Finished sketchbook

Snowy landscape

The country has come to a standstill with the snow and ice, but round here, it's quiet and beautiful. (The first drawing's got a blot from the previous page). Mistaken documentation: I did these yesterday as the sun was setting, but when I was dating them this morning, put in today's date...

Brush markers and watercolour in Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook.

Not Japan

Hmmm. I went out with my two Pentel aquabrushes (a brilliant invention), one filled (messily) with a glug of Indian ink, the other with a wash of brown ink. I wanted to capture the big trees that frame the entrance to the enormous meadows where I walk Kato-dog every day, and where the light and sky and landscape change with the seasons. The drawing looks like I hopped over to Japan for the day, but the process might be too messy for me to turn into a habit.

Indian ink and wash in Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook.

Crows and their feet

Brush markers and watercolour in Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook.

Red Eyes

Watercolour in Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook.

Another one

This one's the view from my upstairs window this afternoon.

Brush markers and watercolour in Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook.

Dog in snow, sheep in snow, snowy landscape

The weather has been pretty extreme for this time of year. I'm not very good at evoking the snow - the whiteness presents itself as negative shapes, gaps between lovely areas of spikey darkness that I've tried to capture by the quick jots of trees and little track marks on the ground, or clumps of earth showing through. I think working with the calligraphy brush on the Ninja Scroll drawings the other day has had some sort of liberating effect on the way I'm using watercolour. Kato was like a hot dog in his coat, but that didn't cramp his exploratory style. The sheep were rastas in their natural coats. I fell and hurt my wrist, so this is hard to type... but it doesn't hurt to draw.

Brush markers in Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook.

Eduardo

Happy birthday Eduardo!  For his big birthday, Eduardo's wife asked his sketchbook buddies to send a page with a drawing to paste into a special birthday sketchbook - what a great idea! Here's my contribution. 

Ink pen, brush marker and watercolour on untitled sketchbook page, torn out and sent for Eduardo's birthday present.

Earlier this year, I was pleased to have been invited to write an essay for the publication of Eduardo's  sketchbook from the time he spent on Cape Verde. It's just seen the light of day in Lisbon :)

English gentleman in the snow

Togged out in his Barbour, Kato is a proper English country gentleman.

Brush markers and watercolour in Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook.

Cold snap

I came home a day earlier than planned from London because there was Weather. Walking Kato today, there were beautiful views ahead, and underfoot. 

Brush markers and watercolour in Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook.