Friday, May 1, 2009

Getting started

I am starting off May with a sketch of lilac blossoms. I was so happy to see my lilac bush survived the recent snowy cold snaps and is now full of blossoms. Spring is just beginning to awaken here in our mountains, a wonderful time of the year.

This is the sketching kit I put together for my Every Day in May project. I have decided to stick with watercolor pencils. I have also included a walnut brown colored pencil, a graphite pencil, eraser, water brush, and of course a pencil sharpener. I keep the pencil sharpener in a plastic sandwich bag so the shavings will be contained no matter where I am. I also have one of those re-usable, disposable cloths for cleaning my water brush. All of these supplies fit into this lovely pencil case from Peru that a dear friend gave to me last fall.

I was thinking that I would work in just one sketchbook for these May drawings. So I tried out a small Cachet watercolor sketchbook for the lilacs shown above. Although the texture of the paper will be nice for watercolor I don't think I will be happy using it for watercolor pencils. I may explore other journal options. My goal is to develop the habit of keeping a sketch journal and to become more comfortable with watercolor, particularly watercolor pencils, since they are so portable. We'll see how that goes.

10 comments:

iva yaneva said...

oh, I LOVE lilacs :) I have them right outside my window and when I open it I can smell them! :)
It's pretty hard thing to draw, so well done!

Alex said...

Really lovely colors! And you're always able to create liveliness from your pencils!
:)

Timaree said...

It'll be fun to see what you do with so few supplies. I have so many yet really reach for just a few but am always afraid to take just those few when travelling - what if I NEED something else!?

Sandy said...

Oh one of my very favorite flowers, I think I can smell these!!

Jennifer Rose said...

very nice start to May :D I haven't seen any lilacs around here, the frost might have killed them :/

love the colours of that pencil case, very pretty thing for carrying around supplies.

Teresa said...

What a lovely way to start May! Shall look forward to other pretty art popping up on your blog!

kazumiwannabe said...

Beautiful - soft, delicate colors, make me want to touch and smell! The new look of the blog is great, the drawings show out more (mhh, I'm not sure I'm using the right words, here... too lazy to get the dictionary out : ) Loved your rhododendron drawing too, it's gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

what a lovely start Ann! I'm using the moley wc jounal that I started LAST year (and dropped out too soon!)...I just altered the intro-page and I'm going to use this regardless of the medium..here goes, huh??..deni...;)

deborah said...

your lilacs look so 3D...they are one of my favorites, just love the smell.

Margaret Ann said...

Nice post...love that pencil bag! :)

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin