207. USK Market Sketch 3 - Fish

Staedtler 0.05 Fineliner pen in
Stillman & Birn Alpha Sketchbook, 8.5" x 5.5"

This fish vendor was, as my friend, Victoria​ said, a "ball of joy" and a great end to our day. He was very accommodating and was happy for us to sketch him and his wares. NB. It didn't smell (important for me a vegetarian!) which means the fish must be really fresh there!

206. USK Market Sketch 2 - Parma Ham and Cheese - Really?!

Staedtler 0.05 Fineliner pen reinforced by

Unipin 0.5 pen on Stillman & Birn Alpha Sketchbook, 8.5" x 5.5"

Yep! I know! Why was a vegetarian at the Parma Ham stall??  Because, like everywhere else in this lovely market, it was beautifully laid out. I was taken by the sign writing again but didn't have time to do more than a few lines.

205. USK Market Sketch 1 - Borough Wines

Lamy Safari fountain pen on

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

Saturday 7th November was three years since my dear Dad died and he used to love to visit Leather Lane market in London near where he worked before both my parents retired and returned to Jamaica. It seems fitting therefore that the Urban Sketchers London sketchcrawl on that very day was "Let's Draw Borough Market." It was a lovely day, at a fantastic venue with great company (including my friend Vic who made sure I laughed a lot). My Dad would have loved it there!

204. Lest We Forget

Pilot G-Tec C4 water-soluble pens in

Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook, 8.5" x 5.5"

Just sketched this on a whim. Some of the text is bleeding but, on reflection, somehow that seems appropriate… 

203. Gift Sketchbook and Work-in-Progress Pics

Hardbound Sketchbook Gift, A5

(more photos of the finished result right at the bottom of this post)

(There is only one rule in bookbinding:

The grain in the paper, cloth and board must run from head to tail.

City & Guilds)

I was commissioned to make this sketchbook as a gift to a friend's very gifted, artistic daughter. She loves wildlife and does beautiful sketches and paintings so I chose this lovely Japanese 'wove' paper with goldfishes. (As ever, I enjoyed the entire process from start to finish - she received it back in September.)

Separating into batches of four sheets

Decided to give her ten 'signatures'

Stitching the signatures using linen sewing tape

So far, so good

This is how it looks before it's glued and mull added. Don't worry...

Bulldogs clamp the now glued signatures to keep their shape

Folding the endpapers (correct grain direction is vital)

Bookmark ribbon added and glued

Headbanding added at each end and glued - adds a nice finish to the bookends

Mull cut to cover and reinforce the spine

Lining (red strip) added to reinforce the spine further

and bulldogs hold it all in place for a while

Final check that the book boards fit correctly

(I leave a 3-6mm overlap; usually 3mm)

And now for the scary arithmetic. Sigh….

See what I mean…!

Fitting all the boards in place on the 'quarter' fabric

(so called because it covers a quarter of the front and back boards when finished).

Before 'casing in' begins

At this point, I took it along to my very kind local printer who always guillotines the edges of my book block for a professional look. I can then start the 'casing in' process.

I completely forgot to photograph how I attached the patterned 'goldfish' paper to the boards and also how I sealed in the ribbon so it shouldn't come out - I must have been taken up with whatever I was listening to on the radio. The corners have to be cut diagonally and turned correctly so you still retain the point at each of the four corners.

The remaining photographs are simply different angles of the finished sketchbook.

202. Fundraisers 7 and 8

Parrottee Beach 2,

Acrylic and pencil on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

Negril,

Acrylic and pencil on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

Here are the final two tiles; I also submitted a 9.5" x 12" pastel painting of this beach that sold. I painted it back in September.

If I concentrate really, really hard, I can pretend this is the view outside my bedroom window. No, it's not; it's foggy!  :)))

201. Fundraisers 5 and 6

Seven Mile Beach,

Acrylic and pencil on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

Parrottee Beach 1

Acrylic and pencil on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

Yep, you were right!  The theme was either going to be the beach or trees… or both, wasn't it?! I also painted this set of four tiles for the fundraising event; two of which are here and two of which I've scheduled for tomorrow's post. There are no ink sketches to go with them as I just drew the faintest outlines before painting on top. I never tire of painting Jamaica - it's just unbelievable that somewhere looks like that all year round. Interestingly, when the hurricanes come, although the leaves may fly off, the palm trees simply bend down; they don't break. There's a moral in there somewhere!

Happy Monday my dear blog friends. xx

200. Fundraisers 3 and 4

Acrylic and Unipin 0.05 pen on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

Acrylic and Unipin 0.05 pen on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

(I decided to add two flowers)

Acrylic and Unipin 0.05 pen on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

(A bit lonely without the flowers, don't you think?)

Unipin 0.05 pen on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

(before adding colour)

Acrylic and Unipin 0.05 pen on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

(before adding colour)

So,  there are my four cups and teacups tiles.  In the next post, I'll show you my final four tiles. Can you guess the theme I chose??

199. Fundraiser 2

Acrylic and Unipin 0.05 pen on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

(Now showing the painted fruit stalks!)

Acrylic and Unipin 0.05 pen on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

I've been gift-wrapping the 14 sold pieces. This one has been sold and I've just noticed that the photograph above was taken before I'd rectified the colour of the fruit stalks - Ooops!! I need to re-photograph the amended tile before handing it over then re-post.

Unipin 0.05 pen on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

198. Fundraiser 1

Acrylic and Unipin 0.05 pen on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

Unipin 0.05 pen on 3mm gessoed board, 4" x 4"

We were asked to submit tiles to a charity fundraiser which could be used as coasters or mounted or whatever. I completed eight and two friends did four each giving us sixteen. We adhered them to felt so that, if they were to be used as coasters, they would not scratch any surface and would be wipe-clean. I'll post them over the next few days and also show you a photo of them together in a group. (The untrimmed felt in the background gave me something to hold onto without touching the painted tile.)

Memories of Supertramp because 'it's raining again'….!

197. More Trees, More Park, Can't Help it!

Lamy Safari fountain pen 

in Stillman & Birn Epsilon Sketchbook, 8.5" x 5.5" (x2)

It's true! I can't help it - I love sketching the landscape, parks, trees, etc. I'm wondering whether to add some light colour to this so I've taken a photocopy of the sketchbook pages and will mess about with some coloured pencil; if it works, I'll colour in my sketchbook. Maybe see you later...

196. Lovely Cuppa and New Sketchbooks!

Pilot G-Tec-C4 in Handbook Travelogue Journal, 5" x 5" (x1.3)

I'm nearing the end of this lovely sketchbook and I'm gonna miss it! However, I have other sketchbooks waiting with baited breath to receive some recognition. I've already started on my Stillman & Birn Alpha and Epsilon sketchbooks, then there are the ones I've stitched and bound - all vying for attention!

Some home-made sketchbooks. My husband has kidnapped the top one; I made the third one down for him as he wanted a slim one and I made the half-sized chunky one for myself as I wanted one with twice the number of pages as the bottom one but without any extra weight.