View from the Discovery Cafe

Staedtler Pigment Liner and W&N Watercolours 

in Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook, 3.3" x 5.5" (x2)

Yep! I love this sketchbook!

Sketchcrawl - Old Spitalfields Market

Staedtler Pigment Liners, Tombow Brushpen and
Neocolour II Wax Pastels in 7.5" x 7.5" Handmade Sketchbook

Urban Sketchers London Sketchcrawl at Old Spitalfields Market today. My friend, Ella, came with me; it was her first one and we had a great day. It was warm and dry and there were plenty places to sit, eat and sketch. It was such an interesting venue; thank you USK London organisers.

I didn't have time to do the art deco building in the distance but will another time; it's beautiful.

Almost finished my sketch

(my subject in background)

Lunchtime and end of day comparisons

So many interesting places to sketch

Impressive view

Sketch of Wardown

Pen and Ink and Watercolour Sketch of Wardown

in Handmade Sketchbook

A friend and I went on our own little sketchcrawl and did a few sketches before having a cuppa in the tea rooms. After she left to collect her children, I gave myself a little artist's date by sketching and painting this.

It's hard to believe I've been unable to post in Leslie Saeta's '30-in-30 Challenge' before now when I've made it a high point in my calendar in previous years. I'll have to make a determined effort for Inktober!

276. And Finally...

Pilot G-Tec and C4 pen and white Derwent Coloursoft pencil in
re-cased Seawhite sketchbook, 7.5" x 7.5" (x2)

The lower half (foreground) of the picture has now been finished and I've decided to leave it as it is and not add any colour but who knows...

(Day 29 of Leslie Saeta's '30 in 30'.)

275. Tone Added At the Side of the House

Pilot G-Tec and C4 pen and white Derwent Coloursoft pencil in
re-cased Seawhite sketchbook, 7.5" x 7.5" (x2)

Gosh! Look at the difference the addition of tonal values makes to the entire image and I haven't even finished the lower half! I always advocate the use of tone yet am still pleasantly surprised every time I compare the before and after images.

(Day 26 image)

My cousin (who owns this house and land) has told me to add colour but we've had a very busy couple of days so the challenge had to take a temporary back seat.

Thank you Leslie Saeta; I'm far from 30 pieces but I've done many more than I would have made time for had there not been a challenge this month! Added to that, and no less importantly, the encouragement from my fellow '30 in 30' artists has been wonderful. Thank you very much everyone!

(Day 29 of Leslie Saeta's '30 in 30'.)

274. At the Side of the House

Pilot G-Tec and C4 pen and white Derwent Coloursoft pencil in
re-cased Seawhite sketchbook, 7.5" x 7.5" (x2)

I thought I'd just knock out a very quick sketch while my husband was out at band practice. Three hours later…..

(Day 26 of Leslie Saeta's '30 in 30'.)

267. Supermarket View from Upstairs

Winsor & Newton watercolours and Pilot G-Tec C4 pen and
Hybrid Gel grip pen in re-cased Seawhite sketchbook, 7.5" x7.5" (x2)

If you go upstairs at the supermarket, where there are more shops and businesses, this is the view that meets you! It really has to be seen to be appreciated; I haven't done it much justice here. Have a great weekend everyone!

I wasn't totally happy with the previous image (now below) and could not think what it was that bothered me until I had to fit it onto Leslie's '30 in 30' page then I saw it! I much prefer the cropped version above; what do you think? (NB. It's in my sketchbook so is still in one piece - smile.)

(Day 17 of Leslie Saeta's '30 in 30'.)

239. Kitty on Pavement

Pilot G-Tec C4 pen in hand-stitched sketchbook

I shared the County Durham sketch with three of my artist friends and commented that the cars were all over the pavement. I noticed that they were commenting that they couldn't see the "cats" and realised I'd made a 'typo'. I felt I owed them a quick cat sketch after that!

(Posted later.)

