New sketchkit additions!

Revving up for Birmingham, I found myself needing to supplement my sketchkit a bit, as I really wanted to make the most of sketching time when there, NOT running around for extra supplies in a strange city!
So while in Edinburgh on a somewhat frenetic list of business errands yesterday, I investigated the excellent Greyfriars Arts , and found myself with TWO excellent and unexpected additions to my range, at not too great an expense!
First of all I searched for a new pocket sketchbook, and I found these delightful Hahnemule notebooks  - REALLY looking forward to trying them out - ever so slim and convenient, and with a great range jolly but customisable covers, too!
Then, finding myself running short of replacement cartridges for my Pentel pocket brushpen, I now found a 'larger version', the Pentel black 'Colour Brush Pen', but note from the ever-reliable Parka Blogs  that what I in fact now have is a non-waterproof black brushpen - even better for me, as I've been intending to experiment with non - waterproof ink!

Making Soup

Slowly, slowly I seem to be getting back into things as I recover from a virus which seemed to take months to finally get rid of!
However, one or two things have appeared to really help restore my 'mojo'.
Recently no less exalted an Urban Sketcher than Liz Ackerley actually nominated me to take part in a seven-day Sketching Challenge (Rodney is just one of many who have taken this up!)
Not only was this an honour, but it was JUST what I needed to get me going again!  More of that later, but since finishing the challenge at the weekend I have been motivated to draw much more regularly, and yesterday found myself painting AND enjoying making soup, all in the same morning!

Sketch carried out on location at the Ffestiniog Railway Volunteers Hostel, Minffordd, Porthmadog, North Wales

Here is the result!

 Then, lo and behold, this morning I had a message from a Helen Jones, who helps to run a Food Bank, liking my image and wanting my recipe!
You're welcome, Helen....and here's the recipe! I make soups all the time, and the ingredients vary according to availability, but the method is basically the same.

VEGETABLE SOUP (makes enough hearty soup for about 8 persons.)

 NOTE: quantities are approximate only

Ingredients
2oz butter or Ghee
1/2 teasp. Ground Cumin
3 med. onions
1 head celery (or Celeriac can be substituted for equally delicious flavour!)
1/2 med. Savoy Cabbage
Water - about two pints
Salt and Pepper to taste
Method
Roughly chop onions and sweat with the butter and Ground Cumin in the bottom of a medium sized saucepan until soft. Add roughly chopped celery , stirring until coated with spice and melted butter.  Add water to cover vegetables, bring to the boil and simmer until soft.  Liquidise and add pepper and salt to taste. Voila!

Giclee Prints of any of my images , produced to any size, p.o.a., are obtainable 'direct from the artist', through my website at www.hebrideanpostcards.com

"Dylan". a well trained dog keeping his owners company in a Hebden Bridge pub. Mitsubishi 'uniball' rollerball pen. A5 cartridge paper sketchbook. February 2016

Asked by someone about obtaining one of my Urban Sketches yesterday, I tried posting some sketched images from last year on my Facebook page, but I'm not sure if that has worked in the way I expected, so I'll show you some here!

 Again in West Yorkshire, and using just a fine rollerball pen, but this time in my topbound Moleskine Reporters Plain Notebook, which I find really useful, as it can be popped in a pocket, and yet opens out to allow an extensive sketch - great!  Here I'm at Sowerby Bridge Canal Basin, sitting in comfort in a pub and drawing the view through the railings!



Still in Hebden Bridge in February, our camper van stuck in someone's driveway for a prolonged sojourn while we waited for a replacement ignition barrel!
This one shows the view from 'Coffee Sauce" in George Square.  A good winter sketching spot!  Again fineliner black rollerball, and I think my moleskine (A6) sketchbook also.  Gradually extending and developing my sketchkit, here I've used aquarelle crayons and a Pentel Brushpen.

Not all Urban Sketches need to be elaborate, 

or of an extensive view, but must be drawn on location

"Coffee Sauce" again, Hebden Bridge, and a stab at drawing someone else sitting in the cafe. February 2016

 I'm really proud of this spread, having managed to set up in a little pop-up shelter by the side of the road.  I had been invited to draw this cow with her two calves , brought down off the hill for safety to graze outside the croft on Berneray, North Uist.

 This was my first response to July's Watercolour Challenge - starting drawing in the morning with a grey fountain pen (fitted with converter) on an A4 tinted pad, and then having to dash off to Jacksons to stock up with tubes of paint, using literally my last penny on an extended sketching trip to London via Yorkshire, beginning  the last lap of my preparations for the wonderful 2016 USK International Symposium in Manchester!

 This watercolour sketch no longer exists as such, as I ruined it when I continued to experiment with my new fountain pen and grey ink, proceeding to ruin my picture - a good lesson learnt thoroughly!

Continuing to refine my materials and sketchkit while

preparing for the Symposium.  Tinted paper, aquarelle crayons, white poster paint.

