waiting & sketching

We left very early today for my CT scan, knowing Houston’s morning rush hour traffic would be bad. And it was! Yet we were still too early so I sketched the waiting room. Several people left before I finished but I managed to capture a few of them.

This visit was just routine as they prepare to finish the ostomy reversal begun three months ago. Then I will continue to have CT scans and bloodwork for 5 years to make sure that the cancer does not return.

yesterday’s sketch, updated

After returning home yesterday, I was wondering what I should add to my depot sketch — today I added a sketch of one of the historical reenactors from a photo I had snapped. She seemed to add to the page in a way that the nearby caboose or other building did not.

Our granddaughter Jayna sometimes works as a reenactor at George Ranch. Like the lady in the sketch, Jayna loves to play dress-up and sharing historical facts with the many visitors.

today’s sketchcrawl

Today I finally made it to another sketch crawl, this time in nearby Tomball. It must be over 8 years since I last met with the Urban Sketchers Houston group! Several of us avoided the Farmers’ Market crowds and chose to draw the 1906 train depot in its peaceful park setting instead. After adding the USk stamps, we headed home before the rain began — Bill had some wood in the back of the truck for a new building project and we didn’t want it to get wet. Later on, I’ll decide what else I want to add to this 2-page spread.

playing with color, again

Recently, a comment was made on a blog entry I wrote in November of 2011 after reading a past issue of Watercolor Artist magazine about pigments used by artists in the late 19th century. At the time I came up with my own version of similar colors using quinacridone gold as my yellow — the original single pigment quin. gold that is no longer available. (The new version, while close in color, does not work the same in mixes!)

So this week I’ve played with my current paints, putting together an updated version of this limited palette, sketching it in my tiny sketchbook. Then I tried it on completely different paper (a blank refill for my passport size Traveler’s Company notebook). And then I painted a swatch card to see what mixes can be made.

Playing with my watercolors and pocket palettes makes me happy! 😊 

(And yes, I managed to sneak in a turquoise! It’s my favorite color and I figured it can substitute for the greens and cooler blue that were originally used. The original pigments artists used are listed on the left-side page of the Traveler’s refill.)

Indian paintbrush and bluebonnets

This year the Texas bluebonnets have been a bit sparse, at least in our immediate area. But the Indian paintbrush have been abundant — even colors of coral and yellow have bloomed among the usual orange-red.

This photo was taken in the same area as the above were sketched from by my friend A. just one year ago:

sketching wildflowers

This past Friday, a friend and I got together to sketch and chat. She lives on land currently covered with windflowers — I drew some bluebonnets, a primrose, and false dandelion in a glass yogurt container that were sitting in front of me. 

This crazy jumping spider kept coming near me so I added him (her?) to the page.

The local bluebonnets have been outdone by Indian paintbrush this year. Oceans of orange have overtaken the usual blue. A. and I both took photos (her iPhone camera is newer and much better than mine!) — I plan on trying to sketch a landscape of wildflowers later this week.

This is a photo I took looking towards a neighboring farm . . .

And this is a photo A. took recently. I absolutely love Texas wildflowers!

a bit of lantana

Today we drove to south of Tomball to buy new lantana plants, which the hummingbirds and butterflies love. Afterwards, we ate at Goodson’s Cafe — their pot roast is wonderful! (and so is the pie 😋)

On some of the walls are art items for sale. I liked how this Texas star seemed to be made of old car tags — then Bill looked at the small price tag hanging from it: “Made in China”. 😳 

aloe vera, Texas sized

Two years ago, we bought a small aloe vera to place in this special terra cotta pot. Mikala, our granddaughter, had decorated the pot with shells from Galveston. When we lived in Kansas, I kept an aloe vera in it but it was an indoor plant.

Here in the warmer climate of Texas, we planned on putting it outdoors. On a whim, I planted it directly in the soil instead of the pot. When winter nights might get too cold we wrap the plant in a protective sheet and it seems to be surviving. In fact, it’s thriving with new patches of growth added each year. The pot would have been too small.

