Dinky Schminckes

The bad news - for my blogs and keeping them updated - is that I haven't been doing any drawing, but the good news, for me, is that I have finally found the commitment I need to sit down and practice my watercolours again. I dabble with them now and again but not long enough to make a difference. However, after watching Billy Showell's excellent DVD's I do feel I'm beginning to make a little progress. I think that finding the right mindset is the key to learning, and after watching Billy's clear instructions, it didn't seem quite so scary, that some degree of control is possible! I kept imagining that there is a 'right' way to paint with watercolours, that everyone else is an expert and they will always be alien to me, but actually, I realise, no-one ever feels that confident with them! So with that in mind, I can get on with the business of doodling, practicing and playing!

I know photos of sketchkits are always fun so I thought I'd show mine in the meantime. Top, left to right, a set of Senneliers ( I put them in an empty Rembrandt palette), a set of Schminckes and a set of Winsor & Newtons. Below, I'm following Billy Showell's colours (W&N's) and I set out mine similar to hers to make following the DVD's easier and  also so I get to remember the names and characteristics. (And if I forget, they are set out in her books!) This is important because I've spent most time using the W&N's but I'm constantly forgetting the names of the colours which is quite annoying and time consuming. I thought it would be a good idea to put the Schminckes away and get used to one set before moving on. But later, I was looking for a particular colour I like and got the Schminckes out again and realised how much I like them.

The Senneliers are a new addition and I've taken to them straight away. Billy Showell (again!) highlighted these in an Artist's and Illustrator's article so I gave them a go. They are so much nicer than I expected. The colours are so clear and fresh and they mix beautifully. So now, after a little practice, I'm beginning to find my preferences and at the moment, I'm just using those and the Schminckes with a few W&N colours I like.

I'm not keen on Moleskines for drawing but I very much like their watercolour pads. These little ones are great for doodles and cheap enough not to get precious about. I've been attempting to draw and paint in the garden so this one and the next size up are just perfect. I am, however, finding that even these small palettes are quite cumbersome. I wonder has anyone invented a tiny one, with lots of compartments for colours, with a place to keep water, put a brush down, hold a tissue, not slide off the lap, easy to hold along with the sketchbook and close without leaking? Is that too much to ask?!

Caran d'Ache

I finally got around to walking up to the Caran d'Ache factory which is situated not too far from me. I didn't expect to see anything like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, but I did hope it might be a bit more interesting than this! That sign on the top of the building looks as if it might be missing a chunk too.

I find it strange that in the few years I've been living here I've only seen their lorries about 3 or 4 times. The factory is right on the border of France so I wondered if maybe most of them go out to France? You would think since the factory is based here, we'd have a fantastic range of products but we don't. I've seen better displays and ranges in London.

Anyway, it was interesting to see the actual factory all the products come from. There was another building to the left and a large car park full of cars but it's a surprisingly small operation for such a world famous brand. Visitors aren't welcome here unless in large groups, otherwise I might have been tempted to go in and ask if they wouldn't mind extending the colours on that Museum range of theirs!

A quick sketch

A modest little sketch I did on the walk last weekend. Not much to look at, admittedly, but I'm always chuffed when I manage an outdoor sketch and pleased too that it's done on the first page of my new little Green & Stone sketchbook. In keeping with it's old fashioned feel, I'm going to allow myself to do some good old fashioned simple sketches in it.

Is anyone else having trouble with the new Blogger template? It seems to take forever to get the text to align left and drawing and text swap places when I switch between compose and edit!

Great Friday!

What is it about Good Friday? It just seemed to be one of those perfect days today and as Mark and I were out walking I remembered another wonderful Good Friday I blogged about here, in 2006. Must be a happy alignment of sun and planets or something!

We drove out to a beautiful area called Choulex, only 10 minutess away from us, but with lovely panoramic views of the Alps and what looked like a preservation area for birds. Lots of little moor hens, ducks, herons and croaking frogs and we spotted this -

a kestral in a nesting box, not too high up in the tree and fairly relaxed about being next to a footpath. There was a gathering of photographers at one of the large ponds all looking expectantly towards the south - I wondered if one of them had spotted something exciting today or did they come out regularly in the Spring to see the newcomers flying in? There were some serious lenses out there!

It's wonderful that the trees will soon be in leaf, but I much prefer them without, especially if I'm attempting to draw them!

Some old abandoned farm machinery.

Another great shape.

A lot of the trees around Geneva are covered in Mistletoe which looks great in the winter, when the leaves are gone.

And finally, a great resting place, but I think perhaps the view is wasted on the occupants!

Back from Blighty

I was in London again this week. As usual it was a mad rush trying to do everything in too few days. Well, it was a mad rush once we got there - we had a 6 hour wait at Geneva airport and EasyJet were still having problems when we returned. I thought I might have had to forgo the usual visit to Green & Stone, but I just managed to scrape one in on the last morning before heading for the airport.

A few days before we went, I discovered a Billy Showell DVD on my shelf that I'd forgotten all about called Watercolour Fruit & Vegetable Portraits. I'm always saying I should practice more with watercolours and I do get a book out once in a while and give them a go. It never really comes to anything and I give up again, depressed. But looking at the DVD and seeing the brush, water and paint in action, I was inspired. Out came the paints again but still I'm struggling, with the paper mainly.  So I decided to order brushes (and another DVD!) off Billy Showell's website and see if I can find some paper I like. The only paper that has come close was in a pad made by Green & Stone with Fabriano Artistico paper (140lb HP) but they are no longer being made. So with some advice from a very helpful assistant there, I came away with two papers to try - the two large watercolour sketchbooks on the right in the photo. One has the Fabriano Artistico paper but feels slightly rougher than the original Green & Stone version, and the second (with the black cover) is an RKB Fat Pad with Saunders Waterford HP paper. Well, stone the crows, I think I may have found a paper I like! This is really lovely paper. Not too smooth like Arches HP satine, but with just the right amount of texture. It doesn't absorb too quickly and the colours still look vibrant when they've dried.

The brushes too are great. I've been trying all sorts of brushes, including 'miniature' brushes, trying to get some sort of control. These have such a fine point and a good shape for holding water, that I feel I have more control than I did with the smaller brushes.

Also in the photo, top left, is a paper I tried last week - Minerva made by L'Atelier du Papier. It felt right but I noticed colours didn't look so bright and they also looked rough and grainy when dried, compared to another (a Bockingford) that I tried at the same time. I know finding the right tools for watercolour is a lengthy process of trial and error and I'm probably less patient because I didn't have too much problem with drawing -  I settled on cartridge paper very early on and have always been happy with it. Watercolour is a whole other ball game but I do think, with this combination of brush and paper, I've taken one little step forward, at long last!

The small sketchbook, middle right, is a lovely little Green & Stone 'travel' sketchbook bought on impulse. It has a lovely old fashioned feel about it, with it's cloth cover and pencil holder. It also has a press stud to keep it closed. I think Winsor & Newton's travel journals would be just perfect if they didn't have those buttons and string. Very pretty, but not practical. I like the slight yellow tinge to the paper too, as if to emphasise it's old fashioned look. Only problem is, on the plane home, when I could have drawn something, I didn't want to ruin it! I wonder what these companies make of their customers - if the product doesn't suit us, we complain, but if it's perfect, we're too afraid to use it!