215. At Suzie's

Pilot C4 G-Tec pen and Winsor & Newton watercolours in

Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook, 8.5" x 5.5" (x2)

Every so often, our friend Suzie invites some of her painting and musical friends over for an 'art and music' day. She has a collection of red and white crockery and utensils and we cheekily raided her cupboards and laid them out and painted them. I left out a few of the items as I liked this setup.

214. And Then There Were Five

Derwent Charcoal and Schmincke soft pastels on

Clairefontaine Pastelmat, 9.5" x 12"

There were six pears but I ate one! Thank you, Rach!  Don't you love it when you meet with a friend and you end up doing some art together? Have a great weekend, everyone!

(This was my surface today.)

213. Pooh Mugs - WIP Pics

Derwent Charcoal and Schminke Pastels on

Daler Rowney Murano paper, 12" x 9.5"

This is all I have time for at the moment. (Charcoals cleaned in the top image; LOL!) More later. Have a good day folks!

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.

211. Rachel's Mug

Schmincke soft pastels on Clairefontaine Pastelmat, 12" x 9.5"

Who knew that when I logged out of here on Christmas Day that I wouldn't be back for a month?! So, for the first time in years, I've reached Week 4 and not yet posted in Leslie Saeta's '30 in 30' - gasp!

I hope to be back to frequent posting now and I'm looking forward to being able to revisit and comment on the blogs of those of you who have them.

This morning I was with my friend Rachel who has the loveliest mugs - this one a Cath Kidston. I took my pastels with me and she brought hers down so we had great fun painting them!

I love the vibrancy and immediacy of pastels and the way you can get your hands right in there but I also love oils, acrylics, watercolours, pen and ink, graphite, etc. I love them all for different reasons. Do you have a favourite?