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!)

Inktober Week 4

Hello all!   We've reached the end of Inktober, and my final tally was 28 out of 31 days.  Having lost two days (see last week's post for why), I decided 29 was a silly number, so I knocked off one more day to make it 28.  That makes four sets of seven - perfect to divide into weekly posts and/or to combine into perhaps a little "zine" at some point for sale.  So here's your final set 22 - 28...

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Day 25

Day 26

Day 27

Day 28

As always, I'm going to share a few process photos with you (you can click for them to be larger).  My main challenge to myself this year was to improve my drawing skills, and become more confident in them, and I'm pretty happy with how that's gone.  And also the learning curve on using darks in a braver way has been a good one.

And here's a screenshot of the complete set in my Photos app - the only way to get them all on the page at once, I think!  Do you see what I mean about 28 being a better number than 29?

Thanks so much for stopping by and for the lovely comments over the month - every single one is very much appreciated.  Despite the increasing confidence, it's still a little miracle to me when one of these drawings and paintings appears on the page in front of me.  I never thought I would be able to do anything like this.  Just goes to show what a little (or a lot!) of practice can do!

Hope you have a spooky but not too terrifying Halloween.  My scariest thing is that I have to come back from the relative safety of the Czech Republic to the horrifying infection rates of the UK this week for some work.  Masks at the ready...

I plan to be back on the blog soon to share the accordion album I've been creating for the season... lots of creepy stories to enjoy by the fireside over the winter months ahead.  Stay safe and happy crafting all.

Every artist was first an amateur.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

...and then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?
Vincent van Gogh

Inktober Week 3

Hello again all.  I hope you're all doing well.  It's taken me a bit longer than seven days to collect the next seven paintings.

I took a deliberate day off from Inktober halfway through the month (it was starting to feel a bit of a chore and I wanted to release that pressure valve).  Then on Thursday I took delivery of a van load of boxes/furniture from the UK which meant I couldn't settle to anything while I was waiting for it to arrive, obviously couldn't do anything while we were unloading, spent some time doing a bit of sorting, and then the light had gone a bit too far, so I gave myself that day off too!

Long story short, at day 23 I finally have 15 - 21 to share with you, so I should really stop calling them "day x" and call them "painting x", I suppose...

Painting 15

Painting 16

Painting 17

Painting 18

Painting 19

Painting 20

Painting 21

I know which are my favourites... I wonder whether they're the same as yours...?!  As usual, here are a couple of process photos to give you an idea of what goes on along the way.  

I'm continuing to enjoy getting some proper darks in for contrast and depth, but I'm still struggling not to overwork things in the final stages... sometimes I remember to stop in time, sometimes not!  Onwards and upwards (hopefully)...

I promise to try to do some catching up with non-watercolour projects soon - there are plenty waiting in the wings, since I've been so neglectful of the blog.  And I'll also aim to do some proper catching up around Craftyblogland with those of you who don't do (shhh, whisper it) Instagram.  Hope you're all enjoying a lovely weekend and see you soon.

Practice what you know, and it will help to make clear what now you do not know.
Rembrandt

Creativity is the brain's invisible muscle -- that when used and exercised routinely -- becomes better and stronger.
Ashley Ormon