Some new techniques, and some more daily sketching

I've learnt some exciting new techniques this week. I'm taking the new Sketchbook Skool course at the moment, and while I found all of the classes and lessons very inspiring, I especially loved this week's class. Because of the ideas and techniques that are not your "usual" drawing and sketching stuff. I especially loved the transfer techniques, creating more unusual and expressive lines.

If only there wasn't the oil paint medium issue for one of the transfer techniques! The one I used (and that was supposed to be odourless) made my eyes water and gave me a headache for hours, as the smell lingered on in my home, until I took everything outside to throw away. I have to experiment more with this and find something that works better.

I'm also continuing my (almost) daily sketching practice. There's so many things I'm doing at the moment, another online class (that hasn't got anything to do with drawing or painting, but is very exciting too) that are taking up my time at the moment, but there's always 10 minutes to squeeze in, in the evening or in my lunch break. I went to the cafeteria and the main library this week.

The one below was also inspired by a Sketchbook Skool class. I was thrilled to see that Felix Scheinberger was a teacher in this course, and I totally enjoyed his watercolour lessons and watching him paint. I've always loved watercolours but more often than not felt frustrated with them. This year, I'm finally learning how to use them. Well, I'm determined to, anyway.

Stamp carving and a little pattern on a rainy Sunday afternoon

Even if I haven't done it very much, I love carving stamps. It's such a nice process. Drawing your design first, either directly on to your stamp block or first on a piece of paper and then transfering it on to the block, and then slowly carving off all the excess linoleum, until your design emerges. And then the first test stamp to see how it all turns out. Some more refinements, until you're happy. And what a joy when it turned out quite well.

I really like how this one turned out. It was just a quick one, drawing the leaf directly on to the (inked) block, and the carving didn't take more than 10 minutes. Of course the time depens on whether you want just the lines to stand out and the rest white (like I did with my Christmas card stamp, which took a lot longer), or the other way round, like here, which is a lot quicker. The first option allows you to colour your desin in with, for example watercolours, while with the second option, the colours comes from the ink you stamp with, and gives the whole a much more printy look.

And of course the good thing with having carved a stamp is, that you can use it again and again and again. And also create some nice patterns too.

I definitely want to spend more time making my own stamps. I'm thinking of doing a little series of different leaves. Which I think means another lunch time trip to the art shop, as I've only got very few stamp blocks left. Yay!

Sketching, style, and doing it anyway

I've been sketching a lot recently. I'm trying to sketch every day, in my lunch break when I'm at work and in the evenings at home. Daily, if possible. Here's some of my latest drawings.

I live in a small town, there's a few shops but not too many since the big city (well, it's big for Switzerland, anyway) is very close. But for some reason, we have a Dutch shop. And it's been there for years. And last week, during my holiday, I finally went there. And got some of those lovely sprinkles to put on your bread. I remember them fondly from when I was a child and always got a slice of bread with sugar or sprinkles from the Dutch mum of my friend on the way to school. And they taste as delicious as they did back then.

I found this little travel box of mini water soluble coloured pencils in one of the department stores and of course I couldn't resist. They're perfect for adding a bit of colour to a sketch and fit into my pencil case, together with all my other pens and pencils that I take with me.

Back at work after the holiday, I didn't feel too happy and motivated about it, so I went to the nearby art shop to get some new materials during my lunch break to cheer me up. And of course I had to draw them all too. They had run out of the converters for the Art Pen, so I'm using the normal cartridges until I can get one. And since the ink isn't waterproof, I'm now making the best of that, and I'm really liking the results. A quick and easy way to add a bit of depth and shadow.

I find sketching among people, and especially sketching people among people, really hard. But it's something I'm pushing myself to do. And the university's cafeteria is a good place for that. So there I sit in my lunch break, looking for victims to quickly sketch while trying to avoid anyone noticing. I wanted to add a snippet of conversation, but it was so noisy that I couldn't make out any words at all. So I used the quote from my daily quote's app, and I think it is quite a fitting one. Then a large group of people crowded around the table next to mine and got far too close for comfort, and I decided to leave. But at least I had my sketch for the day done.

I've been thinking a lot about style when it comes to drawing and painting. And I know I'm not alone with this. I think it's a natural thing to do. But if it gets to the point that you're overthinking the whole thing and it actually keeps you from drawing or painting at all, then it's definitely a problem. I'm sure that even the accomplished sketchers and painters we admire sometimes struggle with this issue. I know for sure that some do, and, seeing their work, I would never in my have dreams have thought that sometimes, they feel exactly the same as me. But what they managed to do is to embrace and accept their style, and to just go on and do it anyway. So that's what I'm trying to do now too. Don't think, just sketch...

Hand lettering, and a trip to the alps

I've always liked drawing words and adding them to my sketches. A few years ago, I even took some calligraphy classes. Yet, handlettering is, in many ways, new to me, and something I want to explore more.

Above my new mantra, to remind me to not allow expectation, and the ensuing frustration, to take over.  I've started to take my sketchbook to work again, and to try and sketch in my lunch breaks as much as possible. There's only one weapon to fight the deadly pair - practice.

I'm enjoying a week's holiday this week. Since N had to work over Christmas and New Year, and we couldn't spend the holidays together, he came over this week for my birthday. We're taking it easy, relax and just go to the city or for walks. But on Wednesday, we set the alarm clock and got up early to spend the day in the mountains. We headed to the Berner Oberland, first to the picturesque village of Wengen, with its lovely wooden chalets and a view of the highest of the majestic trio, the Jungfrau.

