Colouring pages

Everyone seems to be obsessed with adult colouring book these days. And to be honest some of them are so beautifully drawn that it is a bit intimidating to even start colouring. Considering my love for gardens and flowers, there are two books that I particularly recommend:

Art therapy: extraordinary gardens by Sofie Leblanc; and

Secret Garden: an inky treasure hunt and colouring book by Johanna Basford.
Inspired by these books and by some vintage fabrics I had around I gave line work a try and made two colouring pages.

I printed them out using different types of paper and had so much fun using different colouring techniques. Even Olivia gave it a go and asked for more copies a few times.

If you want to give it a go yourself, feel free to download a copy and let me know how it goes. Tag me along if you are sharing your coloured pages on Instagram (marina_cerra) so I can see it too. 

 Happy colouring!

Remembering our first day at the beach with a quick watercolour sketch in my weekly art journal. Happy Sunday!

A peak inside my new b/w sketchbook

As I don't have already enough on plate these days, I bought myself this white gel ink pen to try out. I had some black paper scraps and started doodling. The results were very effective and loved the white marks on the black background.

So I thought I'd buy a pocket moleskine with black pages, but couldn't find one easily, so I made my own little book (about 12x12cm) to experiment with instead.  I used this sheet of black paper and this black hemp cord to coptic stitch the pages together. For the cover I used some cardstock covered with a sheet of paper designed by Suzy Ultman for The Book for Paper Lovers 2.

Happy Mother's Day

Painting myself some flowers to celebrate today. Happy Mother's Day!

work in progress

We have spent the past week in Calabria visiting my parents. I had plans to get a few things done, but as much as I tried, time was mostly spent chatting, relaxing (as much as I could with two young children to look after), celebrating my birthday, eating good food and enjoying the good weather. My sketchbook will have to wait to get its binding finished, my sketches will stay as they are for a few more months and my blue mixes will dry on the palette. Everything has its time, and this was not for them.  

Sketchbook #5

I always have mixed feelings when I fill up the last page of a sketchbook. I feel content as I have completed something and can move on to the next thing, but also a bit sentimental as it marks the end of a journey, which in this case lasted about 7 years! I started this moleskine pocket size notebook back in 2008, when I had just started to get into outdoor sketching and it has been on and off in my bag since then. Oh so many places and so many memories!