Tag Archives: watercolour

Support A Business Sketch

Sketching a little support

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This is the Art & Craft Collective in Causewayside, just past the Meadows.

I have been part of the collective for over a year now and I love to make specific artwork for this shop/gallery. Often putting originals of the Meadows on show here as well as prints and other merchandise.

Recently I have noticed how many of my retailers, which are all local independant bsuinesses, are having a hard time since the lock down has been lifted and with it the provision of grants and financial help.

As there are hardly any tourists this year and locals are staying home as much as possible the high street shops are suffering with more and more are having to close.

I think it is vital we support these businesses, restaurants, pubs and hotels which are a huge part of Edinburgh’s appeal during normal circumstances and something we need to support and make sure don’t disappear.

Please do shop local as much as possible and follow my #supportabusinesssketch posts online.

Art & Craft Collective
93 Causewayside, Edinburgh
Website.

Support A Business Sketch

My first online video workshop with is now available

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Cassandra, aka ‘Bookbinding with Cass’, and I usually teach together at the fabulous Arienas Collective but this is our first online offering and I am so excited to share this with you.

We have loads of online tutorials which will equip you with the skills to create a set of handmade sketchbooks and inspire you to start using them with a mix of fine liner and watercolour straight away!

During lockdown Cass and I have come to appreciate the everyday, particularly our beloved house plants and the nature on our doorstep. This series of pre-recorded video tutorials will encourage you to work with what’s around you and get creative in your own space, in your own time.

Cass will guide you on how to make a handy, refillable book case, ideal for sketching on the go, with the added benefit of being multi-use – the inserts are interchangeable so you can re-jig the inside depending on what you want to sketch on that day. There’ll also be chance to make a cut and fold concertina book and a series of stitched sketchbooks made up of different types of paper to add colour and texture to your sketching. Cass will also share a nifty technique for stitching single signature sketchbooks together once they have been filled – a great way to collate your work and keep it in one place!

I will join in throughout the bookmaking to share tips and ideas for adding a personal touch to your books and watercolour washes to your paper – a great way to take a way that blank page fear in preparation for sketching.

Once your books are complete I will then take you through a number of drawing exercises that will focus mainly on pot plants you have in and around your house, and the exterior of your home. This will involve working with an ink pen and watercolour set, exploring tone, light and shading to discover your own style and create sketches full of character.

Kits and links to our selection of online tutorials will be sent out on 5th October. All participants are invited to join a Zoom sharing event on Monday 26th October, 6-7.30pm, where you can ask questions, share your work and get hints and tips for your bookbinding & sketching practice.

Workshop costs £80 – £130 depending on whether you would like an accompanying materials/tool kit.

For more information and to book your place see this event listing on the Arienas Collective website.

Daily Sketch

Early morning walk along the Water Of Leith

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This morning the kids and I decided to walk to school and afterwards I thought I’d keep on walking.

I’m lucky enough to live near the Water of Leith river that runs though the city and I joined it in St Stephens Park and headed along to Stockbridge.

This is the view from one of the walk bridges near to Canonmills and although I was caught in a shower half way through the rain stopped long enough for me to finish the sketch with watercolour.

Daily Sketch

Watercolour workshops online

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This week I took part in our second ‘Urban Sketching with Edinburgh Sketcher and Cassandra Harrison’ workshop on Zoom and had a great time.

Local artist and teach Cassandra Harrison and I thought we would set up an online fortnightly workshop where people could join us and create artwork looking at different mediums and techniques.

We will be sharing our tips and skills learnt over the years and also inviting guests on to share their thoughts about art and the city of Edinburgh.

We hope this will grow into a small community of creative types at all levels who can then share and learn together twice a month.

This week we were joined by comedien and Leither Jo Caulfield who introduced three of her favourite Leith buildings, which we all then captured in watercolours.

Above are my drawings as I showed people how to layer watercolour washes, leaving each one to dry and working on all three at the same time.

The results were amazing and to see some of the art out workshops produced go to the workshop facebook page at Urban Sketching with Edinburgh Sketcher and Cassandra Harrison

Above is a screen shot of our artists on zoom. If you have been on my ‘in person’ workshops in Edinburgh before then you will know that I always like to get a photo of everyones drawings at the end. It is a great way to see everyones unique take on the same subject, and to see how they all have merits. This is the zoom equivalent!

