SKETCHBOOKS

Recently I wrote a post on Instagram about my coastal sketchbooks. Inspired by the jumble of rocks and tangle of sea plants and the play of light on water, I love to get down some sketchy observations while on my walks.

Sketching provides an invaluable resource for inspiration and ideas for paintings. But it is also such a fulfilling and satisfying occupation! Getting out for a walk in nature is something most of us love. It gives us a chance to open our eyes to the wonders of creation, recharge our batteries, and even ponder a current question or two. Often we gain solace in these moments, feel healed or replenished, nurtured in some deep way. Taking a sketchbook and a few paints or pencils with us can add another dimension. Sketching makes us sit long enough in one place to really look at what’s around us and to use all our senses to really observe and experience our surroundings intimately. I love getting in close, hunkering down and smelling the earthy smells of the soil and the sweet aromas of wild grasses, being caressed by the wind or revitalised by the salty air. By sketching I become an integral part of my natural environment, not just the observer, and a conversation starts happening that opens up a feeling of connectedness with all of creation, absolute oneness with the universe, with all that is.

My pile of sketchbooks is constantly growing. I love looking through them and revisiting the places and scenes that inspired them, recalling the feel of the sand between my toes, a blazing hot afternoon spent in the comforting shadow of a tree, or a blustery wind blowing in from the sea dampening my skin and crinkling my paper.

I usually carry a small backpack that I keep ready with the following supplies:

A5 sketchbook (Seawhite of Brighton or Daler Rowney watercolour) A small box of travel watercolours (Winsor&Newton) Tube of white gouache. Brushes of different sizes. Some Derwent watercolour pencils, a selection of Caran d’Ache neocolors, and a small jar of water.