SKETCHBOOK CATCHUP

 

With all the travelling we've been doing lately, I've just realised that I've still got a few sketches of spring flowers from February that haven't been posted.  These tiny daffodils were given to me by a friend from her garden.

 

 

These tulips brightened up our days when it was cold and very wet earlier in the year. We have certainly had some extreme weather this year and are hoping the summer will be more normal when it finally arrives!

 

 

This is a twig from a chaenomeles japonica shrub in my garden which is still flowering although the blooms are now hidden by the leaves.

 

 

I found this peacock butterfly sunning itself on the log pile by our hedge, I hope it found somewhere to lay it's eggs as we do so enjoy seeing the butterflies on our buddleas in the summer.

We're off on more travels at the weekend so I'll say 'au revoir et à bientot.'

BLACK SKETCH CATCH UP

 

It's a while since I posted some of my black paper sketches so I thought it was time for a catch up.  This first one is a copy of a photo I took on the Isle of Sheppey when I was staying with Jo last October.  We were very lucky to arrive at the bird sanctuary at sunset just in time to capture this beautiful sky.

 

 

The hellebore I bought in Lidl before Christmas flowered for a few weeks but now it's outside ready to be planted in the garden.  I'll probably buy a couple more in different colours to keep it company.

 

 

The flowers gradually changed from white to green as they matured.

 

 

A couple of Saturdays ago we passed a clump of these butterbur plants, blooming profusely in a shady place at the side of the road. The fragrance is beautiful, similar to mimosa although the flowers aren't very showy they attract the bees and provide food at a rather difficult time of year for them.  The leaves were used in times gone by to wrap butter due to their size and durability, hence the name.

 

 

The next day we walked along the beach at Trègastel and around Ile Renote to see the damage caused by the storms. The sand from the beach had been blown up all over the promenade but at least there was no structural damage, unlike the last time a few years ago when the restaurant and the swimming pool beneath it were completely inundated and closed for 2 years to make the repairs.  I collected a handful of seashells to draw at home.  I noticed that the colour of the limpets varied depending on the colour of the sand they were found on.  One side of the island, facing the sea has golden sand and the other has white on the edge of the inlet.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

I hope you all had excellent Christmas and New Year celebrations.  We've had a nice time here with a few sorties with friends and a few quiet days to get over the excesses too! 

 This little plant sits on our coffee table and is slowly opening it's pretty flowers which turn pale green after a few days.

 

 

I haven't done a lot of sketching in my black book but here's a catch up of what I drew before Christmas.  This Hydrangea flower was hanging on despite the wet weather so I brought it in to enjoy before it got washed away!

 

 

I started to plan my sister Juliet's birthday card with these sketches of some of the butterflies that I photographed in the summer as I wanted to do something original for her.

 

 

We had so many butterflies on our ivy bank right through to October as they love the nectar on the delicate flowers.  I picked a sprig to draw to try and understand the growth pattern and leaf shapes.

 

 

Here is the final result drawn in Pablo coloured pencils on stonehenge paper which has a lovely surface perfect for this medium.  Juliet was delighted with her card when she opened it on her birthday just before Christmas.

THE RED SPOTTY MUSHROOM

 

I found one at last!  It was in the grass beside the road to the beach where I have seen them in previous years.  This time I was lucky enough to get there before some well meaning person/vandal kicked them over.  It has a wonderful russet red cap fading to tan at the edges and those spots on top look like iced gems, those tiny biscuits we used to buy when the children were small.  I carried it home carefully in a tissue and it even survived an unexpected visit to a neighbour who waylaid us to stop for a drink!  I have some photos as well from another group I found down the lane so I will make a spread in my watercolour sketchbook although I much prefer to draw from life as I've done with this one.

ANOTHER MUSHROOM

 

I found this little beauty hiding behind the dustbin by our garden entrance.  3 or 4 of these bright orange mushrooms were almost hidden in the bracken and grass. I'm still on the lookout for an amanita, one of those ones with white spots on a red cap but so far have only seen rather old ones in peoples gardens so rather inaccessible!  I have a photo taken a few years ago but I much prefer to draw from the real thing.

MORE PAGES FROM MY BLACK SKETCHBOOK

 

I am having so much fun drawing in this little book of black pages that cost only 1 euro at a boot sale.  Although the paper is only intended as a scrapbook it is lovely and smooth and takes the Museum watercolour pencils very well.  I have been using them dry as I think the paper may not take wetting too well.

 

 

I originally bought it to use the board covers in my bookbinding but soon realised that the paper was worth using too! These pink lilies were given to me as bulbs by a neighbour several years ago.  The flowers appear in autumn and the leaves follow a month later.  They give a welcome splash of colour when everything else is dying down.

 

 

 

Luba gave me this aubergine just before she returned to Belarus as her 3 month stay was up.  She has been trying to get her status regularised as the wife of a Frenchman but it's not been easy dealing with the typical French beaurocracy!  I'm glad we are not the only ones that struggle and even nationals don't get an easy ride!

 

 

A bunch of roses Bob bought me before I left for the visit to my girls, I think he missed me while I was gone!