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Sunday, November 12, 2023

Evolving

 

Brush pen and watercolor on MD Midori paper

It’s been 3 months since my last post, so what’s been happening lately? Well, I’m slowly transitioning from sketching to journaling, as you can see this sketch of Heihei in one of the pages of my journal. 

Have you ever asked yourself the question where the last years of your life have gone? I did. I can remember some important events but barely remember the year, I was wondering where all this time has gone! Sketching is a form of recording some time of my life, it has helped me to remember.

I started journaling in July this year. Every single day until today I have written about what have happened in my day, even if nothing happened, there are always thoughts, ideas or plans I can write about. At the beginning I was writing everything, I realized the page was overwhelming to read, therefore I now write only about one or two relevant subjects to avoid the mental clutter.


There has been a need to write and express myself through sketches, that’s how this blog started, but I discovered journaling and it has taken me to another fascinating world away from digital media.

It has brought me to more tangible, tactile world. I love paper and from there I knew more about journaling papers, fountain pens, inks, stamping, stickers, decorative tapes, and ephemera, I even got a couple of compact photo printers with self stick paper. I now add photos of my interest to my journal, this way I can take a glance to key moments in my life. That’s an improvement I would say, seeing some photos in my journal is better that none in my memory card. I am even writing letters on paper, some with photos, and sending them by snail mail!

Here I’m sharing a sketch made with color brush pens and watercolor on MD Midori paper to follow the line of this blog about sketches mostly. 

So as you can see, I’m not sharing online the deepest thoughts in my journal, just this page. I consider journaling a way to express art as well, I’m avoiding at all cost being stuck in one form and getting bored. I’m evolving, change is welcome and I’m loving it. Try it! You will love it too.


Tuesday, August 22, 2023

The fruit of her labor.

Mixed media on 7 in x 7 in CP Watercolor Paper

 It’s that time off the year in which my neighbor shares with people what vegetable plants and herbs she grows in in her backyard. I’ve been enjoying the fruit of her labor the whole month of August. She calls me and asks me if I want veggies which I always gladly accept. Once I made pizza Margherita from scratch, it came out  so DE.LI.CIOUS that I had to share it with her.  And it was because of the fresh ingredients, the perfume and flavor of basil is so strong!

In the sketch above I shows what she gave me today, beefstake tomatoes, basil and two types of peppers. She does this every year, 

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Two birds with one stone, visit to Seattle.

 I had two purposes of my visit to Seattle, one was to visit our relatives and two, attending the Sketcher Fest in Edmonds. For that I took only one sketchbook. An A6 HP watercolor paper. All images here are made with ink and watercolor.


We stayed at the house of our relatives, they have huge trees in their front yard, probably hundreds of years old. They been telling us for years that we should visit the North Cascades National Park, it is one of those parks not so much visited but it is worth the trip. We had such a good weather! I sketched the two main overlooks, no photograph or sketch makes it any justice, it’s something one should see in person to grasp the magnitude of it all, it’s breathtaking.


Passing the chain of mountains, we stayed at a relative’s yurt, how could you not sketch this, I had to record this experience.

I attended the Sketcher Fest in Edmonds on the weekend. Saturday I joined the first sketch walk group, they took us to the Olympic Beach where the Edmonds-Kingston Ferry dock is.

Some one took a video and I took a screen shot of truly yours sketching the scene above.

Image by @sandyallnock

Next day I had a good chat with Alvin Wong, who kindly offered to take a pic of us.


I said hello to Gabi, Stephanie Bower, James Richards, Virginia Hein, Rita Sabler, Eleanor Doughty and Nishant Jain, who made a demo sketch of my sister-in-law as a response to a question of mine, how sweet!

Finally I made I sketch of a corner in the neighborhood were I stayed. This tree was in the corner of a street cross, at the edge of stone wall but I didn’t see the roots. Where are they? How this huge thing lives like that?


My trip was joyful, I also enjoyed canoeing in the lake Washington, couldn’t take a photo, at risk of losing the phone and couldn’t sketch either, I was paddling!

The program








Saturday, June 24, 2023

Bare minimal sketching kit

 


I don’t know you my fellow sketchers, but over the years, I’m sure we are all in the same boat when I say that we have tried different sketching materials for multiple reasons. After having used a fair number of sketchbooks, watercolor palettes, pens and other goodies, my ultimate goal is to reduce my sketching gear to the bare minimal, the “to go” kit. Yes, I’m still looking to reach that point, after many years of sketching. My hopes are high to see if this will be it. 

One of the last sketchbooks I tried was the Hahnemühle A6 100% cotton. This sketchbook is bigger that other A6 popular sketchbook brands. I loved the size. I filled this sketchbook faster that others that I haven’t finished and started first!


So I made lay flat binding sketchbooks like the Hahnemühle size with material that I had at home. I used Japanese book cloth and paper, 0.06 board, Hot Press Stonehenge Aqua watercolor paper. The sketchbooks have 20 sheets or 40 pages. I rounded the corners also.

