This month I’ve returned to sketching more birds, which is something I’ve missed, and continued my mammal studies. I’ve also introduced a bit of gouache painting into my sketchbook, which I haven’t done in a long time – gouache is opaque watercolor, and it can be combined with watercolors very well. In fact, all I did was add a bit of gouache white to my regular paints.
If you prefer a video of this sketchbook tour, click here:
If you can’t see the video link, click here to watch the video.
Sketch of a kinglet, one of the tiniest birds in Europe. I tried to keep this sketch looser than the bird portraits I usually make, and I actually filmed the process – here’s the video if you want to take a look.
The first days of January also marked the beginning of a new sketchbook for me. I like to make weather thumbnail sketches on the first (and sometimes last pages) of the sketchbook – as warmup exercises, relaxation, and to document the sky. Shown here are the weather thumbnails sketches from the old sketchbook.
In the new sketchbook, I experimented a bit with a new idea: portraits of herbs and edible plants. I’m not sure yet where I will take these but it’s fun thinking about this – I haven’t done any personal projects around a set topic in a while. On the opposite page, a fieldfare drawn in ink with a bit of watercolor on top. These guys hang around in the garden and the parks right now, like every winter.
Another species that’s very common here – squirrels. I love watching their quirky behavior and sketched one in ink (on top of pencil) and added a bit of color later. The hind leg of a horse with the bone structure on the opposite.
I’ve been sketching while watching documentaries (which is an excellent tip if you want to sketch animals, but can’t get outside), so here we have another spread with a wild cat and a fox. I made these quick sketches with colored pencil, which is very soft and nice to draw with, and forces you to decide on one line (it often doesn’t erase very well). I ended up painting one cat in gouache, which took me longer than I wanted. I added a bit of colored pencil on top to show the markings in the pelt.
More fox studies – apparently foxes can hear mice under the snow cover, so they make these funny-looking jumps and go with their head first into deep snow. I tried sketching this on the second page. It’s not easy to draw moving targets, but luckily, you can rewind and pause. I’m still training to draw these scenes directly without pausing too much – it’s hard, but very rewarding. On the right, two small color studies of a fox on toned paper, I made a quick video for one of them.
The jays have come to the garden the other day and I’ve watched them for quite a while and sketched a bit (ink on top of pencil with white highlights). I used a reference for the large head portrait, and I really like how the combination of inked lines with diluted ink on top turned out, especially the different values I got out of the ink. Since I got rid of a lot of my inks (see this post about my shopping ban) I have enjoyed the few inks that I’m left with, and used them more. This one is a waterproof sepia ink that I use with my dip nib. It’s almost black when used with a drawing nib, but turns to a lovely warm brown when you dilute it and spread it with a brush.
This is what I’ve been up to in my sketchbook in January, I hope you’ve enjoyed the tour. I’ve definitely enjoyed exploring more techniques lately that laid dormant for a while. Let me know if there are topics you’d like to hear more about!
We do enjoy the wildlife in our area. Our Corgi always looks for voles under the snow and acts just like the fox acts. It is fun to watch as she does not hurt them. She wags her tail like they are her little friends. I do love your painting.
Thank you Marilyn! What a nice dog you have!
I really enjoyed seing your sketchbook, Julia. I loved the foxes on tone paper. Adding white behind one of them made him pop out ! Here (south shore suburb of Montreal), we had over 75 cm of snow falling in less than for days and I thought that the squirrels would not find the peanuts I gave them before it snowed. On the third morning, I had the surprise of discover all the peanut scales on the top of the snowbank near my door ! They had smell them ! I heard a squirrel can smell the peanuts they have been hiding up tom40 cm below the snow. So, it’s true !
Have a beaut Week-end, Julia
Christiane
Your squirrels have good noses! I’d love to have some snow here, but we already have spring greens and flowers out…
Very beautiful and inspiring
Thank you Laura!