With bombs flying all over the Middle East (and still flying across Ukraine of course), I found it hard to find peace in my practice (week of 1st of March). Pun unintended. A big square ended up looking very empty, and an A2 piece of cartridge paper felt a bit dull (I added ink later but forgot to take a photo).
I love busy places. It kind of clashes with my various autistic sensitivities (noise, light, people!!), but once I'm sketching, I actually think the busier the better. So Heuston Station (Dublin) on a Sunday afternoon was the perfect environment for me. I worked on a page that I had scribbled on in advance, before knowing where we were going. Maybe you find the scribbles distracting, but to me, they add to the energy I felt while sketching. This is one of the main stations in Dublin, serving the Midlands, the whole West coast, and also the South of the country. There were many people coming and going in waves, and many people waiting.
I worked in layers to push and pull, acrylic markers for the people at the front (I just brought a limited number of markers, as you can see), pencils for the people behind. Lots of bins and a bit of the structure. And do you see the man playing the piano in the distance?
After a little break, I did some quick people, mostly checking their phones, with one pen and one marker. I added another marker when I got home.
I think this is all great preparation for One Week 100 People, starting on 9th March (yes, I am weeks behind in posting, but you're used to that, aren't you!
Moonglow, Magic Wizard, Permanent Yellow Deep, Blue Compose and an unknown pink.
The more I explore, the more I realise that cold press doesn't work for me any more. And really the only of the 6 thumbnails I find interesting is the bottom left, with a big sky dominating the landscape. I need to take note of that for my next move.
Spréach means sparkle, and also spirit. Spalp means to burst forth and seems to be used about sunshine. I think Spalp is probably more fitting for this piece. But it's a strange word to my ear. Maybe I should call it "Shining Through". That might work better?
And I need to figure out how to take better photos. Photos in the mirror are a bit confusing. Plus this one is blurred. We still don't have much light in the sky these days, but at least you get an idea of the size.
Loving the Fabriano Unica paper for these flowing watercolours. And a mix of opaque and granulating watercolours. All inspired by the Beara landscape.
I need to finetune this, but it was magical to create a repeating pattern from one of the gouache pieces I did during Amanda Close's class on Vivify.
It wasn't the birds that were travelling. It was me. I was visiting my Mum in Belgium. And decided to apply Andrew James' Bird Math technique to pass the time. I had done a session with him and Uma on Vivify and it was so much fun. The first few birds were done from imagination in the airport. I clearly never looked at a seagull properly before. Then I drew a tui (a New Zealand bird) from picture I found on the Internet. I used highlighters and acrylic markers. Then I looked at seagulls on the Internet and drew some more, just having fun. Next time I have a dull moment, I will look at pigeons.
Interesting that since I came back from India, I'm struggling to sketch in Dublin!! The weather isn't helping, that's for sure. I did find little scenes that interested me, but couldn't settle for a full sketch.
Years ago, I bought a pack of square papers with 60's patterns on them. I never did anything with them. I just liked the shapes and colours. More recently, I culled the stash, but for some reason, I kept this one. I'm so glad I did, as it was my inspiration for gouache patterns when I had some leftover paints. It's a great way to practise mixing colours in gouache, working with a limited palette, and learning how to get the right texture - just enough water, not too much, not too little.
CaifirÃn - Head shawl, cap of mist. Another piece inspired by the good old Irish weather. I had gone up the hill, hoping for wonderful views as I got to the top, but a heavy mist arrived suddenly and there was nothing to see. Though the sound of gently falling rain was lovely.
This one is larger, half sheet, on cold press watercolour paper. I was interrupted at some point, and that was the best thing to happen. I stopped fussing with it and let the watercolour paint decide what it wanted to do
A veil of haze - that's what Scim means in Irish. Maybe I will learn these words to do with the weather. Weather is important in Irish culture. And maybe I need to start learning more Irish. I do care so much about this country - I've lived here nearly 40 years. I can't believe that number - 40 years, and yet, in October 2026, it will be 40 years since I move here. Living in Dublin, I never needed to learn Irish. But there is a pull, now. Not sure where it's coming from.
In the meantime, I'm interested in painting the Irish weather. This one turned out differently than how it started. This is what happens when you drop a blob of intense pigment on the wet paper. I like it. There's a couple of things I want to fix, and hopefully I won't ruin it in the process.
This piece is a quarter sheet size, painted in watercolour on Fabriano Unica paper. It's a print paper, but I love what watercolour does on it. I took a few photos so you get a better idea what it looks like, and the size of the piece (and you get to see a glimpse of Sumi-chan, our cat).
Below are photos of how it looked before I added a glaze to cover the accidental x nearly in the middle where the road ends.
Scim means haze, or mist. I'm thinking of a more fluid watercolour painting. I never know what they're going to look like. But I start with colours, and words. And a place. Although my paintings are not representational, they always start with a real place, at a particular moment.
Lots of blues in these test swatches. I'm running low on Cobalt blue and I wanted to see what else I have that would work for the painting I'm thinking of. I know I could just order some Cobalt blue, but I have so many other colours in my stash. I just want to use them.
Well, not that big a sheet, A4, but bigger than anything I've done in gouache before. Started with some writing, then circles, letters, lines, more squiggles and circles. And then did a few more layers, trying to vary shapes, colours and values. Including more writing. Photos of the finished version include a few close-ups at different angles so you can see the texture of the gouache.
