sketchbook :: summer wrap up

Now that autumn is here it is time for me to begin a new sketchbook. I realized, however, that I have neglected to post any sketches since the very beginning of summer! So just in case you thought I was no longer sketching, here is a sampling from my summer sketchbook.

I had such hopes for these potted flowers and tomato plants growing on my deck. But with our short, cool summers tomatoes are always a challenge to grow. I did get a handful of grape tomatoes. And the marigolds continued to bloom but the geraniums didn't last well at all.

Although cut flowers from our yard and flowers from the market did often grace our table.

Summer foods, too.

My sketchbooks still hold many sketches as an artists' journal but they are also part planning and record keeping. Lots of pages are now used for preliminary sketches for painting, notes and ideas, and a place to record quotes from my reading.

And my reading tends to be a bit eclectic.

I found this lady in my neglected herb garden.  All of these sketches were done in a Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Art Journal. It has 90 lb paper and is 7.75 x 9.75 inches with a soft cover. I really like these books for their versatility. Plus they don't seem so precious that I worry about using pages for less than stellar images. I have found these books to serve well as a working sketchbook and an art journal.