Handprints On A Wall
Tag: journey
Mental Holiday
discovery & adventure
One of the presents I was very grateful to receive yesterday for Christmas was the book pictured below. I had spotted it in my local Art store and (as usual) when approaching Christmas, my Wife, Susan said ‘do you have any ideas for presents just in case anyone in the family is stumped for what to buy you?’
I only started keeping a sketchbook regularly at hand in the past 3-4 years and have been searching around for ‘that elusive all-purpose sketchbook’ that apparently does not exist.
We are so spoilt for choice these days in terms of Art supplies, including sketchbooks, not so in days gone past.
The book is beautifully presented and highlights 70 Explorers and what they used to document their journeys and their discoveries. The sketchbooks go back as far as the 1600’s to the 21st century.
I imagine they were ‘not spoiled for choice’ back then in terms of sketchbook and paper types. I think sometimes ‘we have too many choices’ and ‘get too wrapped up’ in the myriad of tools available. Maybe we should apply the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Super Simple) method more often?
I am looking forward to diving in to read about not only the Explorer’s adventures but also what they used to record their adventures and discoveries. It is going to be a fascinating journey!
Till next time!
Written by David Johnson
26 December 2021
together
Chasm
A Poem I wrote in 2015 and was published on my previous Blog.
forever in our mind
Goodbye to an angel
It’s been a phenomenally sad last few days as, and our Family’s collective Hearts are aching at present as, in the early hours of the morning on 24 November 2021 our beloved Mum, Iris passed away, having just turned 91 on the 15 November 2021.
Mum was born on 15 November 1930 and grew up in the Depression years, was 15 when World War II finished, married Dad on 8 December 1951 and had five children, losing two of them as infants. There would be no greater pain, I think for a parent to lose one of their children, alone, let alone two. So much to go through yet they did get through all that and provided a wonderful home for their children. Dad passed away on 16 January 2015. They had been married for 63 years.
They have two great-grandchildren and sadly, Mum has passed away without seeing her first great, great-grandchild who was due to arrive on 21 November 2021 but was late as, at date the birth has not happened yet.
Mum was shining light in our Family, and as a long-time (54 years) best friend of mine said the other day, he always thought of Mum as an Angel. I can think of no better way to describe Mum.
Rest In Peace Mum, you certainly deserve to.
With all our Love,
David, Susan and Family
27 November 2021
Tentacles Of Light
Journey To 1000!
Last Wednesday, I completed my 1,000th Watercolour Sketch a Day in a row. All of them are posted on one of my Instagram Pages – Communicating Creatively.
When I first started this Watercolour Sketch a Day journey way back in January 2019, it was for the following reasons:
- I wanted to foster a daily Art practice
- I wanted to improve my sketching, drawing and painting
It has been a journey of fun, challenges, (lots of mistakes), experimentation, learning and practice, practice, practice!
I remember completing 7 days straight and I was really pleased…could I make it to two weeks? Throughout the journey, I have just kept my eyes on the current day and aimed to do a sketch a day. Many people have asked me what is the end goal? Is it 1,000, 5,000, 10,000? The answer remains the same, ‘I’m just trying to do ‘a sketch a day and improve my skills’.
About 8 months of the 1,000 days we were in lockdown so I couldn’t get out to sketch en Plein Air so I completed tutorials, mainly by Peter Sheeler and Nil Rocha Art, and used reference photos (some of which were my own) and sketched from my imagination. On business days it normally has to be from the imagination or a reference photo.
It would be great to say that I improved with each sketch but that did not always happen as I felt, at times, that I plateaued for longer periods than I imagined would happen. Somedays it would seem that I was going backwards, too…
It was also a challenge doing the sketches some days due to tiredness from the business of the working day (I co-run a Finance Broking business and have a part-time role as an Entrepreneurship Facilitator, am involved with Toastmasters International and Red Point Art Association) plus more. There have also been health challenges in our family, and extended family to deal with, including losing three of them.
The practice of doing one a day was also quite meditative. More often than not, I would be playing music softly in the background. With all that has been going on in the world at large and our own world it has been quite a calming experience. I highly recommend it!
Mostly, I did the sketches in the morning as I was fresher. To get this done before the working day started, I rose earlier. Sometimes, I would get the line sketch done and do the painting after the working day was done. During the week, the sketches are A5 size and on the weekends sometimes larger.
One of the challenges I have in front of me is to be able apply the techniques that I have learnt during the tutorials to my own original works so the journey continues.
Today is Day 1,004 so I will leave it there as I hear my Watercolour Sketchbook calling me!
Written by David Johnson
31 October 2021
A Journey of discovery
Communicating Creatively 