I'm travelling into a new way of working, a new country, a new language, and a new hobby which I'm passionate about. Come with me for some of the journey...

Saturday 8 October 2022

Garden Findings for Inktober

Hello all, a belated happy October to you.  I'm on the Inktober trail again, approaching things slightly differently this year.  Firstly, I'm trying to work from life rather than from photos as I did last year.  And secondly, I'm gathering small sketches onto a large journal page, rather than them each getting a page to themselves.  So I'm here to share the first spread with six sketches on it, as well as a few process photos.  I hope you like them.

(Yes, I know it's the 8th already, but I'm not bullying myself to do it daily, given there's quite a lot of other stuff going on at the moment!  I may catch up tomorrow, or I may not... we'll see!)  


And here they are in order from day 1, with a chance to see the pen sketch and the model in each case - which was just whatever I happened to pick up in the garden that day.

A sprig from the miniature crab apple tree...




Some random grasses from the "wilderness garden" round the back of the house... (some day I hope it will be a wildflower meadow under the plum trees, but for now it's a wilderness!)



A couple of slightly bedraggled leaves from one of the plum trees...




Some of the dried Aquilegia seed heads which I use quite a lot on my tags too (you've just seen them in action in the previous post)...



Some random dried out leaves (maybe plum?) - I thought this would be simple, but it was the trickiest one on the page...



And finally, some wild strawberry leaves.  This one took quite a few layers, and as I was doing chores in between layers, by the time I got to the finishing touches the strawberry leaves were starting to curl up around the edges...






So, that's the first page pretty much full.  It's a slightly stressful way of working, I've discovered... if each one is on its own page, if you mess up then it's only that one that's spoiled.  But here, if I do one I'm not happy with, that's in danger of undermining the whole page.  It was touch and go with those pale dried leaves, but I think I pulled it round!


For those who like to know these things, I'm using a Staedtler Pigment Liner 0.3, and Daniel Smith watercolours with Silver Black Velvet brushes, in a Moleskine A4 watercolour journal.

I hope October is treating you well, whatever you're up to, and I'll see you again soon.

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.
From Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
(And it's on my EAB04 Autumn Edition quote set from PaperArtsy!)

12 comments:

Christine Alexander said...

Beautiful artwork, all those fall plants would make wonderful stamps :)

Cestina said...

Oh, oh, oh! Those strawberry leaves just leapt off the page as I opened up the post. Simply stunning. xx

My name is Erika. said...

Wonderful nature sketchbook for Inktober Alison. I like how you picked slightly worn and torn pieces. Have a great rest of your weekend. hugs-Erika

ginag said...

I am mesmerized, Alison💕 I would love to see these pages all come together and be published, these drawings are so professionally created👏👏👏

Anke said...

WOW Deine Zeichnungen sind ein Traum, liebe Alison. Ich bewundere Dein Talent und kann nur staunen.

Alles Liebe
wünscht Dir
Anke

The Primitive Moon said...

Ślicznie malujesz, ja nie mam takich zdolności 😊

Helen said...

what gorgeous drawings! thanks for dropping by Kew!

Sandy said...

Beautifully drawn and painted Alison!
Sandy xx

Cocofolies said...

This is so beautiful artwork Alison, delightful for our eyes, and we can see the joy you must have and feel creating this beauty. Great shape for your journal with large pages to include several leaves and grasses. Gorgeous!!!
Hugs, Coco xx

Andrea Small said...

Gorgeous - and lovely to see the whole page 😁 xx

pearshapedcrafting said...

It's great see these at a 'proper' size. The plum leaves are my favourites here, hugs, Chrisx

sally said...

Lovely to see your October inkwork again this year, I know it’s almost November but I’m finally getting through the list of things I need to catch up on after a month of visiting the family in Maine!

Sally xx