sometimes ya feel like a nut . . .

An early birthday present arrived this week: a second Sendak Nutshell from Peg & Awl. Why two?

My first one is loaded with watercolor, gouache, tiny colored pencil leads (and lead holder), a white pencil, an Inktense pencil in “bark”, masking pen, and a fine liner for tiny sketches. Plus some washy tape and a masking remover.

The new one is for monochromatic sketching, something I’d like to explore more: graphite pencil, a gray blue watercolor pencil, water-soluble graphite pencils, a fine liner, Elegant Writer pen, a brush pen, and a Demi palette holding only French ultramarine and burnt sienna watercolors. Plus sharpener, an extra eraser for the Blackwing pencil, and a bit of kneaded eraser.

I typically carry at least one fountain pen with me, attached to a small Traveler’s Notebook, so that would be included with either tool kit.

relaxing with watercolor

Yesterday evening I set out to pay a few bills online. I pulled up a recording of a recent Zoom painting session on Patreon hosted by Natasha Newton, planning on just listening in. But instead found myself grabbing masking tape, watercolors, and brushes and joining in with the participants.

The bills got paid later.

random sketches & a recipe

Here, I was testing gouache and Pitt Artist brush pens on the paper that came with my card-size Traveler’s Notebook. Gouache seems to do better than watercolor; the marks made with the pens seemed uneven as if resisting the paper.

I drew the ingredients for sourdough granola as it was baking in the oven. This is the primary thing I make with the discard after baking bread. Recipe follows, if anyone is interested.

(I’m a bit loose with measurements . . . as in, I don’t!)

SOURDOUGH DISCARD GRANOLA

8 Tbsp butter, melted and slightly browned

scant 1/2 cup discard

1/4 cup honey (I use real maple syrup instead)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. salt

2 2/3 cup rolled oats

1 cup chopped nuts and coconut 

1 cup dried fruit

Brown butter in saucepan over med. heat a few minutes; let cool a bit.

Preheat oven 325°.

Mix butter, discard, honey, vanilla, and salt until completely mixed. Stir in oats, nuts, and coconut.

Spread on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes.

Turn with spatula, then bake 10 minutes more.

Let cool. Break up and stir in dried fruit.

a few smallish sketchbooks

Sketching inspiration still seems lacking. So I drew my smallish sketchbooks.

The necklaces came from Peg & Awl, the generic copy of a tiny Traveler’s Notebook from Amazon, the green open-spine from Etsy seller LkMichiganBookPress, and the tiny pink one was included in an order from British artist Andrea Joseph years ago.

And my Traveler’s Notebooks, passport size and card size (which doubles as my wallet). Each with a Kaweco Liliput fountain pen.

a simple garter stitch

A doctor once told me that knitting might strengthen my hands, giving me a bit more control over my benign tremor. I enjoy knitting but our warm, humid climate makes sweaters or afghans out of the question. So I’m knitting cotton dishcloths.

Just a simple ink & wash as I enjoy a mug of tea . . .

first sketches

The past month, my desire to sketch has been sporadic at best. Even with the initial excitement of my new tiny Traveler’s card-sized notebook which I now use as an ID and credit card wallet. But today I finally finished the first two pages.

Three of these were sketched from photos on my iPad taken during a 2015 family camping trip on Mustang Island. The ghost crab (of which there were multitudes!) was drawn from an online source. I used watercolor, followed by a touch of pen. Even though this is not watercolor paper, it actually worked quite well. Gouache would probably work even better.

This Demi Palette holds my version of Marc Taro Holmes’ Direct Watercolor palette done in collaboration with Art Toolkit years ago. The brush I use most for these tiny sketches is an Ooku round #2 travel brush, and the pen is a Uniball Signo DX 0.28 in brown black. The larger brush is a Rosemary & Co R26 #4 round.

When I decided to use the pages of this tiny notebook for tiny sketches, I made a lightweight card stencil to draw in the tiny blocks. It is easily tucked in to the notebook’s kraft paper pocket, and can also be used for larger one-per-page blocks.

a sadness . . .

I was up in the wee hours of this morning, comforting our black Scottish Fold Straight cat, Scottie Dubh, who was searching for his brother, Bardie. Who is no longer with us. After calming him down, I did this sketchbook page.

These are the sketches I did of Bardie as a kitten. Such a serious-faced little guy!

a mini Travelers Notebook

Last month I heard about Travelers Company issuing a card sized limited edition notebook . . . only to find it sold out. But a Japanese seller on eBay listed one at a reasonable price so I ordered it, and it finally arrived this week.

Years ago I bought one of the company’s regular notebooks but was never happy with its dimensions. Eventually it was passed on to a granddaughter and I replaced it with their passport size, which I love. But this even tinier one seems like just the right size for tiny sketches. It can also double as a wallet, having pockets for ID and credit cards and a zip pouch for cash. It came with four extra inserts but I plan to make my own out of watercolor paper. The page size allows for a single page sketch as big as 2 x 3.5” (plus margins) or two sketches per page approximately 1.5 x 2”.

prickly poppy

Bluebonnets get the most attention of the vast variety of Texas wildflowers, but my personal favorite is the Prickly Poppy. It begins blooming in mid spring and lasts through late summer’s heat, a bright pop of white in the green pastures and along roadsides. I drew these from a photo taken at our campsite in Bastrop State Park. I especially liked how the flowers looked next to the Bastrop ironstone.

State Farm acted quickly after our car wreck two weeks ago. We received our claim payoff and yesterday we were able to buy another Trax, this time in a new color called “cypress gray” — in some light it looks dark earthy green and some light it looks gray. Once we add a tow package, we can get back to camping adventures.

prickly pear bloom

Our prickly pear cacti are slowly putting on a show this year. Most years, we might see only one or two flowers. I used watercolor, gouache, and a touch of colored pencil in this sketch, which turned out duller than planned.