Module 1: Chapter 2: Sketchbooks

I have 3 small sketchbooks, my main design-development sketchbook is A2 in size. The photos below show what I've done to date - I expect to do more sketches throughout the course which I'll include in later posts.

Sketches in the A5 and A4 sketchbooks will be scanned.  A watercolour sketchbook is 14.8 x 42cm which is too large to scan, so photos of the pages will be used together with a scan of part of the page.  I will also photograph the A2 pages, but scan any stitched samples unless they're too big.

Pen and Ink drawings from my A4 sketchbook. 

The first is a section of a tree that was covered in old ivy.  The ivy stems were different diameters and younger ivy had entwined itself amongst the older ivy.  The tree trunk was almost invisible.  Sadly, the tree is dying.

 

 In the next drawing, the ivy leaves in various sizes create lovely patterns.

 

 

The exposed roots of the trees form little protected spaces where seeds flourish as they are protected from people's feet!  Some of the shapes created are quite beautiful. 

 

A5 Sketchbook

 

My A5 sketchbook is the one I take to the woods to draw on site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A piece of tree bark on a rubbing.

I laminated these small found objects to protect them.  Some interesting lines and textures in these.

These dead leaves have curled themselves into lovely shapes, so I had to draw them.  Small areas were still green and grey.  I've coloured them in with watercolour - and surprisingly, the cartridge paper hasn't warped at all.

Watercolour Sketchbook

The paper in the watercolour sketchbook is heavier, so I can play with wet media.  This first page is worked around the real leaf - left.  I made a stamp from soft-cut lino and was very pleased with the result.  The water colour paper gives texture to the leaf stamp.  I coloured the leaf in with watercolour, and the background is watercolour.  The second picture is a scan of the prints and shows a truer colour.

 

The background is watercolour with salt, and I've attached some pressed weeds.   

 

Pressed leaves.

 

Next, I wanted to try some texture.  I've used some net ribbon - not sure what it's called, but I found it at the Festival of Quilts and thought it would be good to use as a stencil.  I've used the actual ribbon in this, not as a stencil, and coloured the whole page with acrylics.  The rest of the piece is muslin which was scrunched to produce the woodland floor, and pulled into elongated shapes to give the effect of trees.  Again, the scanned image below is closest to the original - I think this has worked well!  Love it!

 

The background is simply watercolour roughly brushed over the surface.  I like both of these leaf images.  The one on the left is a rubbing using wax crayon.  The rubbing was cut out and coloured with watercolour, then stuck onto the page.  The stamped image on the right is the lino cut that I used previously.  I usually cut away all the background, but in this case, thinking about the rough ground the leaves lie on, I left the background rough.  I love the effect, so I collected 5 other leaves and made lino cuts using the same technique - prints and samples made from those will appear in a later post!

 

I had a mess of acrylics left after doing the textured sample, so I used them to make a background with them and stuck some pressed leaves onto it - very effective!