Drawing Prague

 

I've never been to Prague, but @kimyest on Instagram made it possible with this photo.

I got out the pencil crayons to work in a sketchbook that doesn't love wet media.

Another Walk

 

You never know what will delight you in your own neighbourhood.  These pink flamingos appear once a year on our street; I think they celebrate a birthday.

A Walk in the Neighbourhood

 

My arthritis makes it hard for me to walk far these days, but I am grateful for a short walk on a gorgeous sunny day like today.

The weather forecast says that it may be cold enough overnight for some frost!

Sketchbook Choices

 

After working for months in two large mixed media spiral bound sketchbooks, I've become tempted by smaller, sewn journals once again.  The root of the change began with a course I'm taking with German illustrator Felix Scheinberger.  He's an urban sketcher and recommends an inexpensive A5 sketchbook - small enough to carry around and paper that isn't intimidating.  I've also been following closely the local urban sketcher Becky Cao, who uses a larger, bound watercolor journal.  Both prefer the stitched binding so that they can sketch across two pages.

I made one book for my Traveler's Notebook with my favorite mixed media paper, and dug an inexpensive A5 book out of the closet, and sketched them.  The inexpensive book is a bit too inexpensive; the paper isn't acid free and doesn't take wet media well.  But choices abound at the moment!

Fengdu Ghost City

 

I used my Sailor Fude pen again and I'm not fond of the Noodler's ink I put in it.  Or I'm not fond of the way that I'm using it.  I bought Noodler's because it was known to be pretty waterproof; it isn't as waterproof as the Uniball fineliner I have mostly been using for drawing.  On the last two drawings I inked over it again after painting; I didn't bother with this one.  I may try using it as if it is water soluble ink.  More experimentation needed.

All Eyes on the Board

 

All Eyes on the Board

My friend Janice recently posted some pictures on her blog that she took in New York.  My favorite was this one of the public library outdoor reading room where you can take out books and play chess.  I loved the red umbrellas as well as the people focused on the chess board.  

Although the photo was taken in 2009, I bet that it has been well used during the pandemic!

Playing with the Sailor Fude Pen

 

I filled up my Sailor Fude Pen with Noodlers (somewhat) Waterproof Ink for a calligraphy session recently, and used it to draw this neighbourhood digger.  I had to go over the lines after painting; the ink isn't perfectly waterproof.