As I have stated in previous posts, I love working in my sketchbook. It is the place where I can quickly put down all the creative ideas I have swirling around in my head. Over the past few months, I have been obsessing over patterns! Whether I am out at the store, taking a walk outside, or browsing the internet, I have been noticing patterns everywhere!
Here are a few of the patterns I have recently done in my watercolor journal. Take a peek!
Sketchbook Patterns
For more sketchbook and pattern inspiration, be sure to follow me on Pinterest!
Now that fall is here and the weather is getting cooler, I thought I would snatch up a few of my marigolds that I have growing in my yard and do some sketches before they are all gone. In this post I want to briefly share the process I go through when working in my sketchbook. Recently I have been experimenting with pen and watercolor. I usually start off by sketching the object, in this case the marigold, with pencil and then go overtop the pencil lines with the pen. I then use my kneaded eraser to remove the pencil marks. For this sketch I wanted to have the flowers right in front of me so that I could see all the details.
Daniel Smith extra fine watercolor paints; Cadmium Red Med. Hue, Hansa Yellow Medium, Cadmium Yellow Light Hue, & Hooker’s Green.
Paper towels, bowl of warm water & a palette for mixing the paint.
I then jump right in to putting the watercolors on the paper. I started these by getting the paper wet with water only (Wet on Wet) and then added the paint.
Here I only have one layer of paint, and as you can see the colors are pretty light.
I added another paint layer here which helps to deepen the colors.
It just didn’t seem complete without some foliage 🙂
What I love about working in my sketchbook is that it is very laid back and fun! It also gives me great ideas for larger pieces I may want to work on in the future. If you haven’t taken out your sketchbook in awhile, make today the day you start again!
Since having children, I have dabbled off and on with art over the past eight years. With the busyness of life, art always seems to end up on the back-burner; but I can’t leave it there for long. Now that I have four young children, I don’t have the time or energy to tackle large pieces like I did in the past. While my favorite medium is oil painting, it is too messy and toxic to have around my young children. Recently, as an alternative, I started exploring watercolor and I love it! Unlike oil painting, watercolor is much harder to control. The paint and water seem to have a mind of their own, doing things I may not have intended, but love in the end. I have found that the more children I have, the more flexible and laid back I have become as a person. That may be why I enjoy watercolor more now than I did in the past. I guess I am not as much of a control freak, so watercolor now seems more fun!
Nowadays I work mainly in my sketchbook, and it has been the perfect creative outlet. I am able to create things that inspire me and experiment with new ideas in a relaxed way. If you enjoy art and don’t have a lot of time to create large pieces, or any pieces for that matter, I would encourage you to consider taking up a simple sketchbook. It is a fun, quick, pressure-free way to let your creativity flow!
Here on My Beautiful Everyday I want to start posting photos that give you a peek inside my sketchbook. Here is what I’ve been working on.
As you can see, I like flowers. Always have. I have been working on combining watercolor with pen. It has a much more relaxed feel to it than what I am used to, but that is what makes it so fun! So relax, go grab a sketchbook and have fun being creative!