This beautiful Japanese paper is supposed to be resistant to wearing. I used a plastic cover to protect previous sketchbooks made with this very same paper, but I didn’t want to do the same for these new ones. Soooo, I copied the Midori  (Traveler’s Notebook) system to protect the new sketchbook and carry it comfortably and made it to this specific size. I cut a piece of leather, sealed some plastic to hold the slim palette and plan to carry one line maker (either pencil or pen) and a water brush, that’s it.

This is how it looks. I hope this is it. 😉








Learning to make paste paper

 I’ve never heard of paste paper before. With a few online tutorial videos I thought this creative project could be fun. I used what I had at hand, copy and stock paper, corn starch and acrylic paint, the one is used for crafts.

First I made the paste of corn starch in water 1:10. Let it cool, it was a little warm when I used, and added about 1 to 2 teaspoons of acrylic paint to ¾ cup of mix. 

I submerged the paper to wet it, removed the excess of water with a sponge helping to smooth the paper on a flat surface and to remove any trapped bubbles. Then an even layer of paste was applied with a wide brush. The patterns were made with my fingers and a cut plastic fork. I had to be very careful to transfer the copy paper from my working table to the drying surface, I ripped some corners, so I used a small spatula to pick them up carefully. The card stock was easier to handle. Here’s what I got.










I applied applied a layer of varnish Liquitex on both sides of sample of paste paper made with copy paper. I wanted to test how it behaves for bookbinding projects. It’s manageable, it glues well, but it’s still delicate. I think this paper can be used as end paper for bookbinding or for books you don’t care if they damage with use.

Here’s a sample of varnished paper glued to a board. 

I don’t know if I liked making paste paper, it’s a bit messy, but it was fun to experience something new to me.





Thursday, April 20, 2023

Color in shape of afghans.

 



This post is not about sketches, but it is about color.

It’s been a while since I don’t post sketches. That doesn’t mean my hands were  not creating. I spend about 3 months crocheting these two afghans. I fell in love with the colors and the warmth they will provide in my home and at my sister’s.

The choice of colors is wonderful and the size perfect. I have it now on my lap as I write this post, what a joy! 

I just finished another one in May! Which one do you like more?



Here’s the link where you can make your own: Nautikrallcrochet

Saturday, April 1, 2023

LaSalle and Van Buren Metra Chicago

Mixed media on watercolor paper, 9 in x 10 in , scanned.


I took the train to Chicago to attend a show/concert about Japanese drums, Kodo drums. I took a picture of this view on my way there and saved it for later. I also took a course online to explore other creative ways to sketch and used that photo as reference.  My lines are tight and I wanted to do something different. I was uncomfortable at first but I told myself to trust the process. Here is the result. I embraced the imperfections and I liked that I threw mixed media there but at the end the sketch looks cohesive because I limited the color palette. I liked the final product and the overall experience was fun!

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Valentine’s Day flowers

Kakimori brass nib, platinum carbon ink and watercolor 

Before the roses open up completely, these flowers from Valentine’s Day were begging to be sketched. This colorful handful always cheers a corner or a center space in a home. These came from Guatemala. They don’t smell but certainly they look beautiful. I used my newly acquired Kakimori brass nib to sketch this. I dared to use on textured watercolor color paper I haven’t been using, which by the way, working with a fountain pen can be challenge and a little bit unpleasant in this kind of paper. This nib however, delivered juicy lines constantly, it holds a lot of ink minimizing the need to deep the nib in the ink frequently. I was very happy with the performance and result.

Saturday, January 14, 2023

Cafe at Amsterdam Hipódromo Condesa, Mexico City

 

Pen&ink and watercolor on A6 cotton Hahnemüle sketchbook

This cafe at Condesa neighborhood is in the corner of Amsterdam and Ozuluama. I wanted to show in this sketch, not only the one of many cafes and restaurants in the area but how many green areas this area has with so many mature trees and overgrown bushes, this is a shady paradise for summer. Out the windows, instead of drawing all the plants and trees, I colored it in green and suggested the trees with some leaves. The art deco floor is part of the building where the cafe is. In fact Condesa is notoriously know for its art deco buildings.

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

CDMX, Soumaya Museum in San Angel neighborhood

Pen&ink and watercolor on A6 cotton Hahnemühle sketchbook 
 
We’re back to Mexico City, our last stop before returning to home. The Soumaya Museum is one of the newest landmarks in the city. It’s the architectural shape of the museum that puts this building on the mark. The exhibits are interesting. What I found interesting was the draft in pencil and charcoal of the mural of Diego Rivera, the original is missing, it’s still a mystery as of where it is currently.

Across the Soumaya Museum is the Jumex Museum where I sat to sketch this view. 

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Fresh produce market on wheels

Pen&ink and watercolor on HP watercolor paper 10 in x 7 in

The fresh produce market on wheels stops every Wednesday at the park near the place where we are staying at, just one block from us. I chose to sketch this stand among other vendors because this is  where I get my fruits and vegetables. They arrive around 10 am and leave by 6 pm. It’s a lot of work to set it up, they have to download all the boxes. I guess they have to stay as long as they can to make up for the effort, and they have to do this daily at different locations! I’ll miss the convenience to have them so close.
 This is my first sketch of the year, the first I hope of many. Happy New Year.