Figures & Form

Ecoline watercolour and Neocolor II on Fabriano 70x50cm

Graphite and marker on cartridge 59x42cm

Ecoline and Neocolor II on Fabriano 70x50cm

I spent the last Wednesday mornings of May at lovely figure drawing sessions held by the Figures & Form group in Parkhurst, in return for a 10 minute talk on urban sketching on my last day. It was lovely to slow down and spend whole hours looking, drawing and painting. These were from a session with the theme of Flappers - the top and bottom ones long poses and the middle ones two 5 minute poses. Such fun, but what does one do with all these studies..!?
The talk went well in spite of nerves, I'm a drawer not a talker!..but I had stacks of sketchbooks on display, and inspirational sketching books like The Art of Urban Sketching and One Drawing a Day and Danny Gregory's books. The group received it enthusiastically - ten minutes wasn't actually enough to say all I had to say about urban sketching. I'm hoping  a few more will join Joburg Sketchers, as well as start their own sketchbooks and journals. I forgot to take a photo, as I always do :-/ but I have to say the display looked quite impressive, I never feel like I sketch enough, but when they're all spread out - whew - 100's!!

That Jacaranda Time again

This seems to come around faster and faster every year - jacaranda blossom time. They aren't as spectacular as usual in Johannesburg, perhaps because we've had early rains and I think the flowers need a little stress to perform really well - perhaps like all of us. I was not too stressed, it was a lovely sunny morning and I met three sketcher friends in a tranquil side street in Westcliff where we spent a relaxed couple of hours. I did exaggerate the purple, it was there, but sparsely scattered - hard to paint without getting finicky. I started with the bottom one in my watercolour Moleskine with rather a fat brush - a Van Gogh goats hair one that I 've loved for years but which has now lost its point and is losing its hair. 
I switched to some long neglected Caran d'Ache Neocolor II watersoluble crayons which I've never mastered (but haven't spent much time trying). With only 12 basic colours, the middle one is startlingly vivid where I put in street signs, bougainvillea, some yellow and orange  flowers and a bit of a jacaranda - I reined myself in a bit on the last top one of Alan and Marlene sitting picturesquely under the trees.
Previous posts on jacarandas are here, here, here and here if you're interested.

Carols by Candlelight

This is the line drawing I did last week at the Zoo Lake Carols by Candlelight on Wednesday. I started sketching in late afternoon sunshine, when Simba the Lion and Father Christmas did their thing, and ended in the dark, lit by candles and spotlights as the Salvation Army band, the choir and the Nativity play swung into enthusiastic action.

After a while my Lamy pen was running out of ink and I couldn't see my page any more, so took the line drawing home and tried different techniques - wax crayons, watercolour wash and black and white pens and markers - to try to capture the sparkles, shimmers and glows of the night scene.

Carol concerts and Christmas Fairs have to be held early in Johannesburg. From now on, everybody starts packing up to go on holiday and from the 16th when the Builder's holidays start, it's practically deserted. Carols by Candlelight is an old tradition here, where families pack picnics, presents for needy children, blankets, granny and the kids, and gather in their hundreds on the grass under the stars.
The little girl in the middle seemed to find the drawing lady more interesting than all the entertainment behind her, but when the candles were lit she joined her mom to sing - there at bottom left.

Memory Bank

I didn't mean to spend Friday cleaning out the paper drawers in my studio, but our dear old weimeraner dog, newly deaf but still with a finely tuned nose, had inspected them and smelt a rat, literally.

He started digging and scrabbling, pulling out the bottom drawers with precious sheets of watercolour paper stashed in them and no amount of yelling (he didn't hear a thing) or pulling would deter him. I had no choice but to remove the drawers one by one until he could fit his elderly frame into the space and at last emerge with one scrap of a mouse's Fabriano bed delicately held between his front teeth. I should be grateful... and I am, but it was the start of a long nostalgic graft sorting through 'stuff' from the seventies, eighties and upwards that I'd promised myself I'd get to one day. I've put it all back - with a potion of spices to deter rodents in case the dog didn't terrify her quite enough - you'd think in a way that I could find everything easily again, but no, I have no idea. I found so many memories, sketched, scribbled and painstakingly illustrated, one or two of which I thought I might post here, but I can't find them. I found this ultra quick NeocolorII scribble of our daughter today though, sitting on the couch with her school 'fish' art project in front of her that brings back such a strong memory of a slow, sunny afternoon - one of the few she wasn't off doing... something. Perhaps not my finest sketching half-hour but don't you love it when a few minutes with a crayon/pencil/brush long ago brings back so much?

Winter garden

I've had a small flurry of impulsive painting in the last couple of days - I revisited an oil painting that I decided was deadly boring, now not sure if I've stuffed it up completely or improved it, so I'm taking a while to look at it and decide which. I may share that later... or not! I then thought I'd do a watercolour on one of my stash of big sheets (65x48cm) with wet drippy paint, masking out highlights so the brushstrokes could be loose... just looking out of my studio door at the bare plum tree and bits of foliage down the side of the wall for subject matter, I started splashing... As soon as the paint went on I found, once again, that this paper has got too old, too hot and cold, or dry... and lost its sizing so just sucked up the moisture. Nevertheless, I carried on painting with rather murky colours, and when it was dry, went in with my Caran d'Ache Neocolor crayons, as the watercolour wasn't behaving as it should - happily a grey lourie came and sunned himself in the branches and provided a needed focal point. Still painting too fast and without forethought, this is really a big sketch, but I think that's the way my life is right now - catching the chance to do what I can and when.

Quick scribble

A scribble I did from the lilies a while ago, using the crayons I had lying around on my table - just to say I haven't disappeared. I'm still ploughing through loads of textbook drawings - keep thinking I'm almost at the end, then another lot arrives in my inbox. Hope to resurface soon!

Shadows from Different Folks

After all that purple oil paint, I decided to join in with the Different Strokes from Different Folks project at the last minute. I got out my watercolours again, and some Caran d'Ache crayons for texture, and had a go at those shadows. They didn't come out the way I was intending them to - the Grumbacher Indigo that I used for the darkest tones, doesn't like mixing with others, and it is very dark indeed! But I quite enjoyed the unexpected results. I think this has a slightly ominous feeling, with the plain blue background... is it water? Is it sky? Is it a light?
I loved looking at all the interpretations from all the artists taking part - some fabulous paintings!

Crayons and petunias

Haven't had much time to paint as the pesky housework is screaming at me again, but dashed outside for a few minutes to try my new Aquash brush with my old Neocolor II Aquarelle crayons on the petunia bed (would anyone know why the dark purples and pinks are flourishing, while the white one had a single lonely flower then closed up shop? It looks healthy, but no blossoms.) These crayons are great for sketching, but have quite a cloudy, milky look when washed over, especially in densely coloured areas, so I don't think I'd use them on a major project. Or maybe I just haven't been patient enough with them - must stop scribbling and spend some quality time...?
I did another rather frenetic sketch, vaguely based, from memory, on the July virtual sketch date of sunquats, but when I checked the reference, it's of course nothing like it, apart from orangey orbs - and I remembered one had a shadow of a leaf on it, which just looks like a slip of the hand on mine! But the yellows and oranges of the crayons are nice and clear and bright.
Is anyone else having trouble with their blog lists? - insteading of giving me my list of updated blogs in order of most recent down, there's just the list, and the links take you to Feedburner first from where you have to click on the blog you want - so extremely annoying, and does not incline me to want to subscribe to Feedburner one little tiny bit! Does anyone know what to do about it? I have put a question on Blogger Help... He-eee-elpp!!