start incubating the first egg as soon as it is laid! I found this on a Corvid blog somewhere, along with some of the photos I used for inspiration for these drawings! I will try to give photo credits where available!
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When your mind is not able to focus on much. Pick colours that you like. Add squiggly lines. And touches of bright pink Posca marker!
I think this was my favourite Sketching PlayLab so far. Discovering a new freedom in my lines and finding my handwriting again!
This PlayLab was about exploring the full spectrum between Control and Freedom with drawing tools. But we started with writing and it was such a revelation for me. Because my handwriting was always described as illegible or bad, I moved to writing in block script quite a few years ago. Getting back into my cursive handwriting just made me so happy! And I think it shows in my drawing. Thank you Suhita and Paul!
And learning to draw with an extended tool is definitely something I'm going to be doing more of. I'm one of these people that hold the pen tight, and I want to break free of that bad habit! It will take practise. And I hope to apply this to holding my paintbrush too!
The pages displayed below are in reverse order from the workshop.
Rediscovering my own handwriting!
