May 2024
May was my favourite month for sketching. The roses were starting to bloom and the weather was nice enough to sit in a field without getting soggy. This month I experimented with different types of watercolour paper. And my focus was on making sure that the background and foreground were distinct.
As we had nice warm weather, my family and I went to a bouncy castle and flew a kite.
Bouncy Castle, ink and watercolour on paper, 33 x 15 cm, 2024
Five Kites, ink and watercolour on paper, 15 x 33 cm, 2024
As for my paper testing, I realized I didn’t like the texture of the A6 Zen Sangam Artist's Watercolour Art Journal paper. The pattern of the machine pressed paper was too distracting for me.
Here are some flower paintings from this sketchbook.
Lupins, ink and watercolour on paper, 33 x 15 cm, 2024
Pink Rose, ink and watercolour on paper, 33 x 15 cm, 2024
The second type of watercolour paper I tested was eggshell paper. Rhododendron was painted on White Nights eggshell watercolour paper. I really enjoyed the smooth texture. It works very well with thin fineliners.
Rhododendron, ink and watercolour on paper, 13 x 19 cm, 2024
I also received a pad of Arches cold pressed watercolour paper for my birthday. I only painted two landscapes in May, both on this paper. I love the texture, but find the paper extremely dry to the touch.
Bridgeness Tower in May, ink and watercolour on paper, 14 x 21 cm, 2024
Yellow Field, ink and watercolour on paper, 21 x 14 cm, 2024
I also painted flowers on Arches papers, and really enjoyed it.
Clover, ink and watercolour on paper, 14 x 21 cm, 2024
Sunny Garden, ink and watercolour on paper, 14 x 21 cm, 2024
May Rose, ink and watercolour on paper, 14 x 21 cm, 2024
Clematis, ink and watercolour on paper, 14 x 21 cm, 2024
My favourites this month were the Clematis and the Rhododendron sketches.
The papers I used in May were the A5 Zen Sangam Artist's Watercolour Art Journal, White Nights A5 eggshell watercolour and Arches cold pressed A5 watercolour paper.
The other materials I used are the Kolinsky Travel Watercolour Brushes and Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolours (with some White Nights and Daler and Rowney pans). The ink pens I used are the Faber-Castell Pit Artist Pen fineliner in Dark sepia and De Atramentis Document Ink - Green Grey in my Pilot Parallel Pen.
