Surroundings
Tag: sketching
A Favourite Spot!
A favourite spot I (we) like to go to relax is only about 8 minutes drive from where we live. The Nepean River wanders through the Camden District (N.S.W. Australia) and it is at its widest going through Camden.
There exists a lot there to please people and caters for a diverse amount of interests. You can:
- Have a leisurely walk on man-made paths or go off-track
- Kayak/Canoe up and down the river
- Go for a quick dip (no sand on the bank, though)
- Ride your bike along a designated Bike track
- Sit by the river with a book
- Sketch, Paint, Photograph
- Play ball games with your friends and family
- Exercise in a number of ways
- Take your children to the permanent Play equipment or kick a ball
- Just relax
We use it to go and relax, go for a walk and other things. I’ve been down there to sit and read, walk, sketch, paint or just sit and relax. When Susan comes with me she will either take a book or Crotchet.
Our most recent visit was just to sit and relax on one of the benches by the river. We were joined by i/2 dozen Lizards, a few Ducks and cooling breeze on a hot day for an hour or so. We are certainly blessed to have such a place so near to us.
Till next time!
Written by David johnson
16 February 2022
My 1st Junk Journal
Over time, I’ve been using and researching different types of Journals and of course (as many have discovered) have found out that there’s no such thing as ‘the perfect bought journal’.
It seems the best way to is to make your own. I’ve been watching plenty of YouTube videos, looking at examples online etc and recently, decided to take the plunge.
I chose a rather simple version to start and purchased Watercolour paper, card stock, different weights of paper plus I already had some Calligraphy paper. I decided to start off with an A5 Journal made up of 20 folded A4 sheets. For the cover I’ve used the promo backing cardboard from a packet of Certificate paper. I intend on pasting images on the cover later.
Instead of glueing the signature in, I chose to attempt to sew it instead. I haven’t had much practice at sewing in my life and I am reasonably happy with the result, though I think I can do better next time.
I am pleased to have finally made one as I had been thinking about doing it for some time.
The next thing was to decide actually what to put in it as I hadn’t really decided what the Journal was for…in terms of a theme. I write Poetry and do Watercolour and Line and Wash, normally so I thought a good place to start was to include some images related to the tools I use for create images.
I’m really enjoying my 1st Junk Journal and I already have plans to make more, including one with two or three signatures. Till next time.
Keep creating!
David Johnson
January 2022
1,091 Days and Counting…My Daily Art Practice
Today marks the 3rd anniversary since I started my ‘Daily Art Practice’ of a ‘Watercolour Sketch a Day’. For my 1,091st day I decided to sketch/paint a subject that I really seem to enjoy, a Lighthouse.
One day, I will gather up all my Lighthouse sketches and put them in a blog post for no other reason than to see them altogether. I think it would be fun!
Looking back, I was pleased to do 7 days in a row and when I reached 1 month I really had no expectations of being able to keep up this daily Art practice for 1 year, yet alone 3.
My goals for the ‘Daily Art Practice’ were:
- Aim to do one Watercolour Sketch a day (and look no further than that)
- Be a Sponge
- Improve my skills through practice
- Lean from my mistakes
- Practice, practice, practice!
I don’t believe I am ‘naturally talented’ in sketching and painting. Like all children I did draw at school and at home though I am not one of those Artists ‘who have been drawing/painting all throughout their life’, studied Art and are now full-time Artists. (I’m actually a Mortgage Broker and co-run our business with my Wife, Susan and have an additional Mentoring role for Small Business startups. I’m also involved in Toastmasters {Public Speaking}, and BNI {Business Networking}, as well as two other associations).
From 1982 – 2016 I was firmly entrenched in Photography. In the 1990’s, I briefly had an interest in drawing but that didn’t last long as Photography was ‘still King’. In 2010, I took a basic Drawing course and began dabbling in Watercolour (briefly) before dabbling in Acrylic and Oil over the years. In 2016, I decided to concentrate on Oils but it seemed difficult to find the time, consistently.
In 2018, I rediscovered Watercolour though finding the time seemed difficult again. I had a ‘real desire’ to learn it and started looking for ways to allocate more time to it and was (over the course of time) attracted as well to Line and Wash. On Australia Day, 26 January 2019 I decided to aim to do a Watercolour Sketch a Day.
Along the journey so far I’ve:
- Learnt about some sketching, drawing and painting techniques
- Colour mixes
- Brush use
- Colour Theory
- Made an innumerable amount of mistakes
- Increased my belief in myself that I can do this
- Sold 3 A4 paintings (unexpected)
- Joined Red Point Artists Association, Port Kembla
- Made some great connections through Art groups
What’s next?
Well, I still have a lot to learn (and there’s more fun to have) so tomorrow I’m aiming to a Watercolour Sketch and the day after, another one…
My Daily Art practice with Watercolour has also re-inspired my Oil Painting practice so I am aiming to allocate time to that on a regular basis now and am planning to enter some Art Exhibitions and submit my own Art to the next Members Exhibition of the Red Point Artists Association.
