My Compact Sketch Kit

I thought I'd share with you a compact kit I took with me on a recent 3-week trip that served me well, and I will take the same kit on our upcoming 16-day Grand Canyon river trip!

The bag is an Eagle Creek Pack-It Quarter Cube, and has a nice little carrying handle and a mesh cover. In the bottom I fit pens (Platinum Carbon Desk Pen and a Uniball Vision Micro), a mechanical pencil, 2 water brushes (fine and large), travel brushes (daVinci 1573 10 and 5), mini mister, pocket knife, reading glasses, stencil (bristle) brush for spatter, small piece of straw, 1/2 contact lens case holding a piece of kneaded erasure, and two small clips. I have a homemade palette from a Fisherman's Friend cough drop tin. Paper is a few sheets of 4x6" watercolor paper (in this case, Fabriano SP). I keep several more sheets of paper in a separate bag to refill this kit as needed. I have a piece of non-corrugated cardboard as a paper support, lined with contact paper and edged with artist tape. I clip a sheet of paper to the support when I sketch. I made a viewfinder from a piece of 4x6" watercolor paper to help me frame my compositions (I taped embroidery floss for the cross-hairs). The paper, support, and viewfinder are stuffed into an empty Canson watercolor 4x6" block. A Sea-to-Summit X-shot is used as a tiny collapsible water container. I usually I have a water bottle with me. Oh, and let's not forget a piece of Viva paper towel!

For those who are interested in knowing the paints in my palette, they are (starting at upper left): DS Hansa Yellow Medium, DS New Gamboge, DS Organic Vermillion, DS Q. Rose, DS Q. Violet, HB Manganese Blue Nova, DS Cobalt, DS French Ultramarine, DS Phthalo Blue GS, DS Phthalo Green BS, DS Yellow Ochre, DS Q. Burnt Orange, DS Burnt Sienna, WN Winsor Violet.

Here are some sketches I made during that 3-week road and river trip this May through California and Oregon:  

Agate Beach just south of Crescent City, CA

Rafts awaiting rigging along the Rogue River, Oregon

Along the Rogue River, Oregon

Sprekles Temple of Music, San Francisco, CA

Pacific Grove, CA

Joshua Tree National Park, CA

Visiting a Different Desert

We are back from a week in the deserts of California--a different, drier set of deserts than the relatively lush desert here in Tucson.  Since the mid-1990's we have occasionally enjoyed watching the professional tennis tournament at Indian Wells, now referred to as the BNP Paribas Open (it has been in previous years referred to as the Newsweek Champions Cup and the Pacific Life Open--it depends on who the sponsor is, I guess!).  So while there we often bookend our time watching tennis with camping and rock climbing at nearby Joshua Tree National Park.

What characterizes Joshua Tree NP the most in my mind are two unique features:  the gritty, fascinating (and fun to climb!) rock formations, and the Joshua trees the park is named after.  There are also palm tree oases in the park, but we don't often make to those areas as we focus mostly on the rock climbing.

Of course, while there I found many interesting sketch subjects!  My husband was very gracious in allowing me ample time to do this, usually in the mornings and evenings when the light is the best (and it's a bit too cold to rock climb!).  In the image at right, I started drawing the grouping of young Joshua trees just before dawn so by the time the sun rose over Ryan Mountain I was ready to paint the sunrise glow.  I then turned myself around to face the rock formation behind our camp, fully lit by the early morning sun.

While at the tennis tournament at Indian Wells I spent most of my time watching tennis, but I did manage to get a few sketches in too.  This year saw the unveiling of the new Stadium 2 facility, and while sitting in the stands one morning I sketched a portion of my view across the way.












Those familiar with the desert know that the nights can be quite chilly, even this close to spring.  I photographed my husband (in his down jacket) enjoying our nightly campfire.

Flower Emblems of Australia

 On our trip to Australia nine months ago I was fortunate to almost fill a Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook with fun sketches.  Almost  filled, but not quite.  Since our trip I've been slowly filling those remaining blank pages with many things Australian, drawing and painting mostly from my trip photos.  I recently had the idea to sketch all of the flower emblems of Australia in this book!

It was fun to learn a little bit about each of the flowers as I discovered which belonged to which state.  Some of these flowers are really unique!

All of the source photos for these sketches were from Wikimedia Commons.

EDiM #2: Draw a Favorite Sound

EDiM #2 calls for us to draw a favorite sound.  One that came to mind immediately was the call of the Laughing Kookaburra.  While visiting Australia a few months ago, we became introduced to the laughing cackle of this bird, and since then it never has failed to bring a smile to my face.  One cannot help but want to "laugh" with this bird!

One evening I recorded it's sound from inside my tent.

