View from my window

Slowly making progress through Liz Steele's Foundations online course. I found Lesson 10 particularly useful. It's entitled "Creating a Focus", and it's all about starting with quick thumbnails before you decide on what view or subject even to spend time developing. I have a tendency to rush through the start of a sketch, and then getting myself locked in with something that's not necessarily the most interesting view or the best story.

So, starting with a few thumbnails is good - it's like taking lots of snapshots of everything around you, and then you only pick one to post on Facebook! Unless, like me, you get so engrossed in the thumbnails that you forget what you actually set out to do.

The indoor prompt, as usual, was to find something you could do without leaving home. For me, that was a no-brainer. I love the view from the upstairs front window!

Then I decided to go for the house - not so much because it was my favourite view, but because it was the more challenging element. I did want to apply the skills I've picked up along the way! So I did a quick drawing of the roof with a yellow watercolour pencil and then bravely picked up my ink fountain pen and threw myself in!

The watercolour is always the fun part for me - of course, at the very end, I realised that the angle of the roof was wrong. Why is it I never see these things until it is too late?? Never mind. I actually corrected it in the sketchbook after taking this photo, so I'll have a reminder for again! As long as I remember which line is the good one!!