Till next time!
Written by David Johnson
26 January 2022
My Watercolour Sketch a Day images can be found at:
https://www.instagram.com/communicatingcreatively/
My larger paintings can be found at:
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
a christmas tutorial
This morning, for Day 1,058 of a Watercolour Sketch a Day I decided that I wanted to sketch something Christmas-related and, as I haven’t done a tutorial for a while, I searched on YouTube for just that.
I came across Lois Davidson’s channel and found ‘How To Paint A Beautiful Ink & Watercolour Snow Landscape, loose Watercolor Christmas Card Tutorial’.
Where I live, 60km South West of Sydney, Australia does not see snow at Christmas, in fact temperatures are often in the high 30’s (Celsius)+/ 90’s (Fahrenheit)+ on Christmas Day so the attraction to sketch and paint a subject at the opposite end of the spectrum was quite attractive.
The YouTube tutorials I have done in the past (and enjoyed) have been Peter Sheeler and Nil Rocha Art, though there is no verbal instruction just the occasional writing on the screen i.e. a few tips and colour tips.
It was a pleasant change to hear some instruction and tips in Lois’ tutorial. I believe I will be doing more of Lois’ tutorials and have subscribed to the channel.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my Blog followers and visitors a very Merry, Happy and Safe Christmas!
Written by David Johnson
24 December 2021
https://www.youtube.com/c/LoisDavidsonArt/videos
Practice, practice, practice!
I’ve recently started another sketchbook and as mentioned in the previous article on this thread, I am using a Moleskine A4 200gsm where the pages are made up with 25% Cotton.
I haven’t found one yet, but I would love to find a sketchbook where the pages are made up with 50% Cotton. Judging from my experiences so far with 100% Cotton and 25% Cotton sketchbooks, 50% would be ideal.
I’m still enjoying Line and Wash. Today is Day 1,055 of a Watercolour Sketch a Day and am still posting them each day on Instagram. It is fascinating to look back at where I’ve come from, acknowledging though, that I still have a long way to go in terms of where I want to be. I’ve also been pushing myself to do mainly images from my imagination and the occasional reference image, rather than tutorials.
I have included some of my recent Watercolour Sketches a Day below, done in the Moleskine.
Have a great day!
Written by David Johnson
21 December 2021
Time To Challenge Myself more
Since hitting the 1,000 mark with my Watercolour Sketch a day, I’ve been attempting to do less tutorials and also less working from reference photos. I’ve enjoyed doing the tutorials but I thought it was time to start challenging myself more by doing my own original compositions whilst attempting to apply the techniques I’ve been learning within the tutorials.
One of the challenges I have with the daily sketches is that sometimes, I do not get a lot of time to spend on them. Sometimes it can be as little as 15 minutes, sometimes up to an hour. I love doing the daily sketches but am conscious that when time is short, I don’t get the chance to do the multiple layer washes are required.
I still want to do the daily sketches as I want to keep my daily art practice going (Art is not my full-time occupation) as I want to continue to improve and I find the practice quite meditative.
One of the things I am aiming to do is more A4 size Watercolour and Line and Wash paintings. These will need to be done on weekends.
Below are a few of my original sketches since passing the 1,000 day mark.
Till next time!
Written by David Johnson
November 2021
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
Escape!
Last Sunday, we went on our first day trip since coming out of lockdown, which we were in for three and a half months. We live approximately 60km / 37miles South of Sydney, Australia.
First on our visit list was one of our favourite cafes, which is situated in Picton about 20 minutes drive South of where we live. They have indoor and outdoor seating and (as normal), we chose to sit outside. It was a perfect Spring day on Sunday, 24C / 75F with a slight breeze and glorious Sunshine which was particularly pleasing after about a week of rain.
We had a delicious Chai Latte, Scones with Jam and whipped cream. Yum! Lots of calories but we have been doing more exercise lately. After enjoying that and a brief chat with the owner, we set off to our next stop, Lake Burragorang Lookout at Nattai.
Lake Burragorang is part of the Warragamba Dam Catchment which is Sydney’s main water supply and it is also part of the Blue Mountains National Park which extends way beyond Katoomba, to the West (home of the world famous ‘Three Sisters’ rock formation). Lake Burragorang Lookout is also approximately 30 minutes drive to the South West of where we live.
There is no better place to soak up the Sunshine and relax in the region. The view is simply a sight to behold! Travelling light today, I just took a small sketchbook, some pigment liners and a pencil and eraser and managed to do some rough sketches of rocks and trees which I hope will turn into (at least) one or two of my Watercolour Sketches a day.
All-in-all it was wonderful afternoon of relaxation and Sunshine!
Till next time.
Written by David Johnson
20 October 2021
Communicating Creatively 