 Here is the view from our window in the volunteers hostel, Minffordd, Porthmadog.  Regular trains on the Ffestiniog railway passed our window!

 Here is a sketch done from Harbour Station, Porthmadog, before recent extensive works were carried out to add another platform, enabling huge Garrett engines from the Welsh Highland end of the railway to terminate in Porthmadog, and enable travellers to change trains and continue their trip to Blaenau!







My first decent breakfast sketch - using my watercolours on the first morning of the Symposium in Manchester!

I'm very proud of this sketch, carried out at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Bretton Hall, on a sketchcrawl with the Yorkshire Group.

 Maude, the Tigon, Manchester museum. Frustrated with crowds of onlookers, I moved in closer, and enjoyed myself!

Thoroughly enjoyed doing this sketch from the wonderful bus terminus shelter, Berneray, North Uist.  This is also one of the best mobile reception spots on the island, too!

 Done the other day on black sugar paper using a 'Signo' white gel pen. Fellow life class sketchers - the stillness is palpable as everyone concentrates like crazy!

Sketch done after breakfast before getting dressed!  Tinted pad, grey fountain pen, Platinum Carbon fountain pen and ink, Posca fibre tip white pen. Kuretake watercolour brushpen

My 'InkTober' blog needs polishing a bit!

This morning's attempt at some kind of online entry is really showing up how 'green' I am at this blogging lark...!

Wishing to place this InkTober contribution online in some way, having omitted it from my last post, I tried putting it on my Facebook page .  Managed to make a bit of a hash of that, so I'll try doing something else here! I think that I'll put the drawing on my new Pinterest page for this aspect of my artwork, as this is an area which I want to work on!

Training the young dog in question is another area which requires lots of attention! We have a Working Cocker Spaniel who is now a really delightful family companion, and we have worked hard for over a year training him to be generally obedient...just this morning I've been reinforcing the lesson that he should be staying on his bed where he was asked to go (as we are in the middle of a massive 'downsizing' exercise then floorspace is at a premium, and this ensures that we know where he is!).  BUT we have found ourselves with a dog that is 'hard-wired to chase' so we have to take precautions to make sure that he doesn't end up on a busy road or railway line while still getting sufficient excercise.  Just now he's been out off-road with my husband and the bike gadget , while other times our big securely fenced back garden and 'Chuckit' gadget
are just the job!

One website I've seen recommends training our dog to 'quarter' from side to side when exercising, and this looks really helpful! We've been using Pippa Mattinson's ideas and methods for a while now for various aspects of training, so can be reasonably confident with this one, perhaps!  Fingers crossed...!

InkTober!

October 2016 has been my first experience of ‘Inktober’, a Facebook challenge set up to appeal to subscribing artists interested in using ink for producing a total of no less than 31 images – one for every day in the month!

While thoroughly enjoying the process and following the page, I have noticed that many artists use the opportunity to challenge themselves in particular ways. …for me it was just a case of achieving the daily target, as with so many demands on my time at present this has been quite difficult!

Some of my results have been decidedly mixed, when measured by my personal feelings of success, but any artist needs to be his or her own harshest critic in order to progress, so I’m not dismayed by my total achievement during the month!

I haven’t always used the same sketchbook, as any attempt on my part at daily sketching often needs to be a case of sometimes just ensuring that a minimum kit is hurredly thrust into a bag or pockets in order to dash out and make the most of the weather! I don't drive, and this is a decided handicap for a Plein Air painter!

Other times I’ve been able to plan more efficiently and include perhaps a tinted sketchbook, inspired by the lovely work regularly produced by UrbanSketcher Pat Southern-Pearce.

Anyway, here is a small selection from one of my sketchbooks, taken at random, but from samples I happen to be quite pleased with!

   I have found that my Moleskine A6 Watercolour Sketchbook has become a new sketching favourite, and will be most welcome to accompany me whenever I’m able to choose my sketching location armed with a little more than just the contents of my pockets!

Not only is the size a useful one, but the paper is excellent quality, and I found that I really enjoyed using it for some of my inkdrawings, supplemented occasionally with a little colour!

The first one I found was a simple Japanese Anemone drawing, done 'straight in' with my lovely Carbon Platinum fountain pen, in the Watercolour sketchbook mentioned above...no pencil lines, no erasing, no white-painted amendments!  These are the very last blooms of the year, rescued from plants which have considerably brightened a dark north-facing frontage all season!

I just let my pen wander across the page - great fun! 

The next sketch was carried out in Berwick, just after taking some photos of a wonderful sunset.  I'd love to try painting this properly some day, so the next job was to do a careful drawing, and here's the result!
As you can see, renovations are in progress, so lack of curtains probably made my task easier.
This time a few light pencil guidelines were necessary, to ensure I included at least most of the chimney pots, so I now always carry a disposable Papermate mechanical pencil, which I find includes a really nice useful soft eraser on the end, although I always 'clean up' with a battery eraser these days - excellent for achieving a good result without damaging the surface of the paper!
Then I attempted a prolonged sketch from 'Cafe Nero' in Berwick - at present managed by a couple of voluble Italians - a great improvement!

