Art Journaling Online Workshop

This month I've been taking an online art journaling workshop.  It's about working in layers, and we've prepared pages with washes, salt, alcohol, etc.  We've added rectangles with watercolor pencil, and we've added writing and lettering.  Quite a bit different than what I usually do in my sketchbooks (I think mine are usually more sketchbooks than journals).

Sketching for Fun

In the last few days, several artists who I admire have put a sampling of their sketchbooks/journals on Facebook, so I wondered if I had enough books to do the same.  Actually, this is only a small sampling of mine - all I could reasonably fit in one photo.  But it's a good sampling of what I do for fun when I'm not creating larger paintings or hanging out on Facebook.  LOL!

Grandchildren Journal Page

I posted this on my watercolor blog, because it's done watercolor, but it's also done in one of my journals, a theme page for the We Art Journal Facebook page.  The theme was something that we love.  I liked the way it came out so much that I ordered a t-shirt with this design.  I hope the sizes run true.  It's not easy to find a commercial t-shirt that will take eleven names.

Sketchcrawl #43 - solo crawl finding signs of spring in my neighborhood

And the "sideways gremlin" strikes again!

While I was taking my walk this morning, I was thinking about where I could go to do a solo sketchcrawl.  I noticed a few little signs of spring, like some forsythia blooming, and Easter decorations, so when I finished, I went back out and retraced my route with my sketchbook, pens and small watercolor kit.  I did four small sketches.  After this past winter, (and snow on Monday), it felt so good to be warm and to see just the tiniest sign that spring was really going to make an appearance this year. 

Sketching in NYC

In NYC for the American Watercolor Society Show, I did two sketches in nearby Union Square - one before the show and one after.  The second one never got finished because by that time the vendors were packing up and Joan was waiting for me to finish up so we could catch our train  home.

I seem to be having problems with my images uploading sideways again. 

A Bit More Involved Than a Sketch

I'm participating in one of the Strathmore online workshops this month.  I did this sketch/drawing for Lesson 2 on tone and shape, with emphasis on shading and drawing ellipses.  I procrastinated a lot about starting, and ended up with a cloudy day with not too much light coming in my kitchen window.  And my stonewear is black, brown, and off white, which made using tone with a pencil a bit challenging, but I think I nailed it.  A couple of my ellipses are a little off - more noticeable in looking at the scan than when I was doing the actual drawing.  Here is my "Sugar and Creamer" done with #2B and #4B Derwent sketching pencils.

Barns and Silos near Goshen, NY

I did these from the car, after my sister and I picked up our paintings from the Northeast Watercolor Society members show in Orange County, NY.   The first scene was done as a quick watercolor vignette and then in ink.  Farm 2 was done across both pages in ink.