Late afternoon

From my low chair on the beach, the view I see is mostly sky, which suits me fine since it’s a great day for painting clouds. The beach is pretty crowded because it’s American Thanksgiving, so entire families are set up on the beach. From my spot I can eavesdrop on a long discussion about all the dishes that need to be prepared for the holiday meal — shrimp needs deveining, sweet potatoes need peeling and cans of cranberry sauce need opening. There are probably countless turkeys roasting in ovens as I sketch. If you are celebrating the holiday today, I hope it is a wonderful one with family and friends!

The scene I painted today is the very same one I painted in my online course, “Sketching Skies in Gouache“. Many of my most popular courses are 30% off for Black Friday week. Just use the coupon code LUNARBLACK30 at checkout for Luminous Colours, Victorian Vignettes, Sketching Winter, Sketching Fresh Flowers, Sketching Boats, Sketching Structure in the Garden, Still, Rushing, Falling Water, The Broken Mill, Mexican Street Scene and Light, Colour Shadow. And of course Sketching Skies in Gouache. The sale is on until Monday, November 29 at midnight ET.

The front yard

Even the most ordinary scene can become a subject to sketch if the sun hits it in the right away. A couple of dull grey pots in the front yard, hidden in the shade of the some trees, caught my eye when the sun lit them up. And since I had to stay close to home instead of getting out to sketch today, they were a perfect subject. Of course almost any vegetation is interesting here on Sanibel because it’s invariably different from what grows outdoors in Montreal.

With a closeup scene like this I try to limit myself to just a few colours, in this case Hansa Yellow, Cobalt, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna and of course a touch of Alizarin Crimson for the spiky foliage in the pot.

Canal view

The sky was turbulent over Sanibel Island today, but that always makes for a wonderful dark background against the terracotta-tiled roofs. These are often my favourite views to paint here, looking across the narrow canal at the houses and trees across the way. I often have company while I sketch. One year there was a little Blue Heron that spent some time on the dock next to me. I’ve also been in the company of dolphins darting in between the dock supports below me. And today I noticed a rounded shiny shape in the canal which turned out to be a manatee.

It’s a busy week in Sanibel. Today I spent a bit of time in Fort Myers doing a live radio interview with the very funny Ed Ryan of Beach Talk Radio. And tomorrow I’ll be doing a demo at 1 pm for the Fort Myers Beach Art Association. If you are in the area, stop in to say hi.

Between two palms

Last time I was on Sanibel Island, there was no connection between the two palms in the yard. This time, I was delighted to find that there’s a hammock that joins them. Although I will probably never spend any time actually relaxing in it, I love it as a painting subject, and will likely tackle it from several different viewing angles during my stay here. For my first sketch, I probably didn’t pick the best angle to sketch it from (hidden behind the tree) but the sun was out and I sat in the shadiest spot I could find. Painted on a block of Hahnemuehle The Collection CP watercolour paper.

Something like a fountain pen

Recently a fellow sketcher wrote to me about a pen he thought I might like, so I ordered a few to try. He was right. I gave the pen a try last evening, and I like it a lot. The Pentel Fountain pen has a plastic nib which allows for thick or thin lines, depending on how you angle the pen, plus the ink is water-soluble, so it’s great for quick sketches that need a little tone, like my paint tubes. And the best thing is that the ink dries really black, not purplish like other pens I have used.

Something else to note from my sketcher friend: the ink washes out black but then does not wash out a second time so ideal if you want to add a wash of watercolour. I have not tried that yet but I will soon, and I’ll report back.

Dual-purpose dollar store drawing pen

Isn’t it great when you feel you can accomplish a lot with just a little? My day started off with voting in the municipal election. The voter card said we should bring our own blue or black pen, to save on single-use pencils, so grabbed a dollar store black ballpoint pen. After voting, I decided to draw my favourite tree, with the same pen. I haven’t drawn much with a ballpoint pen, but it is SO great for building up dark areas and values very slowly. I loved using it. Smooth paper is ideal for pen work, so I drew on a block of Fabriano Hot Press paper, instead of my usual rougher textured sketchbooks.