 

Then we took the train up to the Kleine Scheidegg. Even up here, at 2,061m altitude, it was warm, especially in the sun, but at least there was plenty of snow. We spent some time lying in deck chairs, sipping tea and enjoying the sun. It was just absolutely perfect. From here, you can take the train to go up to the Jungfraujoch, also called Top of Europe, at 3,466m (we're saving that trip for another time).

There is no doubt that a trip up to the Jungfraujoch is an absolute highlight for many people, and I still rememer the ice caves up there from when I was a child, over 30 years ago.

But the most impressive view must be the infamous Eiger north face. That 1,800m almost vertical wall of rock and ice, one of the most dangerous and difficult ascents, which has attracted, fascinated and challenged many climbers, and claimed the lives of at least 64 of them since the first attempts of ascent in the mid 1930. I have to say, it's a complete mistery to me how anyone would even consider the thought of trying and climb up that mountain face! I much rather enjoy the view from the bottom.

We then took the train down the other side, to Grindelwald and walked around there for a bit before, tired but happy, taking the long journey back home. One of my intentions for this year is to take the occasional trip up to the mountains, something I haven't done for far too long. And this trip certainly was a good strat. Mountains are just good for my soul.

A day spent high up in the mountains and the snow - me, I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday.

Eiger (3,970m), Mönch (4,107m) and Jungfrau (4,158m)

A perfect Sunday

Last Sunday was just the perfect day for staying at home. And what a perfect way to start the day, after a 30 min Yoga practice, with some painting and a fairy tale. There's a whole series of Grimm's fairy tales made by German television in the past few years, and I recently discovered that you can watch most of them online on their website.

My pile of 25x25 squares is slowly growing. I've already finished six of them, which is twice as much as the one-a-week I had planned to do. But then I'm sure there'll be weeks when I won't be able to paint one at all. And in the end, it doesn't really matter how many I do anyway. The point is to practice. They're like sketchbook pages. Not really finished pieces, although, of course, they can be that too. More or less finished, with sometimes just a a few charcoal sketches and nothing else.

And while I was adding some snowflakes to my paiting, outside, it was snowing too.

Unfortunately, it is already getting warmer again, and the snow is quickly melting away. And next week, the temperatures are going up even more again, well over 0 degrees. What a mad winter.

A visual library of sorts, and some snow

I can't believe we're already in the middle of January. Time seems to be both standing till and running at the same time. The beginning of a new year is always a bit of a strange time, I find. A bit quiet, a bit restless, like when you arrive in a strange town for the first time and have yet to figure out your way around. But also quite cosy, and perfect for staying at home in the warm, curl up on the sofa with a hot water bottle, a warm woolly blanket and a hot chocolate. And of course also for spending time in the studio.

I painted two more of my 25x25 squares. The first one didn't quite turn out as I wanted, but I didn't yet want to work on fixing it, so I just started another one. That's the good thing with those. You can just try something out, and then take certain elements and use them again, and again, and see what you can do with them. I imagine it like a library of ideas, images, patterns, that you can refer back to whenever you want/need some ideas. A growing library of references, hopefully. So even the ones that go wrong can still contain some useable elements, and therefore deserve a place in stacks.

I'm happy to say that by now, the snow has not only arrived in my painting, but also outside. It's only a very thin layer yet, but it's a start. Now just keep coming, snow, keep coming!

No expectations, no pressure, just fun and play

New year, new goals, dreams, intentions. One of them is to blog more often, and here we are, already a week into the new year, and I haven't posted anything until today. But I'm also keeping one of my biggest intentions in mind, that of letting go of expectations, of the pressure I tend to put myself under. In life, in my art, in everything. And instead to just do the job, as good as I can.

I want to spend a lot more time in my studio this year, and to figure out where I want to go with my art. But most of all to just paint. Without expectations. And to help me take the pressure off things, I've come up with a little project or challenge for myself. A little 25x25cm painting on paper, just to explore, experiment and learn. One a week. Of course it can be more than just one a week, and it's not the only thing I want to do, but - no pressure. Last weekend I did the first one. She turned out a lot more pink than I expected, but that's alright too. After all, the whole point of this exercise is to let go and have fun. A pure practice and learning experience.

I've been reading a lot of complaints on social media about the weather some are experiencing at the moment - cold and snow. And how they feel they are/have been born in the wrong place. Well, I certainly feel that too. But the other way round, as I am made for snow and low temperatures, but unfortunately, we're not having any of it here at the moment. Being up in the alps, going for a walk in the early morning, the crisp cold snow scrunching under your feet. The air so cold that with every inbreath, the hair in your nose slightly freeze together. The first rays of the sun appearing behind the mountaintop, transforming the thick layer of snow into a carpet of sparkling diamonds. Coming home with your cheeks red and burning from the cold, warming yourself with a big mug of steaming hot chocolate, before going out again to spend more time in the beautiful winter wonderland.

How I miss the alps. And winter. After that terrible summer (that's my definition) of 4 months of sunshine day after the day, and temperatures well above 30 degrees C, I think I deserve a proper winter now. But temperatures are still closer to 10 than to 0, and there's no snow in sight. But I haven't given up hope of Sunday walks in the snow yet. And another of my intentions for this year is to go on the one or other day trips to the mountains this year.