Last week I went up to the Blue Mountains with a group of 7 adults and 4 children. This is the third group day trip I’ve done to the mountains in the last 10 months so I’ve developed some strategies for sketching as much as I can in the limited time. I don’t waste time...
CONTINUE READINGSharing my teacups with others and starting to sketch them again
One of the lovely things about my new home is that my teacups (and teapots) are now on display. Not only are they much easier to get to (previously they were just stacked in piles inside a kitchen cupboard) but my teacup wall unit is just so nice to look at and I enjoy the...
CONTINUE READINGTwo versions of the same scene
I was looking through my sketches of the Isle of Lewis the other day and came across two versions of the coastline at the Port Of Ness. One is small (occupying the top part of an A4 page) and the other takes up a double-page spread in an A4 sketchbook. I thought it would be...
CONTINUE READINGManaging water supply when urban sketching
This week a question came up inside my Foundations course about how to handle water when sketching on location. And I realised that I’ve never actually dedicated a blog article to this topic. So that’s what I’m going to do today! For many years I have used the same system – two small water containers...
CONTINUE READINGStarting with Cobalt Blue
I’m particularly interested in exploring ways of creating layered colour and texture in my work. And so last Friday as I was sipping my coffee, I started with a Cobalt Blue wash. It’s getting cooler in the morning here in Sydney so this cool undertone just felt right. Cobalt Blue (PB28) is such a lovely...
CONTINUE READING5-minute graphite sketching
The other day I did three quick sketches in minutes just before rushing to appointments, using a Castell 9000 2B graphite pencil. I think I have a new ‘fast tool’! A fast tool is one that I know I can use for super quick sketches and typically they can produce a variety of line...
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