Black and blue
Posted: September 6, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized 26 CommentsI received a gift some time ago. It’s a beautiful object — a handmade sketchbook filled with Fabriano paper, hardbound, covered with black-patterned cloth and held closed with a striped elastic. I’ve been saving it because it’s almost too beautiful to sketch in, and I feel like if I mess up a spread then the gift will be ruined.
I started the book in Amsterdam with a rough pencil drawing of a boat, but when a rain shower interrupted my sketching, I never finished the spread. The paper is too nice to waste, so today I erased the boat, drew in some black figs and blue plums, and made the first step towards filling the book.
Shari Blaukopf's Sketchbook 
Delicious! Wonderful colours and blending.
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Good eating too! Thanks Alison.
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Ahh Shari, I hear you! Putting that first entry in
a new sketchbook is finger-trembling work. Like getting the first ding on a new car 😊
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Exactly like that first ding Pamela. Glad it’s over!
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Hope you ate them all once you were done painting them
xx
•••Karimobile
514 9944433
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I haven’t eaten them all yet, but a few have disappeared! It was great seeing you last night!
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Good Morning dear friend Shari,
And please don’t suspect me, as I regularly visit your art works 🙂
But I love those fruits, so realistic and natural.
Blessings
Uma
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Your friend thought enough of you to give you a beautiful sketchbook. so, honor her by using it and enjoying it and thinking of her when you do use it. It was meant to give you joy.
Beautiful berries!!!
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I will certainly do that Mary. She knew I would enjoy. Now I like it so much I want to figure out how to make my own.
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Never will a page be ruined or wasted when you paint! This one is lucious, a great beginning.
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Bernadette, that made me laugh. There are plenty of awful pages in my sketchbooks. Some even make me cringe when I come upon them. They just never make it to my blog!
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Beautiful, glad you started the book. I too love Fabriano paper and totally understand. But you have a gift and Fabriano deserves your talent.
Thanks for sharing, Mercedes
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
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Thanks Mercedes! Fabriano paper is wonderful, especially in sketchbooks. The best kind of paper for working on detailed work, I find.
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Hi Shari,
There is a lovely woman on Etsy who hand binds amazing sketchbooks with Fabriano, Lana, Arches and Saunders papers. Her stock varies but if you email her she will bind you a book with whatever paper you like, in whatever size and orientation you request. In addition to being a high skilled book maker, she is also a very accomplished artist.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/naturesketches
Her name is Aneta Koehn.
Beautiful sketch in a beautiful sketchbook!
Janine
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HI Janine, That is great info. Thanks for sharing it! I looked at her books and they really are beautiful. Have you ordered any? I am curious.
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I once had a piece of hot press paper all ready for watercolour, and I erased a wayward pencil line — it must have lifted some sizing, because when I put down color, it totally spread!!! Sometimes I can work with that, and sometimes it is a blobby trouble! Your plums, however, are perfect!
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Sheryl, what kind of eraser did you use. I always use those grey kneaded rubber ones, and they never damage the paper. Just curious about what you used that would ruin the paper.
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I only ever use a white Staedtler eraser, or one of those square, sort of brown chunky erasers. It was one or the other! Now I never erase that hot press paper (it is student grade from OPUS) unless I am completely finished the watercolour! I really like that paper, though, so I’ll keep using it.
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Hi Shari! What a fun painting, can I ask what colors you used? They blend together perfectly. I have some blueberries and figs in the house right now- I don’t know whether I now want to eat them or paint them!
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Hi Denise, You’ve probably eaten the figs and plums already! But in case they are still around, I used mostly Ultramarine Blue and Alizarin Crimson for this. I prefer to let the red and blue mix on the paper, rather than using a purple from the tube. I also used a bit of sap green for the figs. Enjoy!
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Yum!
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Yes, they were!
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What a thoughtful gift…and you started it off so nicely with the lucious fruits.
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It really was!
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I received a tip that I thought was brilliant in a recent workshop. Work your sketchbook from back to front – idea being you will improve over time (kinda like the first pancake is always the worst).
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That’s brilliant. I always mess up that first pancake! thanks Sherri!
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