Near Dusk - # 17

 

I did today's sketch from a photo I took in 2008. I will be giving it to my friend today for her birthday.

 

Now that I look at the photo next to my artwork, I can see how much better I could have done the values and colours. Also, I was rushing to photograph this to post before midday so it would look like I did my sketch on the 17th.  In my rush I noticed that I hadn't painted in the seagull's beak but at that point I didn't want to use precious time to re-photograph it or I would miss the deadline. 

 

 

Oops! - Day 16

I thought I'd do one more motorbike sketch tonight and quite liked this composition. I knew that work had recently been done on the bike but it hadn't occurred to me that everything might not be back in its place. So I was a bit disappointed to discover after I'd finished it that the fuel pipe wasn't connected. So, being clueless as to what it was - let alone where it should be - I've depicted it in the wrong position (the curving pipe to left of centre). Oh well, I guess mistakes always add to the story behind the picture.

Under Instructions - Sketch # 15

My husband wanted me to sketch these for a bit of a laugh (an inside joke - you had to be there!)
I missed doing a sketch yesterday so I will have to make it up by doing another tonight or doing two tomorrow.

Flowering Peach - Day 14

This was pure pleasure to sketch today - we are having day after day of perfect spring weather and it is wonderful to have any excuse to get into the garden.

Under Wraps - Day 13

 

 I lifted up the dust cover on my husband's motorbike this evening to see if I felt inspired to sketch it. I did, but I only uncovered it a little to keep things simple.

This morning I popped back to the beach to take photos of the curious balls of seaweed I had seen down there yesterday. I have seen one here and there from time to time but never en mass like this. It was a bit like an art installation compliments of Mother Nature.

 

 There were also a lot of crab holes with attendant claw prints from all their scuttling in and out.

 

 The pigface was flowering prettily near the rocks.

Day 12 - In the Pink

I did this sketch last night so I would have today free to do other things. This is supposed to be a pink rose (hence the title) but it looks more orange of hue here. I drew it straight from the photo I took a few days back that I posted on my blog. I felt very in the pink today due to it being one of those impossibly, unsurpassingly perfect spring days. I spent some time at the beach and in the garden soaking up the sumptuous scents and scenery before getting on with my jobs.

Try, Try Again - Day 11

 

Today was a glorious spring day. There were some stunning lingering rain clouds from recent days of rain and storms but it remained dry. A friend and I made our way to this vantage point to do a bit of plein air sketching. I had been planning for years to work from life in this spot and today was the day. I faced north intending to do the above scene and my friend faced south armed with her oil pastels.

 

All was going swimmingly as I began from the left (actually, this photo hasn't captured the long spit of land to the left) and outlined the groyne and marina along the horizon line. Then I continued to the right following the outline of the water's edge. From there I began to work my way back up to the horizon from the right. I was horrified to see that they didn't meet up at all. It was unsalvageable. I felt disappointed as so far my ink sketches have all worked out despite my missteps.

 

I couldn't stomach trying to re-do that view so I joined my friend and faced the other direction. I had lost my confidence and thought I'd just do a very quick little sketch and decided to do it underneath  my original attempt as it seemed there was still so much blank paper. In the end I was quite pleased with the second one and regretted not just starting afresh as the first one impinged on the second more than I had anticipated. But now I am pleased I did them on the same page as it tells the story of how my first ever sea-side plein air sketching expedition panned out.

 

You will have to click on the image below and look closely to see the hash I made of the first attempt. Unfortunately, I didn't think to photograph it before I began working on my second view.

 

 

second view below

 

 

Below is one cropped photo and one badly masked out photo of how it would have looked without the first attempt sharing the limelight.

 

 

This was the view looking straight out to sea. Can you see the long smudge on the horizon? That is Rottnest Island.

 

 

Despite the false start, I really enjoyed doing both sketches and getting out in the elements with my friend. Also, I learnt a lesson when it comes to sketching a landscape - don't work on the horizon line from two different ends.

One of my Favourites - Day Ten

I knew I had a lot to get done today so last night I decided to get ahead by doing a sketch in the adverts while I watched Midsomer Murders on TV. I was too lazy to set up a still-life on the coffee table and decided to simply sketch the mug I had just drunk my tea from. It is one of my favourite mugs - Sarah's Garden by Wedgwood. I only got as far as the ink work last night and today I added the watercolour.

I meant to post these extra photos yesterday from when I was in the garden sketching my tree, so I thought I'd add them into this post.

Below are some of the spring flowers in my garden - this beautiful blue one is lechenaultia and is found in the wild near Perth.

 Freesias below - native to South Africa I think.

Daisies - wouldn't have a clue where these are native to.

 And my lovely climbing rose. These close-ups belie that my garden is in a very dilapidated state at the moment and needs a LOT of work.

