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Carrot and kale

10/9/2016

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The season at the CSA draws to a close. For the whole summer, not only I ate tasty, local, organic veggies but I also had subjects for my sketches! Two-for- one deal indeed.

I bought a new Rotring Art Pen and a bottle of Parker blue-black ink. I was assured that the ink is waterproof - which of course is not the case. 

I wanted to test the pen and the ink, so I grabbed a carrot and a bunch of kale leaves and set to work.
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Gourds

10/5/2016

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I call them decorative squash or decorative pumpkins, but somebody gently pointed out that they are gourds. So be it. And this is their season. We had a long and warm fall so far - cannot complain. 

Gourds make interesting subjects when one cannot go out sketching. So I painted them in various ways. 

Here are three of my sketches - watercolors, gouache and cottage paint, and collage.
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Sketching in town

9/26/2016

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It was a great weekend - sunny and smelling like fall. Probably one of the last times when I will be out sketching this year. I packed super light - sketchbook and the Rotring Art Pen I just bought. I used the Rendr (useless for the kind of stuff I sketch, the paper is made for markers), Stillman & Birn (don't remember which one I have) and a hand made pamphlet with Acquarius paper. I am still not in love with the Acquarius in spite of its qualities. 

Saturday I spent few hours at the Technopole Angus at the EtsyMtl fair. Yesterday I was in the Old Port to cheer the marathon runners passing by. 
I might revisit some of these pages to add more color ... or maybe not. Very busy these days ...
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Pumpkin and peppers

9/20/2016

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As part of the ByDesign assignments, I wanted to design a page using columns. I grabbed some peppers and a pumpkin from the fridge and set a still life. 

I also wanted to use no more than 3 washes - to avoid turning everything into mud. And I also wanted to try to use loose washes a la Jean Haines. 

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I have to be more careful with the margins, now that I have a new understanding of why they are important. 
I am pleased with the spread, I like the size of the paper here  too - 11 x 15. I think I will start working with spreads more - more freedom to play with the space.

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Fun with selfies

9/18/2016

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Still working my way through the material in ByDesign and I did not have any subjects that I felt compelled to sketch. So what is one to do in such circumstances? Selfies, of course!

I had fun with these. The first one was done with Pentel pocket brush pen and then collage. For the second one I used acrylic ink, bamboo pen and then acrylic paint. I put the ipad in selfie mode and sketched from it!


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How about you? Do you like selfies? 

Thanks for reading!
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#fivedaysketchchallenge

9/11/2016

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Liz Steel launched this challenge few weeks ago. I don't have pretty tea cups, but I do have a Tibetan bowl. That will have to do for now.

I decided to use every day a different technique - as to not get bored of course!

So I used:
  • left hand with dip pen and black ink
  • pan pastels and eraser
  • continuous line
  • water soluble ink
  • watercolor
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I want to repeat the exercise. I think I will use the cup I made a couple of years back in a pottery workshop. Or maybe I will buy a cute cup from the antiques store :)

My favorite is the pastel and eraser one. Which one is yours?

Thanks for reading.
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Mark making in the park

8/26/2016

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One of my goals is to work on the quality of my line. I want it to be more expressive and fluid.  
​I picked up again Veronica Lawlor's book One drawing a day . Lesson 6 - render a nature scene (park, garden etc) using only graphite and marks - no lines until the end.
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It was surprising to realize how many marks can be done with the humble pencil...and this exercise is certainly something that I will be doing more often. 

​Do you have a favorite tool to make marks with? I'd love to know - please leave me a comment.
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Henri Toulouse-Lautrec dessine La Belle Epoque

8/25/2016

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This exhibition is presently at the MMFA and I could not miss it. I sketched after some of the posters, but the most fun was to sketch the patrons.
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Beach vignettes

8/18/2016

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I spent some time in the Laurentians at Lake Monroe and used the unsuspecting beach goers as models for these vignettes. 
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Pen and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper and hand made signatures.
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