Really quite pleased with this one - lots of pencil drafting necessary, but now I could add black ink and watercolour more confidently...I even managed to indicated some of the High Street shoppers and the Merry Go Round proprietor, although these seem not quite in scale, perhaps?

 Finally, I discovered that rare phenomenon, a comfortable seat in a sunny spot in an ideal sketching location, combined with time to draw - great!!! No matter that the foremost vehicle in Hide Hill, Berwick, became somewhat hybrid, since it changed for a different one as I drew, but such are the hazards of Urban Sketching!

InkTober.......marshalling the troops!

I’m glad to see that Jake Parker, the brains behind ‘InkTober’, is using a brushpen and a paintbrush as well as fountain pens for manipulating the ink! That gives me lots of flexibility!

Thank you , Suhita for jogging my elbow about this event...I came across one or two posts last year referring to it, and was intrigued….now I know what it’s all about!

The Daily Prompt List is a good idea...I wonder if we have to stick to it, and in the right order,  or perhaps just use it casually for inspiration? Oh well, I think I’ll see what other people are doing….!

Anyway, I decided to count my ‘troops’, and to my delight it came to one dozen items!

1. TWSBI Diamond 530 fountain pen -for some brown ink
2. TWSBI Diamond 530 fountain pen  for my favourite grey ink. ( I am really pleased, by the way, to find that the reliable website 'Parka Blogs' reviews the pens I like - this site is a brilliant resource for really careful and detailed reviews of just about everything an artist uses!
I really like the feel, weight and balance of these particular pens, and I especially approve of the screw - on cap, which screws on to the end when in use! (I know some people prefer to leave the cap off to use, but it’s purely a matter of preference.  In my book , ANY drawing or painting implement needs to feel like a natural extension of my arm, and this is my main criteria which comes as extremely HIGH PRIORITY!
3. Platinum Carbon Fountain Pen with Converter.  I find that I really love using this pen, as its very fine nib really grips the paper well, and this suits me. Parka blogs comments that this is because the tip of the nib lacks the usual 'ball' feature.
4. Platinum Carbon Ink Refill backup bottle
5. Platinum Carbon Ink Cartridges (for emergency backup!)
6. Herbin "Gris Nuage" grey ink .  After purchasing this lovely blue-grey ink on a whim, I now find it indispensable!
7. W&N brown ink refill bottles
8. Pentel Brushpen - a really excellent tool for beautiful soft pigment ink lines.
9. Pentel brushpen refill cartridges .I've pictured the really excellent self-sealing pack which contains the refills - brilliant!
10.  Dip pen (My lovely grey ink is running a bit low, so this is to use in emergencies!)
11. Paintbrush (for grey ink brushwork experiments)
12. Diamond 530 fountain pen presentation box

Well, alright, the twelfth item isn’t strictly another addition to the list of materials I’ll be using for this challenge, but it’s certainly nice enough to draw, and I’ll be doing that tomorrow (although I find that with these particular pens the ink takes a little while to ‘draw down’ , so I find it convenient to keep them ‘nose-down’ in the front pocket of my sketching belt pouch, separate from other materials, so that they are easy and quick to grab at a moment’s notice!

Encouraging Wild Birds to a Suburban Garden

Blue Tit drawing

 As I am currently in the position of slowly planning a new garden , the question of attracting wild birds definitely comes to mind!  Although I am most definitely NOT a ‘twitcher’, I love watching birds and learning about them!
I may not go as far as installing CCTV or other sophisticated camera equipment, as described on this website, but once birds start returning I will definitely be keeping a pair of binoculars permanently on each of window cills in our ground floor flat, ready to grab when something interesting flashes past! The sites specialising in birdbox cams and the like however do often provide lots of information and good advice on attracting wild birds to a garden plot!
So where will I start?
"Provide suitable habitat"
No problem - we have already started planting native species in a new hedge around the garden - this will provide lots of shade and places to perch, nest and hide from predators .
"Provide water"

Again no problem, as a planned bog garden  is already taking shape, and we will be introducing running water features  as soon as possible - nothing nicer on a sleepy sunny afternoon than listening to moving water!
"Provide bird feeders and regular food"
Care needs to be taken here, as if you undertake to feed birds regularly this has to be maintained, especially in winter , as birds now in the habit of visiting your garden to feed may starve if supplies suddenly cease!
Care must also be taken to position bird feeders suitably - near to cover, so that birds can perch while awaiting their turn, literally in the ‘pecking order’!  However, don’t make it easy for predators  such as cats to get too close!
A resource that we have found invaluable in the past is this one , both for supply of a super range of bird food and for excellent advice and information.

Care also needs to be taken to keep feeders and the ground beneath clean and hygenic.

This all sounds like a lot of trouble, but believe me it’s well worth it!