Work in progress

A sneak peak at my sketchbook this month. Still very much a work in progress. I have been having fun using a new set of watersoluble pencils, thanks to Derwent Academy and their amazing monthly prizes (here if you want to play along). But also, a new subject for me to experiment with...butterflies!

Leaves pattern

I've started putting together two of my favourite subjects: nature and pattern. Let's see where this will go.

October

Happy October! Feeling a lot inspired this month and treating myself to some painting time.

Botanical illustration notebooks

These cute new little notebooks are now available on my Etsy shop. 

September

 

Watercolours on HP watercolour paper

  

Pen outlines on HP watercolour paper

September always brings a renewed energy with it. The days start to get shorter, the evenings are cooler and it feels like you have a second chance to start something new with a fresh and relaxed mind. September it’s the month for planning the rest of the year, thinking about Christmas, deciding which new tv shows to watch, having a wardrobe makeover and a house spring-clean. And it’s the month when you start to slow down again after the hustle and bustle of the summer months.

Summer sketches - Part 2

Here is another batch of sketches done in Pescina (L'Aquila). It has been very hot during the past week, and was almost impossible to stay outside during the day because of the heat....got sunburnt one morning at 10am while sketching under the sun! Best time was in the evening around 8pm when the sun was setting behing the mountains, the colours were magnificent...not very well captured in the sketches above :(

Summer sketches - Part 1

We are finally off to Italy for a well deserved summer break! First stop is Pescina, up on the mountains of Abruzzo, in central Italy, to visit my partner's family.

The town is in the middle of what used to be a lake, il Fucino, drained in 1875. Nowadays it's a patchwork of cultivated land surrounded by the Sirente-Velino and Vallelonga mountains.