Announcing “Design Ideas for Your Sketchbook”, a new online course

Posted: September 30, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | 4 Comments

As a university-trained graphic designer and design teacher, I worked for years in the industry before returning to my first love: sketching and painting in watercolour. That’s why I’m thrilled to be launching a new online course: “Design Ideas for Your Sketchbook.” Because it combines my two great passions — graphic design and watercolour sketching.

This is an extended course (almost four hours long!) because there’s lots to cover. Design theory, practical applications of design, lettering, watercolour techniques, etc. Plus there’s a bonus 25-page PDF with sketchbook examples.

My intention with this course is to show you techniques for page design that you can apply to your own sketches, whether they are done at home or on location. I’m really looking forward to seeing what people post on the course website!!

As always, there’s a special launch price, valid this week only. ​
Normally priced at $49 USD or $69 CDN, I’m discounting Design Ideas for Your Sketchbook to $42 USD or $59 CDN until midnight (ET) on Sunday, October 6, 2024. Have a look!!

Cul de sac

Posted: September 29, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | 12 Comments

It’s National Tree Week. I guess that means different things for different people but for me it means get out and paint a tree! This is one I found on a dead end road not too far from here.

I’m still getting to know the roads and landscapes around our new neighbourhood. As soon as you leave this suburb it becomes rural very fast. Horse farms and then corn fields. Lots of them. The long road I followed had some beautiful scenery but no shoulder to stop on. I found this little spot at the end of the road, where I pulled into a driveway next to a house. The bright fall light made some interesting shadows on the upper part of the tree. I painted from the comfy seat of my car studio, on a 10 x 14″ pad of Arches Rough paper.

The one that survived the lake

Posted: September 24, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | 49 Comments

I didn’t think there would be any more opportunities to paint boats in Hudson this year, but my friend Michelle reached out with a nice invitation to join her at the yacht club last weekend, and I didn’t hesitate to say yes. I’m so glad I did.

We chose a painting spot out on the pier where we could look back at the marina and the trees on the shore. It’s a complex viewpoint but I chose to focus on the blue sail cover in the foreground and the masts behind it. Two thirds of the way through my painting, I briefly considered tossing it in the lake and starting again, but I think it was just missing darks. I repainted the background to darken it and that helped a lot. Painted on a pad of Arches 140lb CP paper, using lots of Cobalt Blue that had escaped a well on my palette.

In search of a new old tree

Posted: September 19, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | 13 Comments

I’ve started interviewing candidates for the role of “My Favourite Tree”. For over a decade I sketched a big old sugar maple near our former house, but that tree is just a little too far away so I’m in search of a new one. I couldn’t start my research in the summer when everything was very green, but now that the trees have started to colour slightly, I am on the lookout every time I take a walk or a drive.

Here are my criteria, in no particular order:

  • It should be a sugar maple that turns bright orange yellow in the fall
  • It should be situated in a place where I can park (legally) and sketch from my car
  • It should have a good, full shape and not be partially hacked off by the power company

Yesterday, I met the first contender. It’s located on Lower Maple in Hudson, just below Main. I can see it from a good parking spot, even though it’s on a low section of the road, and it seems like the shape is quite full. Only problem is, it’s partially obscured by a stone house on the right and another one on the left. For that reason, I don’t think it’s a winner and I will continue my search. If you live in my neck of the woods and have any ideas, please share!

Churchyard in Burnham Market

Posted: September 17, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | 23 Comments

After our chilly day in Wells-next-the-Sea, the wind died down for us and we had a most productive morning sketching in the churchyard at St. Mary’s Church in Burnham Market. We chose this view of the building primarily because it was so warm in that spot, but I’m never really sure what the protocol is for sketching in cemeteries. I’m always careful not to stand on top of a burial plot and not to touch the headstones. I guess each cemetery is different. This was a popular place for dog walkers and others out for a stroll, and even though I was sure a caretaker would ask us to leave, it never happened.

The rhythm of the overlapping headstones was what I found most fascinating about this scene. I painted them with a variety of dark tones, mostly using Umber, Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue to get a range of earthy and mossy darks, and I used a bit of splatter too, for added texture.

Packing for the weather in North Norfolk

Posted: September 15, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | 18 Comments

I have a packing list that I use every time I travel to teach. Obviously there are variations for different climates. I don’t bring the same wardrobe to the Provence in the summer as I do to Tucson in winter. But I have to say that I did not pack correctly for last week’s workshop in North Norfolk, UK. Yes, I had a rain jacket. And I threw a lightweight down jacket into my suitcase at the last minute. But there was nothing that could have prepared me for the unseasonably chilly 9°C and high winds on the day we painted at Wells-next-the-Sea.

It’s funny to look at my sketches now because I chose a subject that reflects the town that I read about online before leaving: a family friendly seaside vacation destination that’s known for its sandy beaches and its colourful beach huts. And we did sketch the colourful storefronts, the crab buckets and nets, the beach balls, the whirligigs and the plastic lighthouses.

But the sketch does not tell the whole story. If you walked by my hardy group of sketchers out on the street, you would see us wearing every piece of clothing we had with us, crouched over our sketchbooks, huddled in a group, trying to generate enough heat to get a sketch or two in before heading for some hot tea in a cafe. A few of us even found a fishing store to buy winter caps and fleece-lined gloves for extra warmth.

I don’t want you to think it wasn’t a wonderful week. Everything about it was fantastic. The White House is superb place to stay, and our painting locations were unique and gorgeous. I will post a few more sketches tomorrow. But I learned a lesson about being prepared, and now my new tuque and fleece-lined gloves have been added to my packing list.