Sketching and news

The last couple of days have been hectic here!
I've managed to maintain the sketching though :)

I also have some good news!
For a while I have written stories to go with some of my paintings and after seeing a course which explains the techniques of story writing, I applied to join it.
Yesterday I had my interview and assessment and am delighted to tell you all I passed and am now enrolled on the course!
The interviewer also told me that because I have a way with words, both written and spoken, she'd like me to consider putting my name down for a teaching position at the college.
Complete surprise and great compliment !

Sketches - here they are :)

The Alphabet Paintings: S

I'm back to my alphabet paintings and for S I chose "Still Life"
There were plenty of options around my house to choose from and this lucky plant got the vote :)

So here for  you to enjoy:

Still Life

Summer in the City

Yesterday our art club re-started after the Christmas break.
I took in two pieces of paper, knowing that one painting was going to use very wet washes, so whilst it was drying I worked on the second.

This abstract was finished last night, in watercolour and ink, I call it:

Summer in the City

More sketching

Over in our Painting Friends forum, we're having a daily sketch challenge.
So far, I am enjoying the discipline of knowing I ought to pick up the sketchbook every day and do something!
Some will be whimsical and some more traditional, whatever takes my fancy on the day.

I am approaching this with the idea that it should be fun and not a chore.
Yes, we could all do with improving - me included- but I don't want to do that at the expense of losing the joy.
Surely joy was the reason we all came to painting and drawing anyway - wasn't it? 

What brought me to drawing and painting? I can't remember if I told  you.  In a nutshell, I had started a new business, wasn't very busy and looked to drawing and painting to fill my time because I loved art at school. So I took a class and off I went. I'm still going :) 
How about you? What made you decide to pick a brush or a pencil up?

The Alphabet Paintings: R

The alphabet paintings continue with the letter R and a memory from childhood...

When I was growing up, I remember reading a whimsical tale of how God named all the flowers. When He was walking in the garden one day, he came across this pretty blue flower and asked for its name. The blue flower bashfully replied that he couldn't remember. So God whispered to the flower, "remember that I love you, forget-me-not"

Remember that I love you

The journey continues

As my sub heading to the blog says, " a journey with watercolour and my dog"
I thought to show you a little more "journey" work today.


Yesterday was a foul day with storms and high winds, so we didn't go anywhere for fresh air and sketching possibilities, we stayed indoors!

These are my sketches, the first in my new journal book, a present from Beryl at Christmas - and the others are two painted sketches of the same subject.

What started me off on pears again was an informative technique post on Painting Friends, by Mollie Jones.
Mollie is very generous in sharing her knowledge. 
She even does so on her blog!
So for those of you who haven't seen it, her blog is HERE
Scroll down from the first post - and there is the technique "smushing"
You're in for a treat :)

Happy New Year

Happy new year, everyone!

Hope this year gives you health and happiness .

These are a couple of painted sketches I did yesterday.

The painting bug rarely leaves me, though today is dedicated to clearing up the house, so that we can have a restful day tomorrow, before the return to work Tuesday.

Whatever you're starting off your new year with, I hope you have a great one!