Today I planted a small succulent in the pot instead.

two sketch kits

Today I cleaned out and reloaded my two sketch kits, both purchased years ago from Art Toolkit. The larger one was bought as a “second” during an annual spring cleaning sale but I cannot find any defect in it at all. For those curious, I’ve listed the contents below:

The small Pocket Kit holds my 2” sketchbook, a Demi Palette, a small spray bottle to refresh paint, small cut pieces of watercolor paper to test colors on, a travel waterbrush with medium brush tip, a size 03 Pigma Micron pen in sepia (with skinny masking tape around the upper barrel in case I wish to tape off a border), a thin line brush pen in muted green, a well-used Blackwing pencil, and a size 2 travel brush. The large pockets hold a 3.5 x 5” Traveler’s Notebook refill, a flat viewfinder, a folded paper towel, and a small clip to attach the palette to my sketchbook as I work. I have a silver Kaweco Liliput fountain pen with gray ink that I’d like to add to this kit but I’m having trouble with it’s ink feed.

The larger A5 Kit holds my current 5 x 7.5” sketchbook, a terry wrist band for wiping brushes, a paper towel, a 2.0 Molotow masking pen (this is a new tool for me), a stick eraser (to remove the masking fluid), a Kaweco Supra fountain pen with black ink, a mechanical pencil, a white Gelly Roll pen, two waterbrushes (one large tip, one small), two small clips, a Pocket Palette, some small cut pieces of watercolor paper, 2 Kaweco Liliput fountain pens (with brown and muted green inks), 2 travel brushes (a squirrel mop and a 1/4” dagger), and a small spray bottle.

All inks are De Atramentis Document or Noodler’s, chosen for their water resistance so watercolor can be painted over the ink lines. I don’t like carrying a purse — keys can clip to the zipper pull and my ID wallet is flat enough to slip into an inside pocket.

tiny pink mushrooms

This morning as I walked the south pasture with my corgi, I came upon these pink mushrooms. I’ve never seen any pink or red ones before — so I sketched them in my tiny sketchbook.

The palette is a Baby Cactus Demi Palette, a limited edition from Art Toolkit.

a touch of spring

These tiny yellow-to-coral wildflowers are popping up all over our yard and front pasture. The wee blossoms are only 1/2 to 3/4” diameter. I don’t know what they are called but they make me smile.

a new toy

When I first began to use fountain pens for sketching, Lamy Safaris were my go-to choice — and I still love their dependability, as well as being able to match my ink color to the pen. (They still don’t have a decent brown for brown ink though!)

But in recent years, my favorite pens have been Kaweco Liliput fountain pens! Even though they are not flexible-nib pens, the more they are used the more flexible the nib becomes.

Several months ago I found this Kaweco Supra on JetPens.com and immediately placed it on my wish list. The nib is larger and with the barrel’s extension piece it can hold a regular international cartridge or an ink converter. (If the extension piece is removed, it is more the length of a Liliput which can only use international short cartridges.) To celebrate beating cancer, I decided to gift myself with the new pen with a larger M nib, especially for writing letters or drawing with a bolder line. German fountain pen nibs as a rule run larger than Japanese nibs.

For some reason, my white gel pen refused to write on the black ink label of the De Atramentis ink bottle in the sketch. Curious!🤨 

a sketching pause while cleaning

Yesterday I cleaned up my art space in the back room. Or rather, I cleaned up this portion of the space: an oak taboret on wheels that Bill built for me years ago that sits next to my old desk. So of course I had to draw it in my journal. 😂

Yes, that is a ceramic pet dish acting as a water container! With the addition of my corgi, we needed a larger water dish for pets so the old one joined my art supplies. I just need to remember to empty it so the cats don’t drink dirty paint water!

Several old wooden boxes hold various supplies — the oldest one on an underneath shelf is filled with ink bottles and cartridges. It came from my grandfather’s printing shop and once held metal typeset letters.

This back room in our wee barn-house is a combination studio, library, office, laundry room, and cats’ room (where they can eat without a corgi interfering with them!). I have lots more cleaning to do, especially the wall of built-in bookshelves.

After posting this, I went back to the Dorothy L. Sayers novel I am currently reading. This conversation between Lord Peter Wimsey and his friend Charles Parker of Scotland Yard caught my eye. It’s been years since 9th grade Latin class — I had to look that bit up!

In the context of Wimsey’s character, it made me laugh so I jotted it down.

By the way, that desk of mine has some family history as well. It was once covered with red paint and stood in my grandfather’s barber shop with a great antique cash register on top of it. I had it stripped back to wood and have used it ever since as a desk . . . or a table to hold my sewing machine.

relaxing with color

Zero inspiration, zero motivation at the moment . . . (or am I just feeling lazy?). So I made a color chart of my favorite watercolors. A very relaxing thing to do.

