I hadn't painted in over a month. I was travelling, and sketching and exploring patterns. But still, the not painting was becoming a thing. So, I did what I always do when that happens. I took a full sheet of watercolour paper, and divided it in 6 with masking tape. And I had fun. Can you guess which are my two favourites?
It was such a long time since I had taken part in Pencils4Tea. Was so glad I turned up.
This week in the patterns class I'm doing with Amanda Close on Vivify, we were finding inspiration in works of art. For the homework, I used patterns I found in a Harry Clarke stained glass window. I worked from a photo I took years ago, in the V&A, I think. I was trying to find photos online, but nothing gave me the zoomed-in detail I wanted. Glad I take photos of all sorts of things that pull me in. My Google Photos collection has lots and lots of inspiration.
I used some acrylic markers on top of the gouache this time, for details. Because let's face it, I struggle with painting details with a brush. It all got a bit mad, but fun.
I can't believe it's a little over 20 years since I started writing this blog. It's evolved. I have evolved (mostly got older!). But I do show up, most days!
After sketching in Mumbai, I have to say that sketching in Dublin in January/February is challenging. It actually didn't rain too much on this day, but there was a constant drizzle. I drew with a pink pencil, because I knew that my ink would go all over the place with every drop of rain that fell on the page. And I was holding an umbrella at the same time. And I was too warm, because temperatures went from 7 to 11 over the morning. So, I was glad, I had been practising vignettes.
It got a bit more intricate with the patterns this week. I don't normally do this many layers, because I normally work in watercolours, but this was interesting.
We're in a period of our lives when we do quite a bit of travel. And it always takes me a while to settle back into my painting afterwards, as I struggle to deal with changing from one activity to another, one mood to another. But I'm getting there. Often, it starts with a few words, and colour swatches. Even if most of the colours I try out won't make it into the next piece.
Recently, one of our wonderful Admins in Dublin Sketchers organised a Drink 'n Draw event at the Hendrick Hotel. It was great fun, spending an evening drawing people. Some I knew well, others not. Some portraits worked out better than others (15 minutes of drawing a person only makes me anxious. I have more fun with 5-minute portraits!). Then by the end of the evening, we had a giant throwdown. And we got to go home with many portraits of ourselves..
Video of my little sketchbook from Mumbai, January 2026. Link to video on YouTube HERE.
Flipthrough of my main sketchbook from the Gateway to India 2026 workshop led by Zainab Tambawalla and Suhita Shirodkar. Click HERE to see on YouTube.
I was chatting with friends on Vivify, and I had no plans to draw or paint, but I grabbed a little sketchbook, three tubes of gouache and I made another little pattern, like the one I had done earlier, but in a completely different colour scheme. I'm not sure what the pinky purple colour is, but that's alright. I have so many tubes of gouache, plus I'm not a neat mixer, so the wells in my gouache palette are a bit dirty. It might be primary magenta (mixed with whatever was on my brush) or it might be peony.
Inspired by some photos I took on my walk this morning. Nothing fancy, just plants in other people's gardens. I painted this a little bigger than my previous attempts, so I didn't have to be so delicate in how I applied paint.
Just changed the red to an opera pink (quite fluo) for a different triad. I tried a more delicate pattern, but it didn't work, so I ended up with this. I must try to paint bigger squares and see how the patterns work out then. This is all I did in my full session with Shelley. I normally paint a half sheet when we're chatting!
Apart from one (which was a disaster), it was fun to use acrylic markers on top of gouache. First I did a weird triad with a flesh colour, a bright green and a grey blue. It created interesting backgrounds. First I used one of my hand-cut stamps (which I did years ago, when I was into Gelli printing), then I tried some Posca and Molotow markers, then Arrtx. All were fun. You sometimes have to use two layers, as the markers pick up some of the gouache.
I'm not firing on all cylinders this week, so these little swatches are a great way to explore colours and patterns, and learn more about gouache. I just wouldn't have the energy for a big watercolour. Plus the weather is awful outside!
I'm seeing patterns everywhere now. What I was looking at today was nature and Japanese papers. The one thing I'm realising, though, is that I don't have a delicate touch. I will never be a botanical artist. And working in gouache is particularly tricky for me, as I struggle with consistency and understanding how much material is on my brush, generally leading to big blobs of paint. I tried to paint a ginko leaf. It was clunky. I also tried a Japanese arrow pattern - I got so lost in it! The good thing with gouache, though, is that you can paint over it. Still, it's a perfect way to stay in touch with art while I'm feeling under the weather (again!). I don't think I could tackle a quarter sheet watercolour landscape right now, so little gouache squares with patterns it is. I wonder if I can apply acrylic markers on top, or will the gouache lift? Well, I guess I'll have to try!
The colour wheel is in a relatively smooth Hahnemuhle sketchbook and the little squares are on basic cartridge paper
