Sunny Afternoon in Nitobe Garden, Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 10 in/50 x 20 cm
This was a struggle. If you look close, you can see a wild assortment of strokes, overpainting and confusion. I decided to post it anyway because the one thing that I think may have worked is the light. This has been on my easel for months and I spent a lot of time just staring at it wondering what to do next. It’s a painting that will never be finished but also one where I had to just stop and move on – which I guess means it’s finished.
On a lighter note, a friend just became a dog owner and sent a photo of their new family member snoozing on the couch. I am fond of other people’s dogs and just couldn’t keep myself from doing a quick sketch. Adorable, right? He’s just a puppy and is going to be Huge.
“Snoozin'”, watercolour and pencil drawing on paper
Around this time of year, I usually think up a little drawing for a few holiday cards. I couldn’t think of anything in particular for 2023 so I started playing around with bits of coloured paper. Four ideas emerged:
One of my sisters liked the “warm woolen mittens” design the best so I made a bunch of those. (I’m pretty sure the idea came from the last K1 art lesson where we drew mittens together.) The first thing I did was paint random red/green watercolour strokes on a piece of watercolour paper and when it was dry, cut it up into squares. Then I drew little mittens on each square (each card is “bespoke” haha), pasted them on coloured card stock and added a piece of wool (ok, acrylic yarn). Here’s one of the finished cards:
This is a quick watercolour of Amanita Muscaria Mushrooms growing among a pile of fallen leaves – so fascinating and all over the place these days. They’re very poisonous – and apparently hallucinogenic. One reference noted that for thousands of years they have been used for Spiritual Questing. I guess knowing how to prepare them properly would be important.
I took my sketch pad to the Britannia Shipyards last week and saw an old boat that looked pretty interesting. I found a shady perch that gave me a view of the hull from an odd angle and started in on a little sketch. Now, if you’re an architect or a drafter, please don’t scoff; I’m just an ordinary doodler and sometimes I just can’t get the angles right. Two bad sketches later, it was time to go. Besides, it was hot.
I’d taken a photo of the boat and later on did a sketch from that which was a bit easier. It’s not that I’m into perfection (I’m trying to concentrate on light and shadows) but I like a drawing to be a bit recognizable.
pen, watercolour wash
Here’s something that is recognizable from a weekend visit to Burnaby Village Museum with 35 or so Vancouver Urban Sketchers.
Sometimes I like to draw little items that have interesting details or colours. Like rocks. Or shells. Or pieces of driftwood. A visit to the beaches along the sunshine coast provided the perfect opportunity to pick up some excellent subject matter.