This sketch was from a photo we took at Hartley's Crocodile Adventures north of Cairns, QLD.  It's a resident there because of an injured wing.

Joshua Tree National Park

Mark and I just got back from an extended weekend of camping, rock climbing, and sketching (!) with a great group of people.  This was our first trip since we've gotten home from our 3-month-long trip to Australia and I was raring to go!

In this first sketch, done from Ryan Campground, are the Saddle Rocks by Ryan Mountain.  There are actually a few rock climbing routes on these rocks, the longest in the Park, including the ever-popular Walk On The Wild Side (5.8).  Mark and I did that climb last time we were in J-tree.






 On our second day climbing, we started at the "Hall of Horrors" area.  Mark and Scotty immediately got on a pumpy sport route called Jane's Addiction, and at 5.11b, was harder than I wanted to get on!  I used the time to sketch and take photos.  Here are a couple sketches from these photos:

On the third climbing day, I actually got some climbing in, but in the afternoon I took the time to do a study of a visiting bird, a Joshua Tree, and a Number 3 Camalot.

Once I got home I was able to go through the photos I took, and draw and paint some of my favorites, including this of a blooming beavertail cactus:

Sketching Australia

I'm back from 3 months in Australia!  Since I am very much into sketching these days, I made sketching what I saw in Australia a high priority for my time there.  Before I went, I carefully decided what sketchbook, pen, and watercolor pigments to bring.  I decided to try the Stillman & Birn Alpha because it looked like the paper was thick enough to handle watercolor paint yet thin enough to provide an ample number of pages in the book, and allow me to feel freer to write in it too.  It worked out great!  I brought my favorite pen, the Platinum Carbon Desk Pen, and spare Platinum Carbon ink cartridges.  I originally thought I'd bring ink in a little nalgene bottle with a syringe, but didn't want to bother with that.  As it was, I only used 2 ink cartridges for the entire 3 months.

It was of course a wonderful experience to do so much sketching, and I really feel that my skills improved with the almost daily practice.  It wasn't too difficult to find the time to sketch while travelling with a non-sketcher (my husband), as I was able to sketch while he was doing other things.  But still, oh what fun it must be to feel free to sketch where ever, whenever, and for as long as you want when travelling solo or with another sketcher!  Someday I shall have to experience that.

If you care to see more pages from this sketchbook, I created a Facebook album.

Sketching in the High Sierras

I recently spent a week in the Eastern Sierras of California hiking, camping, backpacking, and rock climbing.  Of course, I took what opportunities I could for sketching too!  For the hiking/car-camping portion of the trip I brought my regular sketch kit in my Eagle Creek Pack-it Sac, and got a few sketches in:

Many were done while the men (my husband and a friend) were otherwise occupied (hiking to the summit of Mt Starr while I lingered at Summit Lake and Mono Pass, in one case; I sketched a boulder while they were bouldering in another case).  In a quiet moment at Whitney Portals I also was able to sit by the lake and sketch the store.

From Whitney Portals we backpacked up to Iceberg Lake (12,600 ft) at the base of Mt. Whitney, the highest summit in the contiguous United States (at 14,505 ft).  From there we rock climbed one day up to the top of Mt. Whitney, and on another day up a neighboring peak, Mt. Russell (14,094 ft).  On those climbing days, there wasn't much time to sketch, but on the day we arrived, I did manage to sketch our tent amongst the granite buttresses adjoining Mt. Whitney with my ultra-minimalist sketch kit:

Because I would be camping at 12,600 ft I decided not to bring any of my fountain pens (I thought they might be a bit leaky at high altitude), buy instead brought my Pigma Micron pen.  The sketchbook is one of the single-signature booklets I recently made, containing Aquarius II watercolor paper.  And my watercolor kit is a set of 5 half-pans in a mini-altoids tin containing New Gamboge, DV Red Rose Deep, DV French Ultramarine, Phthalo Green, and Burnt Sienna.  Oh, and to round out the kit is a Pentel Aquash fine-tipped waterbrush.  All contained in a quart-sized zip-lock bag!

So much inspiration in the High Sierras for sketching...now that I am home I'm enjoying sketching from my photos of the trip.

