Abstract expressionism of the shadow trees

Sunny again today. I sat under an apple tree to draw the silhouette of hanging branches of the ash tree at the bottom of the garden. No luck. Trees are the hardest thing - to know how to tell the wood from, and so on. How much detail in, how much out. Having wasted a few precious Moleskine pages, I noticed that the pages of the sketchbook itself were dappled and marked by the shadows of the swaying branches above me. I very quickly traced the movements the shadow trees were making on the sketchbook pages.

And then finally, I drew the branches again, this time under the influence of these shadow trees. Not much to write home about, but here it is!

All are brush markers in Moleskine sketchbook.

Still here

Pencil and pencil crayon in Moleskine sketchbook

Frail, geriatric, sweetest hound

Birthday charms

Ink pen and watercolour in Windsor and Newton sketchbook

Ink pen and brush marker in small Moleskine sketchbook.

Bracelet in same position, same viewing angle, different sketchbook. I think I've made A. look too old... 

A stab at architecture

Brush markers in small Moleskine sketchbook

I thought I'd have a stab at architecture today - always the hardest for me. I should have paid more attention in those perspective classes. This church is in a beautiful nearby village, sketched in before my podiatry appointment, and some of the colour added at home from a photo that I took for that  purpose.

Adaptation

Brush markers and pencil in Windsor and Newton sketchbook.

rearranged for a photo ... and then 

Brush markers in small Moleskine sketchbook.


I was always a city person, and I could never keep a pot plant alive, hated the darn things. But I'm a changed, and fully adapted humanoid. Now not only do I love living in the countryside, I also can't stop going into – and drawing – the garden. It's village fêtes next, I tremble to think. This morning it rained hard and I drew the cut flowers in the vases around the house... but the drawings look too coy. When the weather cleared up for a while, I went out, everything glistening with drops, the heady smell of wet soil. The small Moleskine sketchbook is fantastic because so light to hold, and I just love the way the brush markers glide over the beautiful vellumy pages. 

Garden, cool day

Brush markers in Moleskine sketchbook.

Two drawings done at the bottom of the garden - in the second, playing with reversing the colours. 

Five minutes, rainy day

Brush markers on gouache wash in big sketchbook.


Blissfully fresh, rainy day, the sky bruised and brooding and the air marvellously cool. Why do I know this isn't everyone's idea of a beautiful June day?