The popular store.

 

Pen&ink, watercolor, gel pen and color pencil on Handbook Watercolor Journal 8 in x 8 in

I had a little more than an hour to sketch in this area. This is a street mall with only three stores. The one in the center is a liquor store and it was the most visited by customers during the time I was there. A woman came out from the store on the right and went inside the liquor store as well, she killed two birds with one stone, ha! The pizza place didn’t have any sales, it wasn’t meal time to be fair. The weather was funny yesterday, it was overcast with sunshine at times and it also rained. I did the sky grayish and added later some spots of the blue sky, I’m not sure if I liked it or not but it is true to what I saw.

Winsor green is not a color I often use directly, I applied a wash of pure color for the roof, once dried I mixed it with Lamp Black to do the darker areas of the roof. Useful paint, the black that is, I DO LOVE using it, it gives the original color a depth so unique. I also used white gel pen. I used to use Uni-Ball Signo, but the less content of gel is in the pen, the drier and inconsistent the lines are.  It has happen to me with multiple Signo pens so I switched to Sakura Jelly Roll. I got a pack with three different sizes, 10, 08 and 05, bold, medium and fine lines respectively. I used 05 to highlight the frame of the windows, I worked fabulously for thin lines, it makes consistent lines on watercolor washes, but let’s be honest, it’s new. So I’ll see how it works with time. 

The porch.

 

Pencil, color pencil and S&B Alpha Series 8 in x 10 in

We had a taste of fall weather today, overcast with rain. Still the flowers in the plant pot are bright and alive, the trees are still green. I don't want the summer to be over but the hours of daylight are getting shorter. Still ahead this week, we'll have beautiful days to sit and enjoy outdoors. We've seen many animals in our backyard, dogs, coyotes, fox, rabbits, squirrels, a good variety of birds, cardinal, goldfinch, grackle, ducks, hawks (yes hawks hunting) robin, sparrows, waxwings (Impressed so far? Ha!) and flying insects, bees, butterflies, dragonflies, lightning bugs and the less pleasant spiders, flies and mosquito. The suburban backyards are so full of life! I'll sure enjoy the rest of summer  and its little creatures.  

Do you like orange?

Pencil and watercolor on Watercolor Handbook Sketchbook 8 in x 8 in

I made scones this morning. The aroma of coffee and something baking in the oven is so good! If you like orange, you may try this recipe (click on Food Recipes tab under the header of this blog). I'm ahead of Thanksgiving but this classic combination of flavors tastes good all year long. I used color pencil over the watercolor wash to add the texture in the orange wedges but the scanner masked it a little bit, if you zoom  in the image you will see it. The crumbling scones and the coffee latte was a hit!