I was also testing masking tape and masking fluid in this new sketchbook. The lines between the color swatches are made with a very skinny masking tape (I should’ve taped over the center binding threads — they drank up the paint!). The highlights on water-brush and paint palette are where I tried out a Molotow masking liquid marker. Both seem to work well on this paper. The masking fluid would not come up when rubbed with my finger but a white eraser worked fine.

a bit of shopping

After previously ordering 2 fine brush tip pens, I found that they were not waterproof (I gave them to 2 grandsons). I was more careful in placing a second Jet Pens order, this time choosing a Kuretake Ai ultra fine brush pen and a set of Akoshiya Sai thin line brush pens. I tested them on this journal page — all are very tiny brushes and all waterproof!

The Kuretake is the smallest brush and the deepest black but the cap does not post, making it uncomfortably short to hold. The longer Akoshiya pens are much easier to hold and the subtle colors are beautiful!

And that Hahnemuhle zig zag sketchbook? I just added it to get free shipping. That is how I usually pick up random sketchbooks to stock my shelves. 😄

baby apple tree

Last year about this time, the baby apple tree in the pasture in front of our barn-house was loaded with blossoms, followed by a bumper-crop of apples. But just before time to pick them, our local raccoon family stole all of the apples!

It’s beginning to look like another good year for apples. I wonder if we’ll actually be able to eat some of them this year?

first violet of 2024

Early this morning Butters and I were exploring when I spotted this tiny violet. So I sketched it in my tiny sketchbook.

I’m keeping the 2” sketchbook, a tiny Pigma Micron pen, paper towel, small waterbrush, and my CMYK Demi Palette in a large cotton bag from Art Toolkit.

In addition to cyan, magenta, yellow, and black from Greenleaf & Blueberry, I added green apatite, ultramarine blue, a raw sienna, and transparent red oxide.

my eye candy

Instead of beginning my new journal with a sketch of one of my Pocket Palettes like I normally do, I just chose my top 18 colors. Which, looking at it this morning, makes me hungry for jelly beans! Gotta love candy colors! 😂 

From the top, the colors are: 

Potters pink (WN), quinacridone rose, quinacridone coral, nickel azo yellow, azo yellow, green apatite, jadeite, cobalt turquoise light (WN), cobalt turquoise, cerulean blue chromium, ultramarine blue (WN), indanthrone blue, monte amiata natural sienna, transparent red oxide, quinacridone burnt scarlet, burnt umber, buff titanium, and lunar black.

All from Daniel Smith except the 3 indicated from Winsor & Newton.

ending and beginning

This is the last of my Khadi Papers Watercolour Sketchbook which I have been using since last April; the final page is partially glued to the end paper, making the last page a bit shorter. I used the back of the inside cover to test inks, try out watercolors, jot down doctor visits, etc.

I always look forward to beginning a new journal, but which one? The sketch is of a few ready-made sketchbooks waiting on my shelf. I think I’ll try the gray Tumuarta sketchbook — the paper is 140 lb. cold press which I miss working on, though the cover seems to be poorly made. I’ll soon find out . . .

some local highland cows

We recently drove a back road near home where Bill and I both tried snapping some photos of this highland cow herd. I especially like the one of the baby Bill took. It was a cooler day, much better suited to their thick, hairy coats.

And just to prove that I will sketch just about anything in my view: an abdominal drain that’s currently attached to me, an aftermath of the 11-hour surgery of 2 weeks ago. I am hoping to get it removed this week. Too gross to record in my sketchbook? Maybe. But an interesting memory, just the same.

a combination palette

Sometimes I want to use subtle, muted watercolors for a sketch. And other times, the sketch subject calls for bright colors. Instead of needing to change which Pocket Palette I grab, I put both muted and bright palettes in one.

UPDATE: After posting this, I removed the warm Volcano Red and added my favorite cool green, Jadeite genuine. I can easily mix a warm red by adding a yellow or gold to quin. rose, and jadeite is such a lovely bright green! I especially love jadeite mixed with ultramarine. 

Potters pink is not bright on its own but is a great base for skin colors. And it makes the most wonderful grays when mixed with cobalt turquoise light!

pretty mushrooms

Bill found these lovely mushrooms growing at the base of an old oak tree stump near our barn. I like how the upper one gracefully lays atop the other.

