100 % Vitamin C

Oil, 30x40cms

Every now and then I manage to finish an oil painting.  I'm still on a learning curve and going to a painting class every week.  On this one I wanted to concentrate on the light and shadows and not worry too much about too much detail on the fruit.  Oranges, lemons and manderines all locally grown then piled up in a bowl on the kitchen table, thats a lot of Vit. C!

Don't want to do it!

 Pen and coloured/watercolour pencils

Everyday Matters 282 - Something you've been putting off or don't want to do

Both!  I hate ironing and I don't ever want to do it, so I always put it off.  Only when  the enormous tower of clothes is about to topple over do I consider doing any of it.  This isn't very clever when in the morning you have nothing ironed to wear and can create panic among the teenagers in the house.  I have tried to train them to iron for me, but they have to be in a VERY good mood first!
Needless to say sportswear (the sort that doesn't crease in the wash) is very popular with me and roll on the day when all clothes are 'wash n wear'.

Bamboo

Coloured pencil (29x20 cms)

I was drawn to this bamboo at The Botanical Gardens because of it's patterns and the way I was pulled into it, almost as if there was a hidden pathway...who knows what other world exists on the other side!!?
This is bigger than the sketches I've been doing lately and took a bit longer, but today is the day for finishing off some projects that have been hanging around.  I've another painting that I will hopefully finish later....maybe (!)

Float On

Watercolour pencil and coloured pencil

Everyday Matters  N° 281 - Draw what keeps you cool

I think one of the best ways to keep cool on a really hot day is just to float about in the sea, demonstrated  here by my son!
Of course a swimming pool is just as much fun and if you haven't got one of those handy perhaps one of those kiddies paddling pools?   There is something so relaxing about  letting go and moving with  the waves.  My son's ring was actually attatched to a small boat so there was no danger of him floating away....or he could have ended up in Tunisia!

Seed Pods and Feathers

A collection of little bits of treasure, seed heads, a feather and and empty snail shell.  All found while walking around a rocky peninsular see my post here .

Face within a Face

EDM 280 - Something you don't see everyday.   A rather unusual tree!
When I recently went to The Botanical gardens I  stood in front of this tree admiring it's twisted roots, then I noticed how many faces and animals there were hidden in the knarled trunk and roots.  The more you look , the more you see.  I tried to reproduce the same effect in my sketch book, although I couldn't get them all, the pattern of the roots was so complicated!
How many can you see?

The Flower Seller

Coloured Pencil

The Virtual Paintout is in Hong kong this month.  Using Google Street view I found this flower seller on Shung Tak Street.  There are lots of little darkened shops selling all manner of food, clothes and anything else you could desire.  I was attracted to this lady's traditional chinese dress and her bright blue hat.  She was so intent on arranging her flowers she didn't notice me!

A Summer Walk

Sketch in coloured pencil and pen

These sketches are from nearby Capo Zafferano, a gentle walk around a rocky peninsular inhabited mainly by gulls and somewhere I often go to sketch.  This time I sketched the lighthouse first in pen and watercolour adