Happiness is ...

 

A new sketchbook !

 

Would you believe it ? I came across this the other day and couldn't believe my eyes... a portrait format A4 sketchbook with watercolour paper

which at first glance seems to work how one would expect.

I think it is made by Clairefontaine and has a dark blue cover. The paper feels like 140lb/300gsm but is not as hard and brittle as some other books I have tried. I haven't been able to find it on the internet, but probably haven't been looking in the right place...
However I am really looking forward to playing with this in the coming weeks/months

The coming of Spring

 

One of the still life demonstrations I painted this week. It was lovely to meet painters in Baginton and in Evesham and nice that they were so appreciative.

 

 

 

Now it is a quiet day at home catching up with things and plenty of...

 

 

A change in the landscape

This continues to be in my shiny moleskine which is really good for pen and ink, but not so much for watercolour except for a little "spot" colour  like this. Anything else just runs off and anything left behind also has a tendency to seep through to the other side of the page.

Which is why...

...it was so lovely to go out this morning with a moleskine full of watercolour paper and be able to flood some washes onto the page.

The landscape is changing. A week ago the hedgerows were full of frothy blossom and a general air of expectancy of a summer soon to come. Today the blossom is mostly gone and the ground has suddenly become overrun by equally frothy cow-parsley, chest high in places. A field of yellow dandelions has become a field of white dandelion seed heads.

The political landscape is changing too. Let us hope there really will be sunshine to come!