Virtual Paintout - San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Tonight while hanging with my family and watching some TV, I finally got around to completing another Virtual Paintout. I always find shots, I almost always start, I rarely finish lately.

Today, I spent about an hour on this in my sketchbook. It was fun to draw curled up on the couch, with my laptop beside me and the book on my lap.

The drawing was done in a sharpie pen, watercolor was added (with my Niji brush and a travel pan set), and then I finished up with more pen over the top of the color washes.

I am using an AquaBee Super Deluxe 9x9 inch spiral bound sketchbook right now, the one with heavyweight(150 gsm) paper. As far as watercolors, I am using an old pan set from Marabu, that I got at an estate sale. I just checked their website and they don't even make watercolors anymore. Lots of other cool looking paints and supplies, no watercolors.

Busy Fall

As a teacher, fall is always busy with setting up a classroom and getting back into the swing after the summer, but wow, get a new job at a new school and that is magnified many times over. I have been so overwhelmed. I realized a couple of weeks ago that I haven't been taking time to make any work for myself, not even sketching, only class examples and demonstrations. So, last week despite being sick and having conferences I forced myself to draw for the first time since the state fair really.

It being autumn I have a small collection of gourds and squash that are in a platter on my table and they have served as my subject matter for the last week as I get back in the groove of daily drawing again.

I have been on a roll with my goal to draw everyday again and intend to keep at it, as it always feels good to sit and take a sketch break.
I am also trying to finish up the Aquabee sketchbook I have been working in so I can begin to test and use the two new sketchbooks I have been given to try out. Both books are spiral bound and new to the journal market this fall. One is made by Strathmore and the other by Legion, both companies are trying to move into the art journal market with new products and the visual journaling group I belong to received samples to test run. I am looking forward to fun journal experiments.