a new companion for Scottie

Since our 9 yr. old cat Bardie MacRuadh died unexpectedly in May, his brother Scottie Dubh has been a bit lost. Needing lots of reassurance and extra petting, he has continued to cry at night. After a lot of thought back and forth, I decided to get him a new feline buddy. He just wasn’t built for life as an only-cat.

Today we brought home Luna, a 3-month old Maine Coon kitten. Wary of each other at first, Scottie discovered that with Luna came new toys! He now happily accepts having a new baby sister.

Butters is totally ignoring the kitten and Luna, having never been around dogs before, is being extremely cautious before getting too close. But I’ve had Maine Coons before — I am sure that her outgoing, accepting nature will eventually overcome any reservations re: The Dog.

June’s last sketch

This final sketch for the month of June began in pencil, loosely drawn as Bill drove me to a dentist appointment. Later, I drew ink lines using the Elegant Writer 1.3 mm pen in my new Sendak Nutshell kit. For the border, I used a 2.5 mm pen. I erased the pencil lines then used a damp brush, allowing the ink to bleed a bit, and added just a touch of watercolor.

I saw this cattle egret following one of our donkeys from the north pasture around to the one on the east — wherever she wandered, the egret hopped quickly behind, gobbling up bugs that rose from the disturbed grasses.

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.

the sketching I didn’t do

I planned to do lots of sketching during our week at Bastrop State Park. But there was plenty of time so first I finished these first pages of my new sketchbook, an A5 100% cotton watercolor book from Hahnemuhle. The mushrooms were from our back yard; the two front ones are a different variety of inkcap than the one previously sketched — these are smooth rather than shaggy. I also did a lot of reading under the beautiful trees and a bit of knitting.

Then our week was changed drastically. We tow a small car behind the RV on longer trips. Tuesday we drove into Bastrop for lunch at Maxine’s (I had a great fried green tomato BLT!). Then headed to H-E-B for a few items. But we had an accident instead. Both of us are fine, though pretty beaten up by airbags and extremely sore. As I told the ER nurse, I guess that hike we were planning to take is cancelled. The car was totaled. After making arrangements and dealing with accident reports, we decided to head home early.

We had managed to get several walks in, enjoying the campsite’s peaceful beauty. There was a CCC shelter with three separate areas, each with its own fireplace; like all the CCC structures in the park, it was designed to fit its specific location using river rock and planking harvested from the park itself as the park was built.

home for this week

One of the views we are waking up to this week, camping in the Bastrop forest . . . This immediate campsite was untouched by the devastating fires of 2011. The vast acreage that did burn is making a strong comeback.

yeasty smells

Every week or two, our place takes on such a lovely aroma! And sometimes I just have to sketch it. Keeps me from slicing the sourdough loaf before it’s cooled.

Next, I made a new batch of granola from the discard.

fiddlin’ around

I’ve been playing around with a tin of watercolor graphite, which I bought recently on a whim. No idea how I’ll use it.

Also, I woke up this morning and realized my brother’s birthday is one week away. So I painted a quick card for him, shaky hand and all.

an unexpected find

As I was heading out to the car the other day, I was dive-bombed by a medium sized bird — it happened so fast that I couldn’t even tell what type of bird it was. Then I looked up and found a nest being built under the back patio roof.

Both fountain pens hold De Atramentis Document inks: the Sailor Fude de Mannen has brown ink and the Wancher PuChiCo mini fountain pen has turquoise ink.

abandoned cemetery

While camping at Fort Parker State Park last month we visited an old cemetery on the park grounds, maintained by park employees. There were several interesting headstones, three of which I drew directly in ink, wonky lines and all. Dr. Brookins’ stone especially caught our eye with its intricate details and untold story — slain for gold by Mexican Violence in 1854, one phrase reads “He suffered much through life and remembered not”. 

transition

This past year has been a time of transition in many ways, not just art related. But I actually used my sketch journal as a thoughts journal this week. 🙀

I’ve been exploring muted palettes rather than bright pigments, as well as trying underdrawing with brush pens and adding colored pencils. As I’m nearing the end of this sketchbook and choosing a new one, I’ve slightly tweaked the paint colors and pencils carried in my Mini Sendak. The Pocket Palette holds granulating watercolors and the Demi Palette holds gouache.

Other transitional areas include learning to cope with my “new normal” diet changes following cancer and finding non-medicated ways of dealing with essential tremors in my hands. But as a Julien of Norwich quote I recently found in a Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery says, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well”.

succulents & prickly pear

I sketched these pots in our front garden on Monday — then non-art life stuff kept me from finishing until today. But then, I prefer my art slow and drawn out over time anyway . . .

The second photo shows only half of our mass of prickly pear cacti. All of this grew from three pots bought a couple of years ago.

some of the others

These are a few of the other mushrooms that have appeared in our pasture and back yard this past week.

Sailor Fude de Mannen fountain pen (De Atramentis Document brown ink), watercolor background, and gouache in a Seawhite Travel Journal.

missed opportunity

This creamy white mushroom on the left was spotted on Saturday evening. Then I forgot to go back and check on how it was growing and changing.

One of my favorites, a Shaggy Ink Cap, I missed seeing its transformation. The drippy sketch on the right was how it looked early Monday morning.

for the birds

These pages have been experimental, trying various methods of using watercolor and colored pencils. The background of the pigeon didn’t contrast enough so I added colored pencil. That still didn’t work, so I tried another wash of watercolor over the pencil — major failure! Giving up and moving on . . .

The quotes were jotted down after drawing the heron in colored pencil. Bill and I have been reading the Chief Inspector Gamache mysteries by Louise Penny.

in hope of leftovers

I snapped a quick photo of our granddaughter’s hound, Molokai, just before we sat down to eat Easter dinner. But I didn’t get around to sketching him until this morning.

This is the final sketch in this tiny sketchbook. My next purse-size sketchbook will be a bit bigger: a watercolor insert that fits the passport sized Traveler’s Notebook.