Hand-bound Mini Watercolor Sketchbooks

I am about 2/3rd the way through the mini coptic-bound sketchbook I made for my travel watercolor kit, and I've learned that I think I'd like a thinner book for this purpose.  The coptic binding is a bit loosey-goosey, and it just seems kind of thick to use.  Also, I kind of get tired of the cover before I get through it.  I have to wait longer before I get the pleasure of starting a new sketchbook!  So I decided to make some single-signature watercolor sketchbooks and see if I prefer that.  Here are a couple I made.  The insides are 8 pages (4 signature folios, folded in half) of Strathmore Aquarius II watercolor paper, a nice thin high-quality watercolor paper.  The cover for the one on the left is my experiment in decoupage.  I used Modge Podge to attach and seal torn scraps of wrapping and tissue paper onto a piece of 67lb cover paper.  The one on the right has a fabric cover I sewed together.  I used embroidery floss to bind the decoupaged-cover book and cotton crochet thread to bind the fabric-covered book.  For both I hand-sewed using a backstitch.  Here are the specifics:

First the paper.  Awhile ago I bought a 10-pack of Strathmore Aquarius II because I wanted to try a quality thin paper for journal-making and this looked like the ticket.  I was also able to read about this paper on Roz Stendahl's blog, and was convinced to try it.  I like it!  It's nice and bright, very tough, and doesn't buckle.  So for my little mini-books I cut/tear into 5x7" folios using this tear diagram:

Tear Diagram for mini-sketchbook

It's important to note that the dashed line indicates the fold line (so the book is 3.5" wide when folded), and the folds are with the grain of the paper.  I use an X-acto blade to cut every 5", then I tear the 1" excess off then at every 7" (I tear because I like a rough edge to my paper).  When I have my 5x7 folios, I fold them in half, using a blunt tool (I used a handy spoon rest since I was working on the kitchen counter) to crease the fold.

In constructing the book, I roughly follow this excellent tutorial.  However, since I am binding a book with watercolor paper I cannot use as many sheets of paper or the book wouldn't fold well.  For my books I use 4 folio sheets of Aquarius watercolor paper.  Also, her tutorial talks about rounding the corners, which I don't do, and using closely-spaced stitches (to simulate the binding on the Moleskine); my stitch holes are 7/8" apart.

Next is the hole-punching session.  I marked up a guide out of card stock paper to help me know where to punch the holes that will be used when I sew the book together.  Like I said, the holes for my books are 7/8" apart.  Use an awl and a phone book cradle to punch my holes.

Then it's time to get creative for your cover!  At first I used attractive but boring plain-color card stock paper, cut to a size of 5.25x7.5".  To prepare the covers I folded them in half (now 3.25x5.25") then I used my hold punch guide (centering the guide, which is the size the watercolor paper inserts and therefore smaller than the cover, onto the cover paper along the fold) to punch holes in the cover  for the binding.  But wouldn't it be more fun to have a pretty cover?  This is where I explored decoupage and sewn fabric covers.  I like the decoupaged one fine, but I really love the fabric one because I just love batik fabric!  

I should give a bit of the process I used to make the fabric covers:  I measured out a rectangle of 5.75x8" (1/4" seam allowance) onto two pieces of fabric.  Right sides together, sew the side, top, and side seams.  Trim corners and turn right side out and iron.  I also iron down 1/4" the circumference of the un-sewn bottom edge.  Mark with a marking pencil where the fold will be and top-stitch along this mark.  I also top-stitched 1/8" along each sewn edge.  I now have two "pockets" to insert a stiffening material.  I used a piece of my crappy Canson XL 140lb watercolor paper in each pocket as a cover-stiffening insert (this paper is not good for much else!).  To fit into the pockets I cut them to 3.25x4.5" in size.  After inserting the "cover stiffeners" I top-stitched 1/8" along the bottom to close.

Next I bind the books using a simple back stitch.  Here is a photo of one in process:

I used my biggest sewing needle, and I did run the crochet threat (or embroidery floss) through beeswax before sewing.

Done!  I think I'm going to really like these small thin books for keeping in my purse or in my travel sketch kit.  They are cute, handle easily, hold 8 pages (or 16, if you paint on both sides, which I do), and I should be through one book before I get bored with its cover!

Current Project -- Europe 2011 Trip Retrospective Journal

I had started a Retrospective Trip Journal in January, and was making good progress through it (I got through ten years, to 1994!) when I decided to put that project in hibernation and work on our most recent trip, our month-long whirl-wind trip through Europe!  I was feeling the pull to jump to that trip since it was our most recent trip, therefore the most fresh in my mind, and certainly deserving of its own sketchbook.  I decided to use a Fabriano Studio sketchbook I bought recently on sale, and this has 12 sheets of cold press watercolor paper (for a total of 24 pages).  So I constructed a "budget" of how many pages I could allot to a particular place.  In total, we visited 14 places in Europe, so for some places I could only allot 1 page to that place.

Fortunately I took lots of photos on our trip so I have many references to sketch from.  Also, as I remember eating certain delicious foods in Europe, like baguettes, cheese, chocolate, and gelato, I am able to find photos online for reference too.  I also thought I'd include logo sketches, like Trenitalia logo, or the sign for Mary's Hotel in Paris where we stayed at, all easily found online.