Yesterday in a video conference, Dr. Konishi confirmed that no cancer was found in the bits the tumor had touched. 97% of the original tumor was dead after chemo and radiation; he removed the rest with “a wide margin” as he phrased it — I am officially cancer-free!

tiny books & brush pens

Lately I’ve been wanting to work more in tiny sketchbooks but I’m still thinking out what tools and methods to try. I found a couple of Pentel Brush Sign Pens, extra fine, for only a few dollars at JetPens.com — unfortunately, I forgot to check and see if they are waterproof. They are not. 🙄

I drew my green mini sketchbook and the pens themselves using the pens plus watercolor in my regular sketchbook. Then on the opposite page, I drew all 3 of my mini sketchbooks using a Kuretake #13 refillable brush pen filled with Lexington Gray ink.

my caretakers

“IT’S SO EXHAUSTING BEING US!”

Bill caught Butters and Scottie Dubh taking a break from watching over me. Just before this shot, both had all four paws straight up in the air!

But we all know that it’s really Bardie Mac who is in charge. He usually has night duty, sleeping at my feet. 

Even our daughter and son-in-law’s Great Pyrenees mix, Bradley, rushed over to check me out after I got home from the hospital — and he hasn’t quite forgiven me for bringing Butters to live here yet! Bradley takes his job very seriously, trying to keep all of us humans home where we belong.

At first he liked Butters. But he must have thought that she’d be temporary like the pups our granddaughter trains for Patriot Paws. When he realized she was staying, he became jealous. But I think he will eventually get over it.

beginning of the end

It is so good to be home! I was unable to sketch at first with an IV on my right hand and blood oxygen monitor on my left, but eventually the IV was moved to my port. The above sketch was begun in pencil as I waited for pre-op nurses to prep me for surgery in the wee hours of Monday morning, and I later added ink and watercolor.

I wasn’t real motivated but I did manage to sketch some random things gathered on my bedside tray one morning after breakfast. I saved that muffin for last — it was very good! Except I had to pick out those walnuts that I love because they are not on my temporary diet. Later on I included a portion of the wall’s communication board to record those tasks I completed each day.

Surgery went very well, though the expected 7 hours turned into 11 hours. But the cancer is totally gone and the end is in sight. Reversing a colostomy is a slow 3 or 4 month process as a new temporary ileostomy was placed to allow the colo-rectal area to fully heal. Sometime in May or June, that will also be removed (eventually the chemo port will also be removed), and I will be done. There will be occasional tests to keep an eye on things for a few years but for me, as M. D. Anderson’s slogan says, cancer is history!

I implore anyone who finds my personal journaling of this past year to please take care of yourself! Get that colonoscopy test when advised to; don’t ignore it or put it off like I did. 

no sketching today

Of all the places they could have placed an IV, the only vein that would cooperate was in my sketching hand. 😖

But my surgery went fine and I’m on the road to recovery. Many thanks to all of you who have been sending prayers and good thoughts my direction! Prayers are definitely being answered! ❤️🙏🏻

a very odd diet

In preparation for tomorrow’s surgery and for a few months following, my medical team has placed me on a low fiber diet. No raw fruits and vegetables, no nuts or seeds, no oatmeal or popcorn, no cruciferous vegetables, no legumes or beans. Mainly I can eat proteins (especially red meat), a few over-cooked vegetables with no peels or seeds, white bread, pasta, and rice. And my favorite foods are fresh fruits, salads, and nuts from our local farmers market! 😢 

This is going to take some getting used to . . .

Meanwhile, I once again tried a white gel pen over watercolor to capture the diner’s table top. This time, it worked — same handmade paper as before in my recent “mending” sketch. I think the amount of sizing is the differential. The sizing is very uneven from one page to the next in this 100% cotton watercolor journal from Khadi.

packing essentials

Monday I head back to the hospital, this time for a surgical reversal of the colostomy that’s gotten me through cancer treatment. Drawing things in my journal helps me decide what to take for the expected 3 or 4 day stay. 

Preferring to pack light, I’ll throw a robe and the above things in a backpack and call it done. The zip bag holds a few personal items and my sketchbook fits inside the large art toolkit. Plus a pencil, two Pigma Micron pens, and a waterbrush. After choosing some random watercolors, I decided that nickel azo yellow and quin. gold are too similar — one was switched to potters pink.

Facing major surgery and this is where my mind goes? Sure, why not? Sketching is a great way of coping. Now we’ll see how much I actually feel up to sketching!

mending time

This week I finally caught up on some mending — I like to sew by hand more than dragging out the sewing machine. It just seems more relaxing.

After a bit of watercolor, I tried to draw the needles and a bit of white thread on the felt pages of the needle book with a white gel pen or a Posca marker but neither worked on this soft handmade paper.