This is the ninth year I draw this tree. If you know this maple from previous drawings of it, you may notice that this is the first time I try it in monochrome. That’s because my drawing inspiration today is France Van Stone, who you may know on Instagram as @wagonized. I’ve been following (and loving!) France’s work for a long time, and I had the chance to meet her for coffee yesterday in Montreal. We didn’t draw together because we ended up talking the whole time, but I decided to give my ballpoint pen a try today. If you don’t know France’s work, be sure to check it out, and have a look at her courses too!

The north side

When the thermometer goes down to 3°C, it’s car studio time for me. And I’ve come to realize that I am very comfortable painting from my car. I’ve been doing for so many years that I don’t really think about where anything goes anymore. Water container in the cup holder, palette on the passenger’s seat, sketchpad leaning on the steering wheel. Everything has its place.

In Pointe Claire Village, there’s a perfectly good parking spot with a no-parking sign ahead. That means I will have a clear view of the storefronts and the sidewalk, which is starting to buzz with shoppers, dog walkers and coffee drinkers. Some might find this view uninteresting, but I like the overlapping signs and shapes that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. The light is soft so I choose a limited palette of Cobalt Blue, Alizarin Crimson and Hansa Yellow, and try to include a bit of foliage, knowing that in a week or so the autumn colours will be gone.

Red dumpster

Alice and I walk by this spot every day. Sometimes Alice stops to sniff under the red dumpster, and she gets especially excited when there are squirrels hiding under there. I like the red dumpster for different reasons. It’s rusty. It’s a little bit wonky. And it’s a great focal point in front of the drab school facade, positioned as it is between all of those verticals. Sketched in my Etchr Perfect Sketchbook on a rainy day in late October.

Athens to Corfu: join me in Greece in 2022

I haven’t been to Greece in many years, but I sure have been dreaming of leading a sketching tour there someday. I’ve visited the Peleponnese several times over the years with my husband (who was born there) but never to the spectacular places that we will visit on the tour we are planning for next September. Join us, and our wonderful guide Kate on a Greek Sketching Odyssey in 2022: September 24 – October 3, exploring mainland Greece and the ravishing island of Corfu.

We’ll begin our odyssey in Athens, and then journey to mountainous, mythic Delphi. Our next stop will be ancient Meteora (pictured in my sketch below), home to the spectacular clifftop monasteries that make this a UNESCO World Heritage site. Our final and longest stay will be in the historic Ionian island of Corfu, where we’ll explore and sketch the Venetian-flavoured old town and sketch the famed island sights for four nights. This will be a small group tour, maximum 12 sketchers, with plenty of individual sketching instruction from me. Our tour leader, Kate Stedman of French Fusion Travel, has been organising sketching tours for many years AND she’s a sketcher, so she knows exactly what kind of sights and locations sketchers enjoy.

Have I got you dreaming too? I hope so. I think late September is the perfect time to visit (and sketch) Greece, when the weather is a bit cooler and many tourists have already headed home. To book or to ask questions, please contact Kate directly from the French Fusion website. The tour is half-booked already, so if you’re interested, please send her the electronic booking form and check whether spots are still available.

Yellow outline

Last evening on a Zoom with friends, I drew the bottles on my windowsill. I’ve drawn these bottles before, but never with a brush, and never at the end of the day when it’s almost dark outside. I love the bottle shapes — which is why they ended up on that shelf in the first place — and they are even more interesting because there’s a variety of transparent and opaque surfaces, as well as a bit of colour and a few labels. This was mostly finished in the 45 minute Zoom, but I added a bit of calligraphy today when everything else was dry. Sketched in my Etchr Perfect Sketchbook, which is perfect for this type of thing.