Virtual Sketch Date: April 2009

Rhododendron Bud
Watercolor, 7 x 5 inches

The reference for this month’s Virtual Sketch Date was a beautiful photo of a rhododendron bud provided by Jeanette Jobson. I decided to use watercolor and focus on the main rhododendron bud. I had fun doing this one. I would lay down a wash and then do some other things. Then I would come back and lay down another wash. So it was a relaxed, enjoyable painting.

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See all of my Virtual Sketch Date posts.

Turtle Point Alabama

Turtle Point is a country club along the Tennessee River in Killen, Alabama. I was there one dreary, misty morning for a baby shower. The river (and the country club grounds) was just beautiful so I walked around for a while taking pictures for use in paintings later.

Turtle Point
5 x 7 inches. Acrylic on painting board

This is a view up the river from the main country club building. I took some artistic liberties with the painting. In reality there is a boat dock and a small pier there. It was the rest of the view that interested me though.

There’s a lot that I like about this painting. This is another limited palette painting. Actually given a choice, I prefer limited palettes. If I have too many colors on my palette, I get caught up in the colors rather than the painting.

I’m still going through Stephen Quiller’s Color Choices. I had to smile at his comment at the beginning of Chapter 3. “I recommend doing many small studies before working large and going for your ‘masterpiece’! You can cover a lot more ground with a series of small examples rather than laboring over a large piece that, when finished, may or may not work.” I know I’m enjoying working on the small pieces and I don’t feel so bad when they flop.

Traveling Sketch Supplies

I decided to participate in ProBlogger’s 31 Day Challenge to Build a Better Blog. I had to travel to a trade show and then got swamped trying to catch up, so I’m a few days behind. The challenge for day 2 was to write a list post. Since I just got back from traveling, I thought I would show you my traveling sketch supplies. In addition to sketching, I’ll also use my sketchbook for jotting down notes and saving pictures of things I like. I’m pretty easy going with my sketching supplies though. I grab whatever is available.

1. Paper - I have an inexpensive Cachet sketchbook and usually my Moleskine watercolor journal too. The Cachet sketchbook is a little more all purpose than the watercolor journal.
2. Paint – I have a small refillable Holbein travel watercolor kit and a water brush. I’ve had the Holbein kit for many years. Their current version is much fancier. Sometimes I’ll also carry a few cheap brushes.
3. Pens – Currently I’m carrying a set of black Zig Millennium pens plus a cheap ballpoint pen.
4. Pencils – I usually have several pencils – a soft one, a hard one and one of my favorite Ebony jet black pencils. I also have a click eraser, a kneaded eraser stored in a pill carrier, a paper stump, a sand paper pad, and a pencil sharpener.
5. Miscellaneous Supplies – The small ruler is for those times when I want to make sure I draw a straight line or just to measure something. Often I’ll cut out interesting items and paste them into my sketchbook so I take along scissors and a glue stick. I also take along a teeny tiny stapler and roll of tape, mostly because they’re so darn cute. But they have come in handy for meetings when someone needs a piece of tape or a staple.
6. Not shown – Sometimes I’ll also take along a small set of colored pencils or a small set of watercolor pencils.

That’s it! If I want to travel really light, I’ll just take my Cachet sketchbook, a pen, a pencil and a click eraser.