232. Hampstead Heath Sketch

Lamy Safari fountain pen and Tombow brush pen

in Stillman & Birn Epsilon (lovely smooth) sketchbook, 8.5" x 5.5" (x2)

Hampstead Heath is right around the corner to the Royal Free Hospital where I had a treatment on Wednesday. Decided to have a rest in front of the river and pulled out my sketchbook before going home.  (I made a B&W copy and added colour to it yesterday; will post later.)

212. Sketchcrawl 23.01.2016

Pilot C4 G-Tec pen and Winsor & Newton Watercolours 
in Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook, 8.5" x 5.5" (x2)

Up four flights of stairs(!) and I arrived in the rafters in 'Project Space' (in an art gallery) this afternoon and this is what we did. A complex scene and I made a ton load of errors; nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon thanks to the Urban Sketchers group in Northampton.

194. Peace Pagoda

Lamy Safari Medium Fountain Pen, Neocolour II wax pastels and a

smidgeon of Tombow brushpen in Stillman & Birn Alpha Sketchbook, 8.5" x 5.5"

I love drawing buildings and architecture but this structure in Battersea Park was so difficult for me that I can only put it down to the fact that it is not a typically western construction.

It was so cold yet we still had a fantastic day with the Urban Sketchers London group. One of the highlights on these 'sketchcrawl' days is comparing sketches over lunch and at the end of the day; we all had way too much fun at the Doodle Bar (a completely unique artistic space!) at the end of the day warming up with pots of tea and poring over the work in each and everyone's fabulous sketchbooks - artists are so very friendly and encouraging!

190. Dry Stone Wall, Cumbria

Copic 0.03 Multiliner pen

in Stillman & Birn Epsilon Sketchbook, 8.5" x 5.5"

Two great loves: my Stillman & Birn sketchbook and my Copic pen. I love the fine, wispy lines that can be created on this lovely, smooth paper. To sketch this image, I zoomed in on a photograph taken in Cumbria.

189. Rainy Ambleside Sketch

Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen in an A5 sketchbook that I made

I was waiting for something this afternoon so just pulled up one of my many Lake District photographs and did a sketchy sketch from it.  I was struck by the very bright red lights on the  Range Rover and in the reflection so pulled out a red C4 and coloured them.

163. After Edward Seago - A Norfolk Farm

Charcoal and Schmincke Soft Pastels
on Clairefontaine Pastelmat Paper, 7" x 9.5"

I found this lovely landscape painting and loved it so much I decided to do a copy using soft pastels. I've had to do it over several days due to work commitments, etc, but have thoroughly enjoyed copying an Impressionist master. It's a great way to learn.

Edward Seago's original painting:

and some work in progress images…

151. John Constable's House, Hampstead

Faber Castell 0.7 HB pencil then Staedtler Pigment Liner 0.05 pen,
Tombow Brushpen and two Derwent Coloursoft Pencils in

in Handbook Travelogue Journal, 5" x 5" (x2)

This sketch was done at the Sketchcrawl on Saturday in pencil at the scene then I went over it in pen at home. I got the idea of only adding colour to the door and the blue plaque from another sketcher there on the day who did a beautiful pen and ink drawing of the house. There are so many benefits to be had from creating alongside others - especially such seasoned artists, one of which is learning new ideas and techniques that can be used to enhance and progress your existing style.

Below is what I finished on the day:

The drawing was accurate at this stage (although I've moved the right-hand pillar slightly to the left) but what a difference the tonal values make! I love pen and ink.

133. Kew Gardens: King William's Temple

Pilot G-Tec C4 and Caran d'Ache Neocolour II 

in Handbook Travelogue Journal, 5" x 5"

Here is another sketch done at Kew. Actually, in reality there are not quite that many steps. I drew my foreground flower pots too low down on the page but, because the drawing was done entirely in ink, I couldn't erase them so just added more steps to meet them. I then added the water-soluble pastel but only added water to the door as I wanted to intensify the colour there.

