Drawing more portraits of the lovely people at Bluebell Community Centre.
This is Richard. He was quieter than some of the other sitters. But he looked straight at me and posed well!.


Drawing more portraits of the lovely people at Bluebell Community Centre.
This is Richard. He was quieter than some of the other sitters. But he looked straight at me and posed well!.
Thinking about a big sky and a vibrant sea. I have a photo of the sea at Killiney with a dark big sky and the sea shining with an unreal glow.
Trying a few colour mixes that woud match the mood.
It was a one-day heat wave in Dublin. And I didn't have the energy to drive all the way to Saint Anne's Park on the other side of the city. So I asked Delphine if she wanted to come over. And we sketched in the shade of the trees at the top of my estate. It was such a relaxing afternoon.
I was trying out a new sketchbook, a big Waterford and Saunders hot press paper book. I'm pretty sure I bought Hot Press by mistake. I'm not great with painting on Hot Press. But it's good for pen work, so will be useful for urban sketching. It's a bit big to fit in my backpack, so I'll have to bring a tote bag for it.
Using some of my pre-painted backgrounds - Hello Kitty has nothing to do with Ukraine, but the crane is a symbol of long life, so I will use it to wish for victory for Ukraine and the end of all the dying.
PS: I'm really bad at origami, but thankfully Shinobu gave these to me and I have managed to keep a few from our cat's claws.
Quick triads on a day when I don't have time for anything else.
All pigments by Daniel Smith, except for the Cerulean Blue, which is from Holbein.
Hansa Yellow Medium, Cobalt Blue and Permanent Alizarin Crimson. Love the luminosity of this one.
One more session on Richmond Street. Finally reaching the canal.
The little red house looks like it's the next shop that will be replaced by something bland and modern. Although I have to say that the architects did a decent job of 43 Richmond next to it - it seems to be a fancy eatery, but the façade still has lots of character. I worry about this whole area, though. It is changing so much since I lived around the corner on Adelaide Road (well over 30 years ago, admittedly). All these beautiful brick houses with beautiful details are being replaced by apartment blocks and offices. Who is going to live there, I wonder?
A new park in Dublin, at the back of Thomas Street. It took me a while to settle and decide on what to sketch. It was a hot sunny day, by Irish standards. But it was hard to find a shady spot, as the trees are all newly planted.
I'm at the next stage in Inma Serrano's Domestika course, where she shares some techniques for drawing lively people. I need to explore this some more. Some didn't work out so well.
Connecting shapes as an exercise in Inma Serrano's Domestika course. I'm kinda chasing my tail at the moment, but I really want to do more of this practise. And yet, I still want to paint sea, sky and rocks. I wish I was more focused these days (I just typed this while looking out at the amazing clouds that I can see outside my window, and there was only one typo! I had forgotten how much I love touch-typing! And how much I love clouds. I could never live in a country where the sun shines all the time!). Anyways, let's try and focus after this. But I am a great believer in the fact that all art practise is good and will lead to improvements. So, if I draw more, my painting skills will improve too. If I'm learning composition, that will also have a positive impact. If I learn how to draw people, I will be able to populate my urban sketches and paintings with convincing figures. In other words, it's all good!
I did two versions. Which do you like best?
I'm getting towards the end of the Direct Watercolour challenge for this year (and yes, at this stage, I'm about 4 weeks behind in my blog and 6-7 weeks behind on Instagram). So when we went to IMMA at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, I sketched in direct watercolour in the formal gardens, then I felt the need for ink and markers when I went inside the courtyard. I'm forever pulled between different techniques, forever experimenting.
More lily pad experimentation.
This one in direct watercolour
This one with an ink drawing first. I like the colours here better, like the transparency of the water and the greenery underwater.
Continuing to practise with Inma Serrano's Domestika course. This section was about "Buildings as imaginary monsters". I'm paraphrasing. But it really helped me tackle Saint Marc's Basilica in Venice. No, I didn't sketch this from life. It's, mmm, 5-6 years since I was there. And I didn't have the skills or courage to sketch this amazing building then.
Time to go back? I need to have a chat with Françoise!
The journey continues. In a new sketchbook. I'm not sure I'll have enough material to fill it, but I could come up with a few ideas that could work.
Like leaving a lot of white space on some pages.
Although I feel it looked better with no writing at the top. All the people were drawn on location from direct observation, by the way.