For the cover of the book I had photoshopped a line of our train travel route on a map of Europe and pasted it onto the cover:

So we started our trip in Paris, and I ended up using 3 pages for that place, which will force me to reduce to one page for another place:

We next rode to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland and had a wonderful two days there:

I am currently working on finishing up our time at the Cinque Terre region of Italy (one of my favorite places of the trip!):

This project has been a lot of fun, and a great way to reminisce on a truly wonderful trip!

Mini Sketch Kit Ready To Go

Next month we are embarking on a long road trip from Arizona to Washington D.C. and even beyond to New York City!  So naturally I want to take along a watercolor sketch kit to do some trip journal-keeping, and I need to keep it small so I can always have it with me when I walk around these cities.  So here is the kit I am going to try, all contained in the Eagle Creek XS Pack-It-Sac.

First is the watercolor sketchbook itself, which I recent made using coptic binding and Strathmore Aquarius II watercolor paper.  The size of the journal is 3 1/2 x 5", which opens nice and flat to a 5 x 7" 2-page spread.  This will be the first time I've worked with this paper, but I chose it because it is nice and thin.  I made the book using four signatures, and each signature has four folios (i.e. 8 pages) each.  So this little sketchbook has  32 pages, comparable to a pocket watercolor Moleskine.  The cover is made with leather scraps, with the holes reinforced by 140lb watercolor paper I glued to the leather.

The watercolor palette comprises 5 half-pans of paint glued using rubber cement to the inside of an Altoids Smalls tin.  The colors I have in the palette are based on the "artist's primaries" palette on handprint.com:  Daniel Smith New Gamboge, DaVinci Red Rose Deep, DaVinci French Ultramarine, Daniel Smith Phthalo Green YS, and Daniel Smith Burnt Sienna.  I used rubber cement to adhere a cut-to-fit piece of a yogurt container to the top of the tin for mixing.

To round out the kit I have a Mini mister spray bottle, a large Niji waterbrush, a Platinum Carbon fountain pen filled with platinum carbon ink, a cuff to an old sock to wipe the waterbrush, a slide holder to help me frame my sketches, and a piece of Yupo paper cut to the size of my sketchbook to use as a color mixing palette.

Already on Day 30 of my 75-Day Sketch Challenge

I can hardly believe it but I'm already on Day 30 of my 75-Day Sketch Challenge!  I've been really enjoying it and already feeling more comfortable with the process.  Today I was wondering how charging my rubber stamp with watercolors would turn out, so I brushed on some carbazole violet on the stamp and stamped it into my sketchbook (I see I could use improvement in that process!).  So of course after that I had to set up a little still life of the stamp and brush to use as today's subject for the Sketch Challenge:

I find I like putting little color swatches in the bottom of my page so I can later know what colors were used in the creation of the sketch.

I have also been making progress on my Retrospective Trip Journal, slowing going through chronologically illustrating and writing about memories of trips Mark and I have taken since we've been together.  I am working in a 6x9" Strathmore Windpower Watercolor pad, and I've decided to customize the cover a little bit:

I cut a piece of nice 28lb paper and adhered it to the cover with spray adhesive, and wrote a little title in the corner of the cover, inspired by the children's book "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh".

Here are a couple more pages I have completed since my last post:

I of course need to work on drawing people!  I get so intimidated because I know I don't do that well!  I did use guidelines to draw the Mayan pyramid, using a ruler to sight against my photo on the computer screen.

New Project -- A Retrospective Trip Journal

When I recently became inspired to learn to draw better and create travel journals like the wonderful ones I've seen by other artists, I wistfully thought, "Gee, it's too bad I didn't keep a watercolor travel journal on all my past trips."  Then I thought, "Well, why not do it now?"  Why don't I use this wintertime of "hibernation" to look back onto all my past trips that Mark and I have taken together, and create a Retrospective Trip Journal.  It'd be a great way to get some sketching practice in (albeit from photos rather than life), I'd get to relive some great memories, and maybe have a nice trip journal to look through to relive those trips again and again.

So I made a list of all the trips Mark and I have taken since we've been together (since 1983!).  The list is long!  Too long to draw everything, actually, so I will keep it to the highlights for this journal.  Our first trip together was the summer of 1984 when we drove Mark's Chevy Monza (he had just rebuilt the engine) from Flagstaff, Arizona (where we were attending Northern Arizona University together), up through Colorado, to Yellowstone National Park.  Here what I completed a couple days ago of my retrospective journal of that trip:

After graduating from college in 1985 and getting real jobs, it was not until 1988 that we were able to afford the trip of our dreams, a trip to Jamaica!

So far it's been great fun to create these little journal pages as I reminisce on long-ago trips.  I plan to keep it up!