Oh yes, I found our resident Bob Tail Goanna this morning in the undergrowth and my daughter fed it some blueberries. The lizard whisperer strikes again!

Pet Tree - Day Nine

I have painted this tree before but last time from the other side of it - and I did a more elaborate rendering of it. When it rains the normally whitish grey trunk can become very green and although it has been dry most of the day it seems it has retained some green streaks from our recent deluge.

After doing my sketch I trotted to the corner to say hello to one of my neighbours who was in her garden. She has a lot of beautiful native plants and I couldn't resist taking a photo of one particularly beautiful specimen that is in full flower. She did tell me the name of it but it was a bit too tricky to remember. I just know it was a melaleuca of some sort.

Geraldton Wax - Day Eight

 

I sketched this from the beautiful bunch of Geraldton Wax that my sister gave me yesterday from her garden. Geraldton Wax is a native to Western Australia.

 

 

Morning Grapefruit - Day Seven

Once again, I have used the time difference to squeeze my offering in on time. Yesterday was too busy to put pen to paper so I had to come up with something on the hop this morning. So I sketched one half of this morning's grapefruit and ate the other!
I'm having a bit of trouble photographing these sketches without the white paper looking murky.

Work To Be Done - Day Six

My husband is currently doing some work on his motorbike. I should have waited until he had the seat and petrol tank cover back on. There were a lot more tricky bits to draw what with having all its innards on display. I badly misjudged the positioning on the paper and ran out of room to finish the second wheel. But I'm happy with it overall as it does look like a motorbike at least even if its not entirely anatomically correct.

You may have noticed by now that there is no theme going on for this challenge other than each piece being done in ink (so far!).

Grandma's Chair - Day five

I love this chair as every time I look at it I'm reminded of my lovely Grandma. It was one of her dining room chairs.
I didn't get time to do a sketch yesterday the 5th Sep so I quickly popped this one out now in the hope that it will just make it on to my post as the 5th. Because our time zone is ahead of the pack I have a bit of extra time up my sleeve to post. It is now nearly noon on Saturday the 6th so I will have to try to squeeze another sketch in by the end of the day.

P.S. I lost concentration for a moment when I was half way through drawing the back leg and thought I was drawing the front leg. Hence you see I have tried to cover up my gaffe by shading in a few floor boards and choosing that spot to sign my name.

Faint With Quaint - Day 4

This is from a photo I took in a ridiculously quaint village in North Wales near where my friends live. I photographed everything that moved and everything that didn't, and by the end of our wander I was practically dizzy from the sensory overload. I'm sure that everyone else in our party was practically dizzy too from my over-enthusiasm. I am a tiresome companion when it comes to such occasions as I can't restrain myself from raving (constantly) about how beautiful, quaint, gorgeous, stunning and  ridiculously pretty everything is.

But I'm sure you will agree that I can't really be blamed for such behaviour - here are some photos of the village which give a far better insight into what I'm talking about than my sketch could possibly do.

 

 

 

 

 

Day Three - The V & A

I haven't had a chance to get sketching on location this week, so with my last two sketches I've turned to the photos from my UK trip for inspiration. This one is a scene from my visit to the Victoria and Albert museum in London. What a mind blowing place it is! I was itching to sketch while I was there that day but unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity due to time constraints. I felt green with envy when I passed a whole posse of sketchers staked out amongst the statues in one of the galleries.

I am continuing with the approach of sketching directly in ink, and as you can see, I have made some real clangers. The marble column was fattened and tapered belatedly and also the middle statue had to be drawn over the background that had been done precipitously and over zealously. However, as I've said before, it makes it so much more fun and less inhibiting to work this way. In fact, I doubt I would even have attempted such a busy scene as this prior to using this approach.

Day Two - Feline Supervision

I apologise for the very poor reproduction. If you click on the image it should be easier to see.

Time With Dad - Day One

 

I had toyed with the idea of entering Leslie Saeta's now famous 30 day challenge, but decided I would be mad to commit to it with so many other things taking priority in my life at the moment.

But then it crossed my mind that I could maybe manage a quick sketch every day. I took my sketchbook out with me just on the off-chance an opportunity would arise to sketch something. It was a busy and gruelling day and it was after 7pm when I even remembered my intention.

I had visited my Dad in hospital in the morning and with Father's Day less than a week away I felt inspired to sketch this cherished photo of the two of us taken on our farm when I was two or three years old.

 

I'm not sure that sketches are OK to submit for the painting challenge so I will try to add watercolour paints to subsequent pieces. I had a wonderful experience participating in the September painting challenge last year and was thrilled to complete 30 acrylic paintings in 30 days, but as this is a very last minute decision this year, I have no idea if I'll even post again tomorrow let alone for 30 days!