Some things I missed

While summer is moving right along I seem to be lagging behind a bit. Probably because of the heat. But even with that we have been experiencing some truly gorgeous days and our usual cool nights. The season seems to have slowed my pace though. That's all right with me.

Above is a watercolor sketch in my summer sketch journal - my new journal which I forgot to show you earlier. Again, it's handmade with antique white Canson Edition paper. I used up the remaining paper from my stash, adjusting the format to 5.5 x 7 inches to get the most out of what I had left. The resulting journal is a little less rectangular than my previous 5 x 8 inch journals, and I am liking this format better. It also has more signatures. This makes it thicker with more pages to fill. Like my previous journals I included signatures in the front and back with plain copy paper for scribbling notes and calendar pages in the front. Plus a pocket in the back for business cards and  a few watercolor postcards. And yep, I put the bookmark in upside-down. I don't want to talk about that. It still works fine. I'm okay with it. Really I am.

Moving right along, here is what I have been using lately for my sketching kit. The small tin I found at Cheap Joe's, which I filled with paints from the Professor's stash. I added my raw umber watercolor stick because he didn't have that color and I do like using it sometimes. When we were in Ohio last month, I found the plastic box at the super market in the school supplies aisle. For a 99 cent investment it holds a water brush, a few pencils and a couple of pens, a handi-wipe cloth and a baggie with a pencil sharpener, and either this travel tin of watercolors or my tin of watercolor sticks. I like that this set up is so compact. I find that I will sketch more often if I don't have to drag out a lot of stuff just to get started.

Like these strawberries I sketched while I was fixing dinner the other evening.

I am also devoting a lot of time this summer to reading and studying. I took advantage of a couple of special offers at North Light Books and Dover Publications recently to stock up on books. Can you tell I am still obsessed with trees?

I also neglected to mention my Print of the Month for July. Perhaps you noticed it anyway over there on the side bar. It is from an original colored pencil painting on pastel board, titled Reeds.You can see a little slide show of how I drew this piece here. Fine art prints and cards from this image are available through Imagekind.