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!

"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

Lessons in Urban Sketching this week, as I try to catch up on various activities!
Using the Camper Van as a base, we are attempting a bit of a seasonal round-trip, hoping the weather doesn't hit us too hard, though we have packed plenty of thermal clothing!
Dashing for a bus after we came off the motorway, I managed to leave some favourite bits of my sketching kit behind in the van (carefully stashed in a separate bag for ease of access!), so was obliged to improvise!

 I was supposed to be joining a group of sketchers at the Manchester Christmas markets...hence the rush..., so I hurredly found a compromise hardback notebook and a cheap pencil set in a little newsagents and settled for using the blank flyleaves for some sketching - needs must!
Then, baffled by the crowds and rows of cabin stalls in Albert Square, failing to connect with people, and confronted by officialdom to boot, I chickened out and dived into an Italian wine bar down a side street, restoring myself with a glass of wine and finding some enjoyment in drawing stacks of funny hats outside the stall in the street!
I was obliged to improvise and use my standby kit - Kuretake Watercolour Brushpens and my black Pentel brushpen mostly, and I discovered a pocket brushpen (its converter filled with plain water) to use with my little pot of white gouache, although of course I

would have preferred to practice my pen and wash techniques.
Still - useful practice, and I hoped to do better the next day! The bored stallholder wasn't selling many hats, and enquirers were merely whizzing past after a brief admiring look, so not much chance of 'people practice' while drawing!
Still, I was booked in at a hostel in the Northern Quarter, and was optimistic that advertised WiFi facilities would enable me to lay detailed plans !
I'm an experienced hosteller, so discovering that the lift to the fourth floor was for staff only was really the only difficulty I found here.
I could prepare food and make a hot drink (milk supplied - great!) in the self-catering kitchen, AND there was a chill-out room downstairs available 24hours (essential standby in case of snoring room companions!)
Some modern hostels provide curtained individual bunk berths, which provide optimum privacy as well as freedom, as one is much less likely to disturb anyone, and glaring 'top' dormitory lights can be screened out! However, as I was not familiar with this particular hostel, I had with me my own precautionary screening in the shape of a number of long scarves, and it wasn't long before I was comfortably ensconsed in my own personal 'cave'!

The contents of my sketching stool/knapsack came up trumps, for a change...here's the list!
1) Silk kimono/dressing gown - I've had this luxury for years. It's very comfortable, and packs small, and is a necessary in case of nightime trips to shared bathroom facilities! Said bathroom here proved an unexpected delight, furnished with amazing antique Victorian sanitary ware - a real rarity!
2) Night things - the bare minimum, including above-mentioned scarves, a small microfibre travel towel, toothbrush, and a flannel 'pocket' containing my soap, a little Led night light (not many hostels provide individual bed lights), ....oh, and an extension board, often offered for sharing between several dormitory occupants!
3) By far the biggest and heaviest items are a rather ancient and heavy Mac laptop - definitely in need of replacement at the earliest opportunity and a box of inks and paints (unusable without a paintbrush, which of course was in the camper van)

It didn't take me long to make myself some cocoa, plug everything in and retire for the night!

 What a difference a day makes! Internet research (ultra-early free breakfast ingredients, squashy sofas and 'Google Maps'  - I'll stay here again!) helped me to discover that I was within a stone's throw of the wonderful Blyth's Art Shop, where I indulged myself with a new sketch pad (brown paper is brilliant for sketching on, and these pads have super-stiff hard covers) and a Chinese mixed-hair brush. 
Stevenson's Square provided the opportunity to paint some of the Autumn colours I was delighted to discover still remained on the trees, while 'Eastern Bloc' next door provided excellent pecan pie , hot drinks and an outside table to work at!  Bliss!
A passer-by even took a photo of me from above!
I was even able to search out a camera shop for the computer peripheral I needed without too much difficulty , before catching the bus to Alderley Edge where we were camping. Amazingly , this tiny Caravan Club Certificated Location offers WiFi as well as hot water facilities and washing machines!