sketching * skating * sighting

Sketching

Colour

The theme for sketching this week was colour!  Bright, cheerful, colourful are a few descriptives that brought additional joy to my week.  It was time to explore some new ideas and the collage shows the outcome of where that exploration took me.  

In a past post, I shared a graphite pencil sketch I did of the girl sitting on a window ledge.  At that time I mentioned this sketch might look nice in colour, well it does and here is the proof.  I sketched it again but this time with a lighter graphite pencil and with less detail.  I then used watercolour brush pens to bring it to colourful life.   I found the perfect home for it, on a ledge hanging from my grid board.   

For quite some time I have been wanting to try sketching on paper that was a colour other than white.  I purchased a toned tan sketch book and then laid some shade on a page.  I followed a tutorial on how to sketch cherry blossoms at different stages of life using coloured pencils.  Finally, I got to use my white coloured pencils!  I like this look and will soon flip the page to a blank canvass and explore some more.

For a couple of my recent projects, I cut the paper to a smaller size which left me with a few odd shaped pieces.  The odd sized pieces were the perfect shape for bookmarks. This one was completed with watercolour brush pens.  It's already saving a page in my bird book.  Next step for this is to find a way to laminate it. 

 

The only fruit I ever sketched was an apple and that was well over a year ago.  It was time to fill a basket.  I used coloured pencils for this project and followed a tutorial.  While it looks like it is on grey paper, it is not, the paper is white.  

The landscape sketch took three tries!  I saw even more improvements I could have made after looking at the completed third try, but enough was enough.  It was loads of work to get the trees looking like they look.  To me I see it having an abstract effect which normally I don't go for but in this case, I find it appealing.    

Skating

Bowness The Ice Trail

On this morning, the Ice Trail was lit along a different section than it had been and for a little later.  Just in case the lights would go off soon, I made sure to capture a few photos as I began my morning skate.  While there was an overcast sky making it dark, I soon realized maybe the lights were on along this section to light up a stretch that had spots of dirt where the ice had melted.   The warm weather has taken a toll on the Ice Trail.  I did manage to skate for the amount of time I intended to, but did have to gingerly work my way through that rough stretch.  With warmer weather forecasted to soon be upon us, the conditions will only go down hill.   That being said, I am even more thankful for this morning's skate.  

Sighting

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary * Pearce Estates * Harvey Passage

With the warm weather, it has not taken much effort to be "out & about".  What has taken effort is staying upright on the icy trails and pathways. It's nothing but ice ice baby ice!  I've been out for some sunrise and scenery sightings but what stood out were the bird and duck sightings and their lively activity.  They are active in the morning and quite entertaining.  I prepared three collages to share with you.