Tag Archives: pencil sketching

Spending the rest of today sketching and painting teazles

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A friend wants me to teach her the basics of watercolour and is very drawn to teazles and all things hedgerow.

A sketch I did just now of some teazles

A sketch I did just now of some teazles

My kind of subject! So today after sourcing many teazle images I am sketching out random shapes and forms from those collated.

The stark, uncompromising spikey spindley cage of the teazle - I love its organic shape

The stark, uncompromising spikey spindley cage of the teazle - I love its organic shape

I am going to use the best one or ones to then create a simple watercolour lesson on how to execute them in this medium. So excited as I love wildflowers and plants so this is a great excuse to immerse myself in hedgerow flora and fauna.

I'll use one of these from which to create a watercolour demo

I’ll use one of these from which to create a watercolour demo

Watch this space for the watercolour demo. You can paint along too if you like.

Brushes at the ready but I only used a 3 and a 6 round really.

Brushes at the ready but I only used a 3 and a 6 round really.

I have until Sunday to create two lessons for her - one on teazles and one on cowslips. A perfect sunny yellow flower that echoes the heatwave sun we are being exposed to here in Wales this last few days.

Do you have a wildflower that best evokes the British countryside to you?

Sketching Geese in Pencil

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This morning I had the urge to put pencil to paper and geese were on my mind. They appeal to me because of their associations with fairytales and golden eggs and a bit of magic. They also make good guard dogs and one once bit my father’s thumb really badly.

A real gaggle of geese! Pencil sketching for practice.

A real gaggle of geese! Pencil sketching for practice.

I use big A3 pads of cheap paper from Poundstretcher etc so that when I draw and doodle I’m not worrying about wasting good paper.
I used a Derwent Onyx Medium pencil to draw.
derwent-onyx-pencils

G1
I fancied doing a few heads and one or two full bodies and this was a really good learning curve for me.

Drawing the first one I was totally drawn (excuse the pun) to her curvaceous and plump body and especially to her gesture as she stepped forward - her sweet webbed feet over-lapping each other …
lady goose

G2

The next one was a sweet looking goose with an angelic head.
goose1

G3

After that I saw this old looking one with a great angle to his head. Fun to try and get that down on paper - some shape!
goose2

G4

The last one I FORCED myself do as I would normally shy away from something so difficult.
G5

Again - learning to see is the main problem - not learning to draw! To help with that I would recommend “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” by Betty Edwards.
images
You will come on in leaps and bounds - I know I did. You’ll love it - it really puts you into orbit about drawing and observing - such a phenomenal book. No wonder it has become a classic.

A while ago I took photos of real live geese near Caerphilly Caste not far from where I live. This is a watercolour I did of one of them. She was a real beauty.

goose etsy

I hope you’ve enjoyed these simple sketches.
Alison