137. Sketchy Beetroot

Pilot G-Tec C4 and 

Caran d'Ache Neocolour II 

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

Cats are so funny! Just watching Countryfile and a fat piglet strayed onto a kitten's territory; the kitten beat off the piglet who scuttled away in shock! They run as if they are wearing high heels! Anyway, here's another type of beet - three actually. Why are the surrounding rubber bands always blue? Nice colour though...

136. Quick Landscape Before Work

Oil on Black Gesso-primed Panel, 6" x 6"

Realising I was half an hour early for work, I quickly knocked this out. Fortunately, I'd had a palette of fresh paint at the ready. No time for loads of brushes or even brush cleaning between colours - I just kept wiping the brush on a bundle of 'blue paper'. It's not of anywhere in particular and I didn't even paint up to the edges of the panel. Terribly untidy for me but very satisfying!

Before cropping…

135. The Pagoda at Kew

HB Pencil, Pilot G-Tec C4 and 

Caran d'Ache Neocolour II 

in Handbook Travelogue Journal, 5" x 5"

Again, this was drawn and painted after the fact and I started using pencil so I could get the slightly increasing bulge of the structure right. I then applied pen and ink, wax pastels and this time applied a wash of just water.

Other sketches in a Daler Rowney cartridge paper sketchbook

before and after applying a wash

134. Kew Gardens: Costus Barbatus

HB Pencil, Pilot G-Tec C4 and 

Caran d'Ache Neocolour II 

in Handbook Travelogue Journal, 5" x 5"

This is a drawing, rather than a sketch. I spent much more time on it as I have used it for a card. I drew it the following day from a series of photographs I took at Kew Gardens so it's not something I could get away with putting on the USK site, which is all about work done live on the day, en plain air. Again, I left the wax pastel 'as is' without wetting it - I wanted to retain the textural marks.

I've left a pair of legs in the photo below so you can get the scale of these plants; they're very sweet-looking - the plants, not the legs!!!

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.

132. Yesterday at Kew - Poppies (not the Flux Capacitor)

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

in Handbook Travelogue Journal, 5" x 5"

The name of these poppies reminded me of the Back to the Future series and made me laugh!

Yesterday we joined the Urban Sketchers London group at Kew Gardens for what turned out to be a fabulous day. I say "we" because I took my husband who is not an artist but can draw a wee bit. I just pulled out a new sketchbook and gave it to him and he did quite a few nice attempts. Artists are great: always sharing, encouraging and helping each other so my husband was able to fit in and have a good time and we met some great new people too.

As you can imagine, there was more to sketch than can be fit into a day - architecture, plants, trees, birds, water, people, sculpture - so I've already got more sketches for you to view. Watch this space!

131. Sketchbook Tulips

Pilot G-Tec C4 Pen and HB Pencil in

Handbook Travelogue Journal, 5.5" x 5.5"

This pen is water-soluble so I may yet wash over the shadow areas to intensify the image - not sure…. Still loving my travelogue journal though.