Sketching Weather

View from my desk

Finally we have sketching weather!

Moleskine watercolour sketchbook

Cheap Moleskine copy

These cheap bo0ks are available at the supermarket, and while the paper is the same colour as the Moleskine sketchbook it is very thin and dulls down the watercolour. Its major advantage is that I sketch in it with great freedom because it isn't a 'good' sketchbook.

Both sketches were done en plein air with watercolours, Lamy fountain pen & water brush. I really will attempt something more ambitious soon but at least I'm getting out there at last.

House on the Hill

Long before we decided to buy in Tuscany, even though HWEM had been lobbying from the moment we arrived, I fell in love with a little house on the hill. When we walked the dogs, I used to point at it behind the wall and say 'If I were going to live here, that's the house I'd want. After we bought our apartment, the garden of which backs on to the wall, I realised it was directly in front of 'my' house on the hill. My pointing finger was obviously off target!

Today I rugged up and took my sketchbook out to the top of the garden and sketched the view in pencil. By the time I finished sketching my bum was starting to feel numb so I retreated to my 'studio' to add the watercolour. I hope it's a sign that I am becoming more adventurous and will spend more time sketching and painting en plein air this year. The detail of all the foliage and terracotta usually overwhelms me. I think the time I've spent this month trying to learn from the marks of Van Gogh, has made me a bit more confident and much less literal.