123. Sunshine Bakery in Pastel

Schminke and Unison Soft Pastels over watercolour
on Daler Rowney Murano paper, 12" x 16"

I clean forgot to post up this pastel painting from Roger Dellar's workshop on the 5th. I found this extremely difficult but ultimately very rewarding - the loose effect is so far from my style. I was often concentrating so much on trying to make it more abstract, I forgot to vary my mark-making. It was a great day though and Roger was again generous in sharing his knowledge. Even if I had just watched him paint it would have been enough just to see how he develops his paintings.

Work in progress images below:

Initial watercolour wash

Blocking in with pastels

Adding figures

Yep! That's a cannon from the war!

86. Ten Minute Talk: Canaletto

Photocopy of The Stonemason's Yard by Canaletto and

pen and ink sketch of the painting, Pilot G-Tec C4 on 90g photocopy paper, 5" x 5.5"

I attended this 10 minute talk in the National as I was really early for the drawing session next door. This is a lovely big painting so my reproductions don't give it justice; it contains quite a few figures each with a story, including the child who has fallen over in the foreground and wet himself, poor thing!

It was in my OU art history that I discovered Canaletto and so I was thrilled to discover this painting being discussed. There are quite a few paintings by Canaletto and his studio at the gallery.

66. Day Twenty-Four: Man with a Dozen Eggs

Urban landscape, oil on Loxley stretched canvas, 10" x 8"

Hi Everyone, he's now finished and I wish I knew his name. On the day we were having the car fixed, I saw him between two buildings, holding his dozen eggs and looking very serene sitting on a bench, softened by an old car seat! However, he was actually complaining to himself in a low, consistent mutter, completely oblivious to the rest of us. 

I loved the way the he was in silhouette, with the sun streaming in beside him from between the other building, bleaching the grass so that it hurt your eyes to stare at it. The upper part of the image is actually another building - it was generally grey but had lovely pastel colours reflecting from it in the heat. In the foreground, there was a carpet mat precariously strewn across the large concrete step but I left it out - everything else is as it was.

Warning: nerdy element follows...

Have you guessed yet that I love Michael Harding's paints? They are beautifully intense as they contain no fillers or driers but are worth the initial layout as you need only use a fraction compared to other brands. However, initially, I used various mixes of MH Ultramarine Blue for the jeans but, even tempered with Burnt Umber, it was too bright. I had to scrape it off and pull out my Schminke Delft Blue, which is Indanthrene (or Indanthrone Blue in other brands), PB60. I love the indanthrone pigment and have used it a fair bit in watercolours and acrylic over the years. It's a lovely compromise between the very bright ultramarine (PB29) and the sometimes dull Indigo (various pigment mixtures depending on manufacturer). 

I always replace my paints according to pigment colour to ensure I get the same hues across manufacturers and, if the name changes, you are still OK. A few months ago, I wanted an opaque yellow to lighten mixes so did a hunt for PY35 across W&N, Royal Talens Rembrandt and Schminke Mussini (have you tried Schminke soft pastels? Yummy!).  In the end, I chose Schminke's Cadmium Yellow1 Light, simply because the price was best in that particular store.

Does anyone out there use PBk60? Schminke Mussini Atrament Black (aka. Perylene Green) is one of my best discoveries and it appears in all my Caribbean palm and coconut 'tree-scapes'.

64. Day Twenty-One: Work in Progress - Man with Eggs

Urban landscape, oil on 10" x 8" stretched canvas

I have been 'umming and ahh-ing' about posting this as it is not a new piece but a work in progress (see post number 60, Day 9).  However, since posting last time, I've added paint to the underdrawing, doing a little bit on it each day.  Eventually, I hope to show the gentleman in shade with the sun streaming in beside him on the grassy area.  For this, all the tones will have to be absolutely right.

I used MH Burnt Umber to put the darks in the foreground; isn't the colour rich and fabulous? I could have used Raw Umber but I'm hoping the intensity of the BU will make the subsequent blues look more vibrant. Seeing how luscious his RU and BU are, I am so tempted to buy his Burnt Siena, simply to experience the vibrancy of that colour in his range but maybe that's not a good reason to splash out on a tube of paint, even if it is only Series1. The website says: "Its tint power is noticeably stronger than the more opaque Earths." Gimme, gimme!!