Join us on the next workshop by booking a place via the link below, each 75 minute class is £10 (£7.50 concessions) and on the 1st September we have architect David Blaikie joining us.

Read more and book your place here.

Daily Sketch

The Car In Front

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Inspired by recent crazy rainfall we have been having in Edinburgh recently this is a drawing from a photo taken yesterday in the torrential rain as I travelled through the city.

A quick sketch to warm me up before the days work. Often I like to do a speedy doodle in my sketchpad before beginning on commissions. This morning I remembered this photograph which captured the seemingly never ending rain that has been falling lately.

I love the way the droplets of water distort the view, spreading the light and changing the shapes we know so well.

Bonus WhereArtI points if you can name the street I was sitting in!

Daily Sketch

Online workshop 2: Layering watercolours in Leith

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In the second of my collaborative workshops online I will be looking at drawing with layers of watercolours, taking inspiration from the industrial buildings of Leith.

Just a week to go before the second of our 75 minute Tuesday night workshops where we take a look at urban sketching and the various techniques you can use.

This time on Tuesday 18th at 7pm (UK time) we will be looking at layering watercolours to achieve atmosphere and depth in your sketches. This can be a quick way to capture a scene and with a combination of loose strokes and steady detail can achieve great effects.

We will also be extremely pleased to welcome comedian and Edinburgh Fringe regular Jo Caulfield joining us live and telling us a little about her favourite Leith buildings.

Tickets for this zoom event are £10 (£7 concessions) and can be booked via the link below. You will need 3 roughly A5 pieces of watercolour or thick paper and a watercolour set for this week’s class.

Book your place HERE

Competition

WhereArtI Edinburgh?

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Monday 10th August

Can you tell me where I have sketched?

Usually full of crowds at this time of year, do you still recognise this city location?

Leave your answer in the comment box below.

Your comment will not show up until I reveal the answer, and I will pick a random winner from all correct entries and they will go on to the ‘Winners wall’ for the month. At the end of the month one of those will be picked to receive a prize.

The prize for August is a screen printed tea towel featuring my Victoria Street illustration.

Keep an eye on my facebook and twitter feeds for clues if they are needed later today, and I will pick a winner for the Winners Wall before the end of the day.

Keep looking up and noticing the beauty in the everyday, you never know where I will be sketching next!

If you would like to buy an Edinburgh Sketcher tea towel you can find all 4 designs in my Etsy shop.

Daily Sketch

Edinburgh Skyline in Rainbow

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My lock down influenced rainbow sketch of Edinburgh’s iconic skyline.

I had previously added a rainbow to my Leith Shore print, which you can see HERE but for this week thought about drawing a sketch from the start with rainbow colours.

This view is the iconic capital skyline featuring Edinburgh Castle and the clock tower of the Balmoral hotel on Princes Street.

I started with a pencil sketch of the skyline and then from that top edge drew a block of watercolour down the page.

After leaving to dry I then started added darker washes of each colour to pick out the shadows in the photo. With each darker layer the painting gained more depth.

You can currently buy the original painting which is 297x210mm for £150, which includes recorded delivery. Plus 20% for this sale goes to the NHS Lothian Covid-19 Appeal. More info HERE

Also you can buy prints from £20 from my Etsy shop HERE, with 10% from all print sales of this piece going to the NHS Lothian Covid-19 Appeal.

Daily Sketch

Colour on the castle

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Hello all, here is a wee project for your Saturday afternoon – have a go painting with colour only.

This is mine of Edinburgh Castle from this morning, using a water brush and travel set of watercolours I started with a light shade, drawing in the top edge of the castle where it hits the sky. Like a faint silhouette.

Mark in the darker parts of the image adding a little more paint to your brush and let it dry for a couple of minutes before layering another shade on top, filling the darker areas.

Keep layering with different shades until your picture appears out of the mist!

It takes some concentration and keep checking your angles in relation to what you have already drawn, but this process really makes you notice the tonal differences and shapes in terms of colour.

Here is a link to the waterbrushes I use, which are great for working quickly and when you are on location, plus the windsor and newton watercolour sets which again are great for always having with you.