A Year of Sketching

My Seasons of Color Journal, all new and pristine

My sketch book

It has been a year since I made and started using my journal and sketch books.  I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed the experience and how it has enriched my life.  It is on par with starting this blog, which is also now three years old.  Funny I am not into new years resolutions, but I do reflect on each year as it starts and think what I would like to do in that year to enrich my life.  February does seem to be the month that I start on the new plans, something I just realised as I write this.

One of my favourite spreads in my journal combining pattern, sketches and thoughts on the time of year.

This blog has given me a vehicle to share my art with the world and the friends I have made in doing so has been marvelous. Their kind and supportive comments have given me the courage to exhibit my art and to think that it has merit in the artistic community.  I have also learnt a great deal from the artists that I follow and the generous sharing of their skills and practice.

Still one of my favourite pages in my journal.   Walking my dog on the beach

My journal and sketch books have also given me a great deal, I have tended to  draw and experiment more and to keep these sketches in one place to look back on.  Before most of the drawing I did was of finished pieces of art and I was not practicing my skills as much as I thought was needed.  This playing around in the sketch book has broadened what I do now and I have been able to expand my practice.  I was able to play with patterns and these turned into the art work that went into my exhibition.

Dusk in Fitzroy from my Sketch book.  Another drawing I did while waiting to meet a friend for dinner.

I started with the Seasons of Colour journal where I do random drawings with a rough nod to the season.  I started the sketch book in July and it is where I do drawings of my surroundings and I take with me when I am out and about.  My drawing skills have improved a great deal and my confidence in being able to draw what I see has improved greatly.  The online courses in Sketchbook Skool and joining Urban Sketchers group have influenced what I do in this sketch book and have been a great place to learn and be inspired to sketch.  I have found that I enjoy taking the time to do sketches on site and am partial to setting my self up to draw in a cafe with a glass of wine waiting to meet up with friends for dinner or just as a great way to spend quality time with myself and my art.

Bali Offering, Water soluble crayons, ink etc

One of the other great joys is going back over the year in the sketch books and seeing such great reminders of what happened over the year and what resonated with me enough to be put into the sketch books.  The memories of holidays are so much richer from the sketches that I did while I was away.

Temple Ubud Water colour, coloured pencils and ink journal

I hope you have enjoyed the year of sketching that I have shared with you, for indeed the sharing and feedback of the sketches with my blogging friends and followers has been such an important part of the journey.  I have updated ‘From My Journal” page if you would like to see the drawings from the journal and sketch book.  (There are new drawings in there that I haven’t posted before.)

So here is cheers to the joys of sketching and blogging, they have become an important part of my life, thank you.

A page from my sketchy walks, a favourite pastime now. It has changed the way I walk in the bush.

 

High Spring in my Garden

Love-in-the-must, intense pencils and ink journal page

I know that I have been posting away on my walks in the bush and all the lovely wildflowers in bloom, during this time my garden has been blooming its little heart out, and is demanding some of the attention!

 

After much attention (not all of it mine)and a nice wet winter, the flowers are doing really well this year. (Warning, skip down to the next paragraph if you are not into gardens). The roses are blooming with abandon, I have roses galore, souvenir de la malmaision, which has finally made it above the grapevine and is romping over the garage roof, Pierre de Ronsard on the side of my house which hasn’t balled for once and the beautiful Peace rose for my mother, it was in her wedding bouquet. The yellow gold bunny rose is climbing up my verandah posts with some lovely clematis. My bearded irises grew beautiful leaves but totally failed to bloom, but I have cornflowers, pinks, love in the mist, aquilegia and the lavender is about to start. Oh yes the Dutch irises are making up for the other irisis.

Pierre de Ronsard Climbing Rose

Souvenir de la Malmaision gone feral through the grape vine. Not sure that is appropriate behaviour for such a french aristocratic rose, but things go wild in the colonies!

I have planted a lot of gardens but usually move before the become established or the one time I didn’t we had a 10 year drought of the century, hardley conducive to great gardening. But this time I have it right.

Clematis, this makes me wish I would keep the plant tags, as I have forgotten it’s name.

So here is the art work to go with the flowers. I am trying to use more design in how I lay out my journal pages and still grappling with the writing.

spring flower journal page. Ink tense pencils and ink

Here are some birds of paradise that I did last week, also from my garden. I tried a couple of different versions of them, to mix it up.

Bird of paradise. Gouache and ink journal page

Bird of paradise. Watercolour pencils and ink journal page

Hope this brings a bit of spring into your northern hemisphere falls.  This was done on my iPad, which I don’t usually use, but I forgot to bring my power cord for the laptop, and so needs must, hope it is ok.

Karen

Sketchy Walks on the Goldfield Track

The Monk Journal Page Ink

I have had a couple of weeks off after a very stressful time at work, so haven’t been posting much this month.  I have been up at Castlemaine and re-energising myself with lovely walks in the bush, sketchy walks of course.

