Drawing. Seeing. Learning.
Not much blogging, but still drawing – little drawings to make a few simple stationary sets as little gifts.
When rummaging around for ideas, I’m going through sketchbooks – quite a few by now.
It’s kind of a way of reviewing what I have been doing. Needless to say, there are a lot of balcony plant sketches. Some plants have since drooped, gone and new ones added – an inadvertant record of balcony life!
Just wanted to do some simple colouring in. Came across these two pencil drawings I must have done a while ago. Perfect for colouring in using gouache. What you don’t fill in is as important as what you leave out. I ended up having fun with creating negative spaces too.
Stunning autumn day here – hope you’re having good day!
Twenty minutes of sketching with a green fluro pen. This time, I used my left hand to draw. There’s less control but you kind of look more. Then I added some blue and grey washes.
Next day looking at it, it all looked a bit wishy-washy. So, I went over it to work on tone – darks, mediums, lights.
Quite a pleasure drawing in the morning autumn sun while looking for new plant growth.
Balcony plants, one by one emerge rondomly on the page. Then for some reason, a person of sorts comes beneath a succulent – kind of can see why.
Think I might re-do this one some time, as the composition is bit…not sure…something not quite right.
There’s something quiet and meditative about doing repeat patterns: dash, dash, dash; oval, oval, oval; triangle, triangle, triangle. For this one, I started with the shapes of the pots and bench, then patterns before filling with inky plants.
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Kind of enjoyed the process for this one which was to:
1. Sit on milk crate with coffee. ‘Pfaff’ a bit deciding what to draw.
2. Settle monkey mind down. Do a quick ‘blind’ sketch.
3. On a fresh page, do a coloured watercolour wash.
4. Let it dry then sit the book under a pile of books to flatten it out.
5. Go to work.
6. Next day, pull out book. Draw with an ink pen.
7. Use brush and water for inky washes. Really like this bit.
Mmm…I think I’ll try this again.
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Google image matches say this one is called ‘Dusty Miller’. The silvery grey makes it stand out amongst all the green plants. It is a bit mottled and struggling to survive or looks as if it is. It cost 50 cents at the local nursury.
Don’t overwater, loves the sun is the general advice. I’ll try. Feels like it’s a ‘rescue plant’. Still, another plant on this earth is a good thing, don’t you think?
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I’d like to introduce to you three new residents on my balcony I bought from a home gardener via a local market on Saturday. The first, I can’t find its’ name in Google anywhere. The second is called ‘Bears Ears’ (cactus) and the third, I think is called ‘Elkhorn’ (cactus). They’re very eccentric aren’t they?
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I never tire of looking at the plants on my balcony. Five to fifteen minutes drawing the myriad of shapes and admiring the eccentricities of each plant, the play of light and new growth is somehow a gentle way to the start of a day. I know…it’s an ordinary life I lead but when I take the time to look, there is much that is actually extraordinary.
I hope you find something little and simple but extraordinary to admire in your world!
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