Pencils4Tea 10 September 2026

I go through phases in my head - full energy, low, flat. I guess everyone does. Sometimes, I can't face the blank page, even for something as enjoyable as @Pencils4Tea. I don't recommend buying more art supplies to fight artist's block, but I got two Lyra watersoluble graphite chunky crayons. I had lusted after them (2B & 9B) for a long time. Took a little while to warm up, but then I had a great time. Love how dark they go when you add a bit of water. Added a little bit of ArtGraf in a tin when I wanted a darker tone.

 

A landscape, Not a landscape

Work in progress. I'm moving to my square images and looking at this hidden landscape where I feel I belong. Where I feel fearless, grounded, embraced. The original version stared at me from the board for a number of weeks before I understood what it needed. It's not quite a painting I would frame. But I like the shapes, the value contrast and some of the curved lines. The journey continues.

 

Sketching in Liberty Park

OK, Liberty Park, at the back of Talbot Street, would not be a place I would go to on my own. Not safe, even during the day. Some areas of Dublin are like that. But fair play to the City Council, they've organised a lunchtime event every Wednesday for the month of September, with food trucks, cool music, and lots of organisers in pink hi-vis jackets, so the skangers stay away. We had a great time sketching there on the first Wednesday in September. And I enjoyed my pizza afterwards. 

If in doubt, swatch colours

 

Picking some colours I have in my stash but haven't explored yet. Love the mix of Blue Compose with Mars Violet. And Jaune Brilliant No2 with Blue Compose. Probably need to dilute that Jaune Brilliant a lot more. And the Yellow Grey too. The PW6 in the mix goes too pasty otherwise.

Circles - are they too abstract?

Yes, I'm still pursuing circles, but I'm getting bored with them, and it shows. I need to ground myself in the landscape again, I think. What have I learned? That I need to work big and across masking tape to be able to paint a circle in watercolour. And that I don't need to paint a perfect circle. And that hot press paper is challenging.

 

Back to process - Creative Shift

I'm going to be busy for the next few weeks with Creative Shift, an online program I attended a couple of years ago. I feel it's the right time to get back to it, as I want to dig deeper into my creativity and my art journey. Here is a page from the first week. There's plenty more, but more personal stuff, and my handwriting isn't as hard to read as I thought it was. So this is all I'm prepared to share here.

Botanic Gardens in September

Dublin Sketchers hadn't been in the Botanic Gardens all summer, or maybe I wasn't around? Anyways, I was delighted when it was picked as the location for the first Sunday in September. I prepared my pages with green splashes and pink splashes in the spirit of the theme set for the month by Liz Steel on her Patreon. I was a bit worried about the pink, given that I work mostly in watercolour, but it all worked out. It was a gorgeous day, warm, but no sunshine. Everybody had a great time. Head to www.dublinsketchers.com to see everyone's sketches.

Soft pastels are hard to resist

I'm giving myself permission to play, to explore, without a precise goal in sight. I'm interested in softer shapes, circles, more neutral colours. No idea where that will lead. Or how long I will be able to resist the urge to paint with more intention. But Unison soft pastels were the perfect tool for this, added on top of some of the circles from my previous session.

 

Exploring the softer side of circles

I'm resisting the temptation to "paint a painting". I want to explore how to do those circles in watercolour. Not as easy as in ink. I played with a variety of papers, from rough to very smooth print paper and heavy-weight cartridge paper. Oh and there was a blob too. But an interesting blob. Some of these are A2 (roughly half sheet), some a bit smaller. Used Cretacolour watersoluble pencil, my new Lyra chunky pencil, and also some Inktense in one of the pieces

 

Playing with Lyra watersoluble chunky graphite pencils

The only art I did from Monday to Thursday in first week in September! 

Around St Stephen's Green shopping centre

I'm probably one of the few people that doesn't particularly care whether the Stephen's Green shopping centre stays or goes. It's a New Orleans style in the middle of Dublin. I never really liked it. That said, it will be a shame when it's replaced by a bland office building. What I will miss the most is the access to the top car park, with gorgeous views of the city. So I took the opportunity to sketch the view one more time before it disappears. And when I was done with the view that I wanted to capture, I went down to street level and did what I love even more - sketch people while standing on the street. The hungry customers queuing at Bambino's (a place where you can buy slices of pizzas) were easy pickings. The queue actually extended to the end of the street. Everyone tells me the pizza is delicious, but I don't understand why anyone would want to eat pizza while standing on a narrow busy street. Call me old-fashioned! And yes, when I'm walking through the area, I find it annoying that there's all these people standing on the narrow footpath, queuing and eating pizza!