Watercolour Sketch - Val di Chio

Watercolour Val di Chio, Tuscany - 8am

A quick watercolour sketch made on my morning walk. It was Walk 29 this morning but my unpaid personal trainer, Cath has taken off to the seaside so I took my sketching stool, waterbrush and a small tin of paints along instead.

I've joined Sketchercise - an inspiring group of people who like to walk and sketch, started by Katherine Tyrrell of Making a Mark. I suggest you read Katherine's blog about it here. Quite a lot of friends have joined up already.

Oh, and I've also joined Twitter - is there no end to my foolish enthusiasm?!

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.

Sketching in Val di Chio

Lamy pen and wash with W&N Sepia ink

This week Sarah and I walked and sketched along the Old Mills Trail in the Val di Chio. Sarah has a post graduate interest in the ancient Etruscan waterways of the valley and her art is influenced by all things Etruscan.

Sarah sketching

Sadly we didn't find any old mills still standing but we did find grape vines growing in the traditional manner wrapped around the trunks of maples.

Lamy pen & watercolour - Canson 17.5 x 24 cm sketchbook

I'm still having trouble getting anything but very diluted colour with my waterbrush. Next time I think I 'll try the coloured pencil approach inspired by Katherine Tyrrell's lovely drawing in a vineyard not far from here.

Old stone structure in Val de Chio

I had to balance on a rock in the stream to take the photo above, so I didn't risk a sketch.

All sketches look a little drab here because I've had to scan the sketches because the light isn't great for photographs at the moment. Does anyone else have disappointing results with scans?