British Isles Tour: The Coast of Northern Ireland

As we sailed from Cobh, Ireland to Liverpool, England, I was inspired by the shoreline that passed by just outside the ship.  I made a very quick pencil sketch in my landscape-oriented watercolor journal, and snapped a murky photo with my cell phone to help me remember the colors in the shoreline.  Later, I finished the sketch with watercolors.

As we traveled north along the coast of Northern Ireland, we passed Mews Lighthouse near Bangor.  I sketched quickly with a pencil, and wrote notes on the colors I saw.  

Later, I added pen lines with a Faber Castell black waterproof marker, and finished the sketch with watercolors.

In the moment, as I sketched the shoreline, it felt impossible to capture the moving scene. Later, looking at the simple landscapes, I love how fresh & alive the pages look to me.  Imperfect art is full of life!

Here's a photo David took of the lighthouse from a slightly different angle.  You can use it to make your own painting of Mews Lighthouse.

Happy Creating! 

Alaskan Adventure: My Travel Journal at Sea

I chose a Stillman & Birn watercolor sketch book to serve as my main travel journal in Alaska.  I also used the Hand Book Journal Co. watercolor journal for wider landscape studies.

I like to add the itinerary to remind me of when and where we traveled.  This is the title page of my Stillman & Birn journal.

I clipped the photo from a Cunard advertisement.  Queen Elizabeth is the tiny ship sailing up an Alaskan fjord.  You may recognize it as the picture that I used as a reference for the painting I made before we left in the post here.

On embarkation day, I stood on Deck 10 and took in this view of Vancouver Port.

I made a quick watercolor sketch of the port scene in my watercolor landscape journal.  I was excited, jet-lagged and blown away by the beauty of the mountains & Stanley Park.

On our first morning I awoke to gorgeous, misty island shores right outside our state room.

  Sitting at the little stateroom desk, I looked out beyond the balcony, and painted quickly, writing in observations like:

"The air smells like seaweed & mollusks -- sea air with a land/port smell of nature."

"5:30 AM Awoke to green-gray mountains fading to misty gray in the distance.  The sea air smells alive, invigorating, full of memories for me -- it reaches deep within."

Making fast watercolor sketches as the ship sailed was a wonderful challenge.   It's a great way to begin and loosen up.  When you have very little time, you don't judge your marks as much, making your work freer.

Even the water in the Pacific Ocean was gorgeous, jade-green and frothing up from the ship's propulsion system. 

I invite you to try a quick watercolor sketch of any of these scenes -- or of a scene in your life right now.

  Remind yourself that you're not making a finished painting but a quick study to get the ideas, the shapes, the colors down.  You're not making an exact replica, just an impression.  A gesture.

Encourage yourself to play.

Set yourself a time limit -- you can set a timer for 3-5 minutes per painting if you like.  You pick the time limit and the painting size that suits you.  My paintings are about 5" x 12". Simply allowing yourself to play with no expectations creates the magic that makes it fun.

I hope you give it a try.  I hope you make discoveries and have fun playing!

Happy Creating!