Lake District Sky Studies

Lake District Sky - Sunday
Watercolour on Paper
18cm x 11.5cm (7" x 4.5")

Elaine and I spent last weekend in the Lake District at the beginning of my Brother Adrian’s month long birthday celebrations.

The weather was unexpectedly good – so good and so unexpected I managed to get sun burnt in northern England in the first week of April.

Lake District Sky - Saturday
Watercolour on Paper
18cm x 15cm (7" x 6")

The skies on this post are a tribute to the weekend. I painted them both using my favourite cloudy sky technique:

Paint the cloud shapes on to dry paper with a very pale dirty orange. Add some shadows with dirty purples and greens. Paint around them with blue, varying the colour a bit and lightening it towards the bottom. It’s simple, forgiving and reasonably effective.

I painted both skies as the background for bigger paintings, but in both cases I botched the main subject and ended up cropping the skies to keep them for reference.

March 2015 Sketches

Parsley
5 March 2015
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A6 Graduate Sketchbook
14.9cm x 10.5cm (5.9" x 4.1")

I am a quarter of the way through the challenge to draw on every day in 2015. Time flies when you are having fun.

Wooden Flower
2 March 2015
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 29.7cm (8.25" x 11.75")

I am getting better at not spending too much time deciding what to draw. I try to choose subjects that have some relevance to what I've done during the day. If nothing comes to mind, I just pick something.

Peace Lily Leaf
27 March 2015
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A6 Graduate Sketchbook
10.5cm x 14.9cm (4.1" x 5.9")

Leaves are one of my favourite subjects. You get all the enjoyment of detailed observation and modelling without having to go overboard with highly accurate measurements.

Ironing - Honey I'm Home
30 March 2015
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
29.7cm x 21.0cm (11.75" x 8.25")

This month I've realised the importance of fixative. When I am at home, I usually spray each drawing as soon as it is finished. Unfortunately, I didn't pack any fixative for my recent trip to Chicago. On a number of days I spoilt the previous day’s drawing by rubbing my hand through it as I drew or shaded.

Water Spray
4 March 2015
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook
149mm x 210mm (5.9" x 8.3")