Turnip Sketch

Turnip, ink and watercolor in Moleskine
2009 Sydney Harper

I think I like turnips because they have that purple blush at the top. Well I like eating them too, but I would probably ignore them if they were just white. It’s interesting how important color is in our food. I was hoping to find some turnips with greens attached but it wasn’t meant to be. Probably because lots of people here eat the green tops so they can sell them separately.

An interesting historical tidbit about turnips is that turnip lanterns were the predecessor to today’s jack o’lanterns.

This sketch was done in ink and watercolor in my watercolor Moleskine.

Carrot Sketch

“Carrot”, ink and watercolor in watercolor Moleskine
copyright 2009 Sydney Harper

Digging through the refrigerator, I found a carrot.  It’s been there, uh, a while so why not sketch it. Beside it’s fun to paint orange things. Right now I’m enjoying sketching lumpy, bumpy vegetables more than smooth ones.  They just seem to have more character. Soon I’ll be left with only brown and beige root vegetables.   I guess I should have been mixing them in all along.

Red Onion Sketch

Ink and watercolor
in Moleskine watercolor notebook

I’m continuing with the root vegetable sketch theme, depending on what I’ve bought recently. This time it’s a red onion.  I’m enjoying doing these.  I think what I like most about these sketches is the pen. I’ve been experimenting with a lot of different pens lately, but I’m enamored with the finest tip of my set of Zig Millenium pens (005 size or .20 mm line) for these sketches.

I’m going to have to see what else I can find at the grocery store.  Of course, there’s lots of the usual stuff left to sketch but I’ll have to look for some out of the ordinary vegetables too. 

Sweet Potato

Sweet potato
ink and watercolor, 5 x 8 inches

Around here, it’s the sweet potato season.  Towards the end of summer and early fall, you’ll see flat-bed trucks beside the road filled with sweet potatoes for sale. That’s my indicator for autumn.  Earlier in the summer, you’ll see them with watermelons and tomatoes. Maybe it’s because I like fall or maybe it’s just because I like sweet potatoes, but the sweet potato trucks always make me smile.

This is done in ink and watercolor.  Lately I’ve enjoyed seeing other people’s ink sketch before the watercolor is added, so here’s my sweet potato before the watercolor was added.

 

Quick TV Sketching

One of the things I do to practice quick sketches is sketch while watching Sunrise Earth or sometimes just any show on TV.  Sometimes that’s as close as I get to watching TV.  It forces me to work quickly and not agonize over details.  Usually I just do ink sketches, but here’s a couple where I tried something different. Sometimes I’ll do little landscapes.  Other times, I’ll sketch random bits and pieces.

The sketch above was done in watercolor pencil.  It was a shoreline in Massachusetts or Maine, I forget which one. I like the sketch but the watercolor pencil didn’t work well for me.  I found myself spending more time on it than I wanted. But then I don’t use watercolor pencils that often so maybe it’s just an experience thing.

Watercolor worked much better.   I used my travel watercolor kit for the sketch above. I don’t have much time to think about colors or technique and sometimes I don’t  get a chance to finish what I’m sketching.  It’s a good change of pace from my usual sketching.

Just a Pepper

“Just a Pepper” – Sydney Harper
4 x 5 inches, watercolor

I was looking for something quick to paint. Then I remembered that I had bought some peppers at the farmers markets the other day. It was perfect for a quick little watercolor.  The paler yellow and green has a freshness about it that I like.

I have this big pack of small sample watercolor papers that I got from Daniel Smith years ago. Since the pack resurfaced recently, I’ll grab one of the sheets when I want to do a little watercolor sketch or practice painting.  This time I grabbed a piece of hot press watercolor paper. For some reason, I’ve never tried hot press paper before. I think I like the hot press better.  I’m not sure why I never tried it before. I may grab a few sheets of hot press the next time I buy paper.

Beautyberry

Beautyberry by Sydney Harper
watercolor, 5 x 5 inches

I have an American Beautyberry bush in the backyard that’s one of my favorites. It’s an ordinary shrub for most of the summer with small flowers that aren’t very showy.  This time of year is when it really shines. Right now it’s full of clusters of purple berries. Plus it’s practically indestructible. We have heavy clay soil and unusual weather patterns since I’ve planted it. One year it froze to the ground when we had a late spring hard freeze, but it sprouted back up. Plants have to be sturdy to survive in our yard.

I started this watercolor sketch outside one afternoon, got about halfway, and finished it inside. This summer has been crazy. Painting and drawing has come in fits and spurts. Things seem to be falling into a better routine now so I’m looking forward to more painting time.