I have been catching the last of the main spring flowering and getting the confidence to do some larger drawings of the surroundings.  There is a stark beauty to the dry scrubby bush around here, but one that is difficult to translate into an interesting drawing.  The picture of ‘The Monk’ above is my best effort to date and it gives me encouragement that I might be able to translate this beauty to the paper so others can see it.

Tall Bluebells and Quaking Grass Journal Page ink and watercolour

I am gradually going through and identifying the names of the flowers I am drawing, not as easy as it sounds, I think it takes me as long to identify them as to draw them, but found some really helpful blogs and websites in the process.  The grasses are starting to flower and set seed now, not great for my hay-fever but pretty to see.  My favourite grass is what I have always called shimmy grass but is actually quaking grass.  I think shimmy is a much better name as it conjures up dancing while quacking links to fear.  This grass is definitely dancing in the slightest breeze.

Spring Gully Journal Page Watercolour and ink

A few different types of everlasting are out, the one with the many branching florets is the grey everlasting while the other is a little button plant called Scaly Buttons.  There is also a seed head of the Spiny Rush, which lives up to its name as the points of the leaves are really sharp.

Twinning Glycine Journal Page Watercolour and ink

My best find was these tiny, little pea like flowers which were hiding in the grass called Twining Glycine.

I haven’t been just drawing flowers in my sketchbook, I have started on some new works for an exhibition that I have been asked to join at the end of January.  More news about this in the next blog.

Karen

Spring Wildflowers

Wild Flowers Sketchy Walk Oct 2014 Journal Page

I was worried while I was away in Bali that I would miss the best of brief wildflower season at home.  But I shouldn’t have worried as there were still plenty to be found and best of all the little bush orchids and lilies were out.

Blue Pimpernal, Waxlip Orchid and hairy caterpillar

These sketches were done over the last couple of weekends on some lovely sketchy walks in the sun.  I was first caught by the most amazingly vivid blue flowers  in the grass, lucky they were so bright as they were tiny, little things. Most of these wild flowers are tiny, but just so beautiful when you get up close and personnel with them.  You have to go walking so you are slow enough to be able to see them, shyly hiding in the grasses.  There were plenty of the little waxliped orchids out, they come up singly on a long thin stem, and just nod in the breeze.  For the first time ever,  I saw a whole group of them together, it took my breath away and I was sure there would be fairies about.

Waxlip Orchids

There were loads of paper everlasting daises and I found some other funny little flowers with long grass like stems, I was told they were weeds, just haven’t found out what type yet.  Never mind they are pretty to me.  Because the sun was shining so brightly I also made little drawings of the shadows the flowers cast on my page.

Golden Paper Everlastings and cute little pink flower

The following weekend I saw even more orchids and had the luck to run into a knowledgeable wildflower enthusiast beside the dirt track and he was kind enough to help me with my identification.  I was really pleased that my sketches were good enough to identify the flowers from!  Here is the Twinning Fringe Lily, only about 7-10mm big and it twines up on other things and also the Chocolate Lily, with its nodding flowers on tall thin spikes.

Twinning Orchid

Chocolate Lilly Journal Page

I also saw this little yellow flower which my new friend kindly identifies as a Bent Goodenia, what a great name and a cute little flower.

Bent Goodenia

The yellow buttons that I drew in an earlier walk were going to seed, just like a dandelion so I just had to stop and draw these as well.

Yellow Buttons going to seed

 

Here finally is a very quick sketch of one of the mines that still dot the landscape and remind us that this was once one of the busiest and richest minefields in the world.

Old Gold Mine Journal Page

I will leave you with this last photo of all the yellow everlasting that were carpeting the bush, spring is so magical.

Karen

Paper Everlastings

Where I have been this past week.

Abbottsford Convent Farmers Market Sep 14

While I was busy working on my Bali sketch book I still managed to get some other work done.  It is hard to balance all these projects, but a great deal of fun, definitely not bored at the moment.

The weather has been lovely on the weekends and I finally got around to visiting a farmers market in the beautiful grounds of an old convent.  It is one of my favourite places in Melbourne.  It is near the river in these amazingly peaceful, old convent buildings and grounds.  It is now a thriving arts and food area that just abounds with live.

Farmers Market Spread Sept 14 Ink and Watercolour

I always enjoy farmers market, it is lovely to be around people who are passionate about their produce and I adore looking and tasting all that great food.  We shopped, ate and explored in the most beautiful sunny spring weather.  I managed to get a quick sketch in of the scene, even was brave enough to add people.  Just couldn’t resist this cute little girl in her pink and yellow outfit.  My sketching is getting better and I am managing to get much more down in a shorter time.  Practice is really working!

Office View Watercolour and ink

Also that week, we moved our office into the CBD and I finally have an office with a window and natural light.  Yippee!  To celebrate I did this sketch out my window, looking at one of Melbourne’s famous plane trees which was just starting to unfurl its leaves.

 

Karen