Some more Train and Lunch Sketches: Fruits and Flowers

I did these sketches a few weeks ago, but somehow never got round to post them here. Actually, I've been very bad at blogging in general recently. Either I haven't got time to edit the photos, or the light is too bad for taking photos and I just can't get it right, or I just simply never get round to write up a post. 

But hopefully, this will all change from next month on. Because next month, I'll start a new job, and with the new job comes a much shorter daily commute (from up to two hours to under an hour one way), and a whole day off a week, which all means: much more time and energy to put into my art. And my blog.

It will also mean the end of my little TrainSketches. Although I hope to keep up the occasional lunch sketches. There's a lovely park sourrounding my new place of work, which I think would be nice for some fresh air and sketching. At least during summer. But we'll see.

So, here are a few of my latest train and lunch sketches. Some delicious kiwis, sketched in my lunchtime...

... some paisley and flower doodles, sketched during a couple of morning train rides, ...

... and the lovely lilies of the valley along the the main road on my way to work (I so will not miss having to walk or cycle from the station to the library in wind and weather, after having already spent 1 1/2 hours in various trains), sketched again in one of my lunch breaks.

And another thing on my to-do list for when I'll have more time is to finally give my blog its long overdue makeover. Can't wait to see it all fresh and new. It'll be a right energy boost, I'm sure.

Patient owls, and some sketches waiting for colour

This week's a bit of a mad week, and there hasn't been much space for painting, or rather, none at all. And I'm so behind with colouring in my lunch- and trainsketches. And I've neglected them a bit too, to be honest. But that was mainly because I spent my train journeys and lunch breaks with reading Harold Speed's The Practice and Science of Drawing. Written in 1917, but still a fascinating read, and a most inspiring one too. 

But anyway. I did a couple of lunchsketches in the past few days, and I found a finished sketch which I haven't blogged about yet. So these will have to do for today's Paint Party Friday. I was thinking about giving the party a miss altogether today, but to be honest, I could do with the "company". So here I am, with my row of colourful owls patiently waiting for news,...

 ... and a few sketches patiently waiting for colour.

I hope to have some time, and inspiration, to colour these sketches, and to do some painting too, over the weekend. But we'll see. I'll definitely try to visit as many blogs as possible, but my mind's a bit preoccupied at the moment, so I apologise in advance if I'm not going to do a very good job with keeping up. But I'll do my best.

Happy Paint Party Friday!

Waiting for spring

I'm still waiting for all the spring blossoms and flowers to bloom, so that I can sketch them, but spring's very slow this year, with too cold temperatures and winter weather well into April. So I've been looking for alternatives around me, like the ivy outside my office window, which has beautiful purple fruits.

I like to start my sketches, even the simplest ones, with a pencil. There have been quite a few of my fellow bloggers who have done/are doing pen only sketches, and I'm in awe of their skills. I still the need pencils at the moment, they feel save.

The sketch was done during my lunch time, and I'm always looking forward to adding some colour when I get home in the evening. Finally, I got to try out my new Koh-I-Noor watercolours, the latest addition of paints to try out to replace my expensive watercolour paints in my little sketchbooks. I'm really pleased with them, and the way they mix.

I'm quite pleased with the result, I have to say. It's not the usual quick sketch I'd normally do in this sketchbook, but then this is what I like about sketchbooks. They can contain whatever you want. From quick simple sketches to more elaborate studies. There's no theme, style, pattern to follow, no rules.

Linking this up to the marvellous Paint Party Friday. Make sure to have a look at all the talented artists who contribute to the party each week. It's always so inspiring. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

38 sketches - The first little sketchbook is already full

Yesterday, I posted my Project365 collage of the photos I took in February, but it wasn't just the only thing I completed - my first sketchbook is full too. 38 mostly Train-, a few Lunch-, and the odd SundaySketches.

I totally enjoyed doing these sketches these past 1 1/2 months. Drawing the outlines on the train early in the morning on the way to work, when I'm usually not yet fully awake enough to read, then adding colour in the evenings or weekends, and then adding more details with various pens the following morning on the train, or occasionally in the evenings, when the train wasn't too wobbly and/or crowded (I don't really like people watching me sketch).

I sketched different subject and designs. Flowers, patterns, objects that were lying around me... Sometimes I'd just draw something from imagination, sometimes from memory, sometimes I'd look for an image on the internet, and sometimes I copied something I came across in a book. The main purpose of these sketches was to get into the habit of sketching every day. I'd love to say that they are just quick little sketches, but they were actually a lot more time consuming that I thought they would be. But they are perfect exercises, and on top of that, give me a whole book, or books soon, of ideas to use as reference for bigger paintings.

The only downside was that, as the paper isn't watercolour paper, the paint would sometimes bleed through, ruining the paintings on the other side. But then again, these are just little sketches, not masterpieces, so they don't need to be perfect.

Of course I already begun working in a new sketchbook. If I go on like this, I'll have to order new sketchbooks again soon!

Linking up to the fabulous Paint Party Friday. Have a wonderful, creative weekend!

In my sketchbook: Commuters, flowers, glasses, and lots of pages waiting for colour

I seem to have a bit of a painting low at the moment. I just don't seem to find the time to spend a day, or even half a day at my desk or easel to get the acrylic paints out and do some 'proper' painting. Too much work, too much commuting, and a day trip up a mountain last Saturday sort of got in the way. But I've been keeping up my trainsketches, and even found a spare half hour on some evenings to add some colour. There's always time, even if it's just half an hour here and there.

With my long commute to work, almost 4 hours both ways, I spend a lot of time in trains. Those train journeys can be very relaxing, at times. Most of the days, I quite like my early morning journey. There aren't too many people on the train, so that I usually get a little compartment on my own, and it's usually dead quiet, because everyone's asleep. Outside the window, night changes into day, and I've got time and quiet to do my little sketches. But occasionally, my fellow travellers are just a pain, getting on my nerves big time. And the best outlet for one's frustrations is, of course - one's sketchbook.

I'd like to do a lot more sketching in my lunch break too, but working out in nowhere, in a small team, where everyone eats their lunch at the same time and at same table, I don't feel comfortable enough to do so. But occasionally, there's a day when I'm all on my own, and then I draw and use whatever is lying around on and around my desk, such as my glasses and some stencils we use to label boxes. Although I'm a winter girl, I'm looking forward to some warmer temperatures now, so that I can go outside for some sketching in my breaks.

Nature's one of my biggest sources for inspiration, and I like sketching flowers. Realistic flowers, imaginary flowers, doodle flowers - flowers in every form. These are more realistic, though I'm not sure what exactly they are supposed to be. They could be tulips, I guess. Sometimes, the boundaries between realistic and imaginary isn't that clear.

I've had more time for sketching in the morning than for adding colour to them these past 10 days, so I've now got a whole bunch of sketches that are waiting for colour. And I can't wait for the weekend to begin so that I can get the watercolour paints out. And hopefully there'll even be some time for the acrylics to come out on Sunday.

After having had to give it a miss last week, I'm linking up to the wonderful Paint Party Friday again today. Have a wonderful, creative weekend!