Magnolias

I never get to sketch magnolias in real life. They come and go so quickly. Plus, it's still bloody freezing here in mid-March. Always feel sorry for the Texas majorettes at the St Patrick's day parade here in Dublin!

But Suhita had lovely photos for us to work from during one of her monthly sessions. Like everyone else in the group, I feel I'm getting bolder with my materials. Tempera sticks and Stabilo Woodies. Can't go wrong with these! 

Plus I'm still exploring working to the edge of the page, as part of Liz Steel's Patreon group. 

Reminded of how quickly paint dries in a warm house!

Three weeks back from Cill Rialaig, and this is my first time going back to watercolour and to the many photos I took. It's like my brain is needing time to process the experience before I can translate it into paintings. And also, I've been busy since. Ranelagh Arts Exhibition for Dublin Sketchers, One Week 100 People, visiting my mother, catching up with videos from Geoff Allen's class on Vivify, and everyday life of course. I went too dark again in my clouds. And, although I thought the paper was still damp enough for me to add more paint, it dried unevenly. It was quite warm in my little studio. More practice needed!

Pencils4Tea 13 March

Each portrait is the time of a song. I'm loving pencils and crayons these days. As the days get warmer, I will get back to watercolour. Soon.

From Ballsbridge library

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.

At the hairdresser's

No, it's not a halo. Just the round mirrors at Eddie Doyle's, my hairdresser's. Had fun with tempera sticks, uni-pin fineliner, colour pencils and some brush pens. And the quote on one of the people sketches "repent or perish", was what the woman who was talking to the homeless man had written on her high-vis jacket. You'd think we were in America!

I had some difficulty photographing these, as you can see in the last picture. Sumi likes to stick close to me.

 

Which way to go?

Rock, Paper, scissors? Rocks, sky, sea? I'm struggling to decide which to explore next from my adventures in Cill Rialaig? I was looking at waves a few days ago, thinking this is what I wanted to do. But today, it was clouds. Let's have a look at clouds then.

All because I am looking at Geoff Allen's class on Vivify and he was using a mix of Vermillion, ultramarine and cobalt. I had to try it, and it's gorgeous! 

Big reminder to myself - work out the shapes and design before throwing paint to paper!

Sunday at Grattan Bridge

A gorgeous sunny afternoon on Grattan Bridge with Dublin Sketchers. Fun with tempera sticks, colour pencils and sailor fude.

Little gouache swatches

Got a few tubes of bright gouache colour (guess the upcoming workshop!!), and a beautiful neutral. Then mixed it all. Suprisingly, I like the neutrals better!

Also experimenting with colours I've had for a while but never really used.

Cill Rialaig - Experimentation phase starts now

I haven't painted much since I came back from Cill Rialaig. I'm writing this two weeks after coming back. Of course, there's the catching up on normal life (which reminds me I need to look at my tax returns!), and also I need some time to cogitate on what I want to pursue first - sky, sea, rocks, sheep? It will happen, as long as I keep throwing paint at paper! But first, I need to clear my desk. I need space!

Weather diary

 Looking at the sky outside my window. A few experiments.

Drumcondra Library

 Blue skies. But Art Deco buildings are hard to draw!

One Week 100 people

Thank you to Suhita, Liz Steel, Mark Taro Holmes for making One Week 100 People happen again, in its 9th year. I can feel I haven't been sketching people much in the last while. But it's amazing what a few days of practise can do! I even did a few on location. But most of these are from the Zoom sessions that Suhita organised. I have even included my warm-up sketches before these. Every little bit counts! The faces are from earthsworld - always great photos to sketch from!

The week was from 3 to 7 March