CHQ

January and February are not easy months to sketch outdoors. I'm not great at indoors scenes - definitely need more practise in that - so I looked for a warm outdoor spot when we sketched at the CHQ, and I found a heated terrace. Yeah for sketching. Nay for the climate. I was conflicted, but I had a nice view, a hot chocolate and cake, so I quickly settled into it, starting with a direct watercolour of the buildings across the water. It started to rain, and it was too windy for the café to bring down the awning, so there are a few pockmarks on my page, but that's all right. I then sketched the two guys across the way. It wasn't the most satisfying afternoon. I feel I'm regressing.

Also I'm struggling a bit with the paper in this Moleskine sketchbook. I've had several Moleskine watercolour sketchbooks before, and the paper quality has always been consistent - easy to draw on with a fountain pen and perfect for mixing watercolour on the page. But this one, I don't know. It's scratchy. It's like the surface is rougher. Not great for pen. And the paint just doesn't mix right on it. I don't know. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe I need a holiday in the sun? I'm fed up with winter already!