This is going to be a long sketchbook tour, since it will cover almost half a year of sketching. Almost, because due to my long break in winter. I’ve already shared a few of the pages here and there on the blog, and some will also feature in my upcoming class Creative Habits.
Last autumn, I sketched a lot of what I call small collections. These are small quick sketches that don’t take up a lot of time, and can be combined on one page or double page. I often group them a bit by theme (seed pods, weather), but I also enjoy mixed collections. These pages offer a stress-free way to start or continue my daily sketching, because they don’t require complex layouts or lots of time. In October, I sketched a lot of seedpods and wilting flowers, focusing on pencil and just a bit of color here and there.
Sometimes it’s also rewarding to look at one subject from several angles, and then I do whole study pages. In this case, I had picked dahlias and borage, and was intrigued by the complex shapes and the different textures: the lush colorful flowers in full bloom and the textural hairy stems of borage, some flowering, some with empty seedpods. I enjoyed the pencil parts much more than the watercolor, I don’t think I showed the value contrast as well. But it was a very enjoyable page for me to sketch.
I focused even more on pencil only sketches, again with small items that I found in November. It’s surprising how much three-dimensionality you can show in a sketch by just adding a bit of contrast.
I reintroduced a bit of color for the bird studies of this goldcrest. I honestly can’t remember if I even saw this bird or just wanted to sketch it. They’re quite rare around here, one of the smallest birds in Europe.
After one of our walks I did a more elaborate watercolor study of a bridge in the landscape park Wilhelmshöhe here in Kassel, and sketched the sheep that we saw there.
Here is a page of tests for my (then + still now) upcoming course Creative Habits, again sketching small collections in color this time. It feels a bit weird to publish a course that’s sort of winter-themed, but I couldn’t have known that I will be out of commission for such a long time. Collecting small stuff outside and doing the sketches was fun, and I really like the turquoise shadows – a result of me using the Kremer landscape palette.
I sketched a sparrow and ivy for my review of my grandma’s fountain pen and ballpoint pen set. Again, it was really fun to focus on lineart only.
I switched to a new sketchbook for the sketching and recording of my course, and incidentally this first page was the last that I sketched before my surgery. I didn’t pick up a brush for over one month.
At the end of January, the first thing I sketched was the view from the hospital room. I was at home by then, but it felt fitting somehow. I love the winter sky and I think I actually did this sketch with the small Cotman skyscape kit that’s depicted at the bottom of the page. This was my sketching kit for the physical rehab.
I took some leg warmers with me and thought it would be fun to sketch them. I almost ran out of steam with the patterns, but the purple shadow was fun to add.
You already know my rehab sketches, so I’ll just refer to that post again.
And then it was suddenly spring, and I was able to take walks again and enjoy nature waking up. I love the time of the year when the cherry trees are in bloom, and I sketched them again this year. I also added the emerging leaves of the horse chestnut and the head of a sheep we encountered in the park.
None of these were sketched on location, because I’m still not strong enough for anything like that right now. So I usually enjoy the moment, focus on walking, and snap a few photos that I can use as reference. It may take a while before I can do longer sittings again, especially outside.
Since spring has arrived, I’ve remembered how much I enjoy botanical sketching and focusing on the beautiful shapes and colors of spring blossoms. And when I’m too tired for anything else, I just paint a few color swatches. It’s like creating a color and light reference for that day, or season.
I hope you enjoyed this sketchbook tour!
To me it felt like a guide out of winter and into spring. I also felt way more emotional than usual to look back, because of course I know what I went through in the last few months. To me, continuing to fill this sketchbook is a sign of regained strength and creativity, and it also shows what I’ve grown particularly interested in: more pencil work, light and looser washes, in the spirit of the technique I like to call loose but precise.
I’ve been struggling with defining where I want my art to go a lot in the last year, and to me this was a sign that all my convoluted thinking actually resulted in visible changes in my sketching.
On to the next sketching adventures!
Beautiful sketches, thank you. Wishing you a great recovery.
