I have sketched a double page of “things I must take with me when I go for a walk”. It feels like a major expedition and I always forget one or two items. I am now going to put a list on the inside of the door, so that i see it everytime I walk out.

I started this page about two weeks ago and had laid out in sketches of what I wanted where on the page. Today I finished it.

I had to think about the sizes of the different objects. I could not do them all their real size, so had to decide the varying sizes.

Since then, I have bought a new sunhat, with a broader brim for more sun protection, and sketched that too.

I finished it in a Sketch Zoom session today. Since late last year, I have been meeting on Zoom with two Sydney and a Melbourne friend and we work on our own projects and chat and eat. Today went from 10 am and til 3 pm. It is a time to achieve a lot. The four of us used to meet in person once a month when we all lived in Sydney (in the food court of a shopping center ) when we were all working on a project together. Then we moved onto our projects. We only started back together on Zoom late last year and have set aside our date for next month. I have a similar monthly session with some Australian and UK friend. We all enjoy these times.

I have previously written about and tested some of my watercolour pencils. Now that I have purchased the entire 126 Faber Castell watercolour pencil range, I have been experimenting with and becoming aware of the range of colours available. I wrote about it initially HERE. I have not made too many changes to the daily sketchkit I carry with me everyday. See these colours HERE. The swatches I have done for some of the colours show the colour on the page and then what it looks like when water is added. Some times the change is amazing – a big difference. This is where is it good to practice and get to know the colours.

I have previously written about

• blue and brown
• green
• yellow

Today’s test colours are pink and purple. Some of these are almost red, but that is for another blog….

I use Pink Madder Lake and Light Flesh in my daily sketch kit.

If you have watercolour pencils at home, have a play, scribble hard, add water see what you own. Most importantly , have fun !

I have just started my 100th Moleskine watercolour sketchbook, since December 2008. I know this because I write in the number in the front page of each one. I use Moleskine watercolor sketchbook 13 x 19 cm (known as Large). I have used these since I first decided to sketch consistently in a sketchbook, rather than on lots of loose pages ad Visual Art diaries that I had. I am sure the Moleskine was a recommendation of Liz Steel, as I was sketching so much with her in Sydney at the time. I was also using watercolour pencils then and ink pens, (but not my current lovely Lamy Safari Joy Ink pen)

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I sketch almost every day and so I stock up and buy a few at a time. My usual stockist is Book Depository in the UK as they are a third less price than anywhere else and have free delivery. They were out of stock for a long time so I ordered from anywhere I could find. Just yesterday I checked and they are back in stock, so I ordered ten. That will do me for a while!

I label them . I am a librarian.

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Of course, there are sometimes that I use a large sketchbook or whatever paper is at hand. or previously I have sketched in other brands’ sketchbooks. A5 Visual Diary. I had been sketching on and off for many years, Once I started using Moleskine journals I felt a real commitment and joy in sketching every day. If it is not in my sketchbook, it will be on another drawing project. There is so much fulfilment in drawing, see my post (which gets a lot of reads) Why drawing makes me happy . I feel as though I am still continually learning about my watercolour pencils. and I like to have the same paper each time so that I know what to expect. I feel no need to experiment and try other brands. And now I need to sketch every day.

This is the first two pages from December 2008.

and the first two pages in my current sketchbook

Do I ever look at the sketchbooks? yes!

Although I have all the pages scanned and on my hard drive (sorted by date) They are also on Flickr website where. they are by date but also searchable by tags and keywords. They are also sorted into themed albums, by topic or event. Explore and enjoy !

I take sketchbooks off my shelves for exhibitions or to show classes specific pages that are relevant to the class ie travel sketching nature sketching, sketching food. Students also get a lot out of looking through the whole sketchbook and seeing how I put words and sketches on the page, what I sketch and how I use watercolour pencil. There is nothing like turning pages of the real thing! I like to think they provide real inspiration for people. I love to look through other people’s sketchbooks. And sometimes I look at my sketchbook for pure nostalgia, remembering a place and a time as I sketched it.

What’s changed?

• My ink skills have improved so much. They were so scratchy and now I have a lot more confidence in sketching in ink, and combining it with colour.
• A few years ago I suddenly ‘got’ sketching crowds quickly.
• The subject matter is still the same – food, travel, objects, nature, books.
• I’ve improved my techniques with watercolour pencil – texture, and detail
• I am comfortable with my style. I realise it is the “unfinished look” and “impression of detail”. Once I had that in my head I have been happy with anything I sketch.
• I still struggle with, but am no longer anxious, about the formatting of the page. The sketch always comes before the words. I probably should plan more before starting a page.

I hope this has been useful and interesting.