Lovely to come back to patterns on a quiet evening. In the final version, I have added some lighter shapes on top. And also, I photographed it, rather than scan it. I just have a cheap scanner in a cheap printer, maybe that's why I'm never satisfied by scans of my art. That said, the photo looks a bit bleached. Any recommendations for scanning sketches and art?
I got a couple of my paintings framed recently. I like how they look in their frames.
Phew. That was quite the fast race today. 40 people in 40 minutes! And musical instruments and sports equipment too. I very quickly abandoned the idea of working in two layers. And rather than work with the tool I know best, the Sailor Fude pen, I worked with a marker that has a brush pen at one end and a very fine tip at the other. Actually, it's made by Sailor too, but a completely different feel.
The cyclist is my favourite of the lot. Very hard for me to decide which elements are essential to sketch fast. As an autistic person, I see every detail. I don't see the big picture. I was knackered after this session! It was a lot to process!
We had drawn these same people two years ago with Suhita, well 30 of them anyway. It was interesting to go back to my blog and find them!
Continuing to experiment with skies after Uma Kelkar's tips on Vivify. And also looking at Adrienne Pavelka's art. And trying to love Indigo, but I don't think Indigo is one of my colours! Some of these were done on small scraps of paper, others on quarter sheet cold press paper. It's all about water control. But you know I love to splash with lots of water!
Day 4 of #OneWeek100People was intense. I stayed up until 11pm to sketch with Suhita and Nina, from photos by Ukrainian artist Alexandra Bolotina. My bedtime is normally 10pm. I might read until 10:30, but that's my absolute latest. Still, the energy that Nina and Suhita brought to this session kept me going. I am not used to drawing children, and there were three in this set. They're a bit scary, in my version anyway.
I worked in a mix of graphite pencil, Ecoline markers, highlighters and Arrtx acrylic markers. I abandoned my Sailor fude after the first sketch.
Incorporated my Pencils4Tea into the OneWeek100People challenge. Busy day!
People queuing this time. And the camera was very low for one of those shots. The hardest part for me was the high heels!
Thank you Suhita for organising these sessions, and Liz Steel and Marc Taro Holmes for #OneWeek100People (9-13 March 2026)
A mix of done from photos and done from real life (moving people!). You can see the difference!
Had fun trying this idea for glowing skies - Idea and technique from Uma Kelkar on Vivify.ai. I worked on cheap quarter sheet cold press paper. The pushing of the clouds worked really well when I used some pigments, not so well with others. Worked well with Hansa Yellow Medium + Holbein Vermillion. Not so well when I used Monte Amiata Natural Sienna and Naples Yellow. I think my mix was too heavy, or those pigments are too dense, and they didn't flow down as well, no matter how much water I flushed on top. And yes, I did get impatient, and I used a water spray to push some of the pigment further, rather than letting it be!