Thank you Wendy!
Julia,
You have created absolutely the most beautiful pages. Your work is awesome. When you work thru a page do you sketch it all out first and then add colour or do you complete single individual pieces at a time on each page? However you compile your sketchbook, it’s absolutely lovely!
Thank you so much Sandy! It depends a bit: For pages like the dahlias I did the entire page in pencil first and then decided to add color, for pages where I add a bit each day (like the small collections) I usually complete the individual pieces bit by bit. But I often go through my half-finished-looking pages and add notes afterwards. It’s something I tend to forget when I draw.
Hi Julia, I hope you continue to recover well.
Your blog and sketches are so inspiring and soothing at the same time. I think what you have done is to show that sometime simplicity of observation and sketching can be very rewarding without being too challenging, and therapeutic both physically and mentally. From your experience and your reflective blogs recently I’m learning to slow down and concentrate on observing what I see to sketch. Thank you so much. Enjoy the summer!
Mike
Thank you so much Mike! Yes, that is what it very often feels like for me, and I enjoy this deliberate state of slowness (if you can call it that).
Goldcrests are really gorgeous little birds. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a good view of them without scaring them away on a few occasions and they’re great to just sit and watch. I don’t know very much about birds in Germany (I’m from Scotland) it would be interesting to hear what you find to be the most common birds around you. Also I really love that watercolour of the bridge, it feels quite Tolkienesque.
That sounds wonderful, Tom! I think I’ve actually seen them once in the wild. They are so small.
I don’t keep a list, so off the top of my head:
The most common birds in my immediate surroundings (in the city) are big tits, blue tits, house sparrows, woodpigeons and blackbirds. Also jays, crows, magpies, woodpeckers and robins. Sometimes thrushes (depending on the season), chaffinches, blackstarts. Starlings, different geese, cormorants, ducks, herons and swans near the water. White storks. Canada geese are a recent addition, they are bullying all the other birds.
Out in the field I sometimes see skylarks, goldhammers, bullfinches, shrikes, often ravens and red kites, the occasional kestrel. I’m sure I’m forgetting some. :)
Hi Julia, I hope you make a full recovery and take plenty of time to rest. Your painting and sketches are beautiful. I love the Goldcrest! We get them in the UK but they’re difficult to spot. Take care of yourself and thank you for sharing your work.
Thank you Pauline, I really appreciate your kind words! :) Yes they’re such small (and cute) birds, I wish they were more common.
Julia,
Your sketchbook pages are like a gentle invitation to slow down (eine sanfte Einladung zur Entschleunigung). Thank you very much for sharing. Your sketches are encouraging, inspiring and beautiful. Best wishes for your continued recovery and wellbeing!
Thank you dear Laura! I like this thought very much, I need to remember myself to slow down, too.
Hi Julia, I admire your drawings and paintings, they are stunning! It is a special pleasure since I also enjoyed some of these flowers this winter, so thank you for your sketchbook tour! I really like your style as an artist.
I wish you all the best for your recovery (and I will send you an e-mail :) ) Best, Jasmin
Thank you dear Jasmin! What a coincidence you saw the same flowers. :) Looking forward to your email, but don’t stress yourself!
Awh, so ever lovely. A chick-full of pages filled beautiful sketches. Hiw inspiring, thank you Julia.
Thank you so much Roksanna!
Hola Julia, me alegra mucho tu recuperación, que salgas y veas el reventar de la primavera. Me encantan tus dibujos. Aquí tb hay goldcrest, los llamamos Reyezuelos, son verdaderamente pequeños. Las ovejas me encantan y me animan a atreverme con ellas. Bueno saludos y sigue poniéndote fuerte. Un abrazo .
Thank you so much, dear Marta! Amazing little birds and such a beautiful name you have for them in Spanish! :)
Beautiful sketches. I’m only been drawing since October and just starting watercolors but I get so much inspiration from your post. Thanks for sharing. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Beautiful and inspiring sketches! I love the idea of small collections. I love the purple and turquoise shadows too.
Thank you so much for your sketchbook tour, much more pleasing to the eyes than Friday night television!
I am nowhere near your accuracy in sketching birds, but your goldcrest intrigued me, especially when Marta Perez recognized it and called it reyezuelos. I’m guessing “reye” in reyezuelos is for king in Spanish; this bird resembles Regulus satrapa very closely. In California we call Regulus satrapa golden crowned kinglets, and they usually fly here from Washington or Oregon during our wet winter months.
Also I loved your trees in bloom. The sketches motivate me to get outside and try again.
Good catch, Janet. The German name translates as something like “small golden winter rooster” (which sounds a bit absurd). The North American kinglets have a spectacular crown! Now I want to observe those little guys even more badly. Bernd Heinrich (who lives on the East coast) wrote about them in one of his books that they need to search for food constantly, especially in winter, or they can lose so much weight within hours that it’s fatal. I think it’s in his book about nature in winter. Good thing your West coast kinglets migrate to California!
efectivamente, el reyezuelo que llamamos en España es el Regulus Regulus. hay varias subespecies del Regulus el vuestro el sátrapa, es precioso tiene la cresta más doradita. Un saludo desde Cantabria, España.
Hi Julia, thanks for sharing your lovely works of art in your sketchbook tour. As others have mentioned, you are a big inspiration to us!
I live in Australia and the seasons are opposite to the seasons in the northern hemisphere, so we are coming into winter soon. The winters are relatively mild in most parts of the country and there is usually birds and other wildlife active and I hope to continue my sketching throughout winter.
You mentioned your upcoming Creative Habits course, do you have any tentative dates for this course?
Hi Peter, thank you! I’m always fascinated by the Australian fauna and flora, and it’s lovely being able to sketch outside all year round. Funnily enough the new course has lots of demos centered around winter – dried seedpods and wilted leaves and wintery landscapes, so it feels a bit strange to publish it now. But then I’m reminded that for half the globe it’s just the right timing, and it doesn’t really matter at all in the end. Anyway, the course will come next week! :)
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing your process. It is inspirational and helps to motivate me. I hope you continue to have a healthy recovery!
Julia, I love your sketches, particularly the birds. You do such a beautiful job. So glad you’re on the mend. Looking forward to more posts!
Eileen
Julia, I am new to sketching and find your posts very inspiring. As others have noted, sketching encourages you to slow down and look at the tiny details of plants and animals. For example, your suggestion to sketch a flower from multiple angles opens up a whole new world. Thank you for making this world a better place by sharing your talents. Wishing you all the best.
Robert
Gosh such beauty in your sketchbook pages, a real tonic for the dreary rainy day here today. Seeing those leg warmers made my jaw drop! Quite an accomplishment I’d say to tackle so much change in shapes and colors. One row at a time, though, I suspect, gets you there. Interesting to hear what sounds like a renewed interest in pencil work. As I flip through my own sketchbooks, I often pause on the pencil sketches, realizing I like them best in spite of the fact that I’m always wanting to add color to my sketches. I wonder what’s up with that! Wishes for your continued recovery and a return to sketching out in the wild. <3
Hello dear Miss Julia !
Loved your SB tour, with your adorable ‘little birdies’, and especially the way you are doing your “lighter, looser” washes. I am definitely going to try that lovely effect in my upcoming faery artwork. Is there something different you do or change to produce that gradiated-wash result?
I have noticed that (unless we bury ourselves in the darkness of the pain we have experienced) there is almost always an up-side to our suffering – a gift, a furthering, a blessing. The more clarity we carry within ourselves, the greater that counter-balancing impact can have on us. You are a great example of that in the way you always assess your life situations and allow them to bring you to a higher understanding. You encourage us = you show the way to place ‘courage-en/in’ us).
Thanks for being the brave and honest soul you are – a true Warrior Princess. :-)
Beautiful work in your sketchbooks Julia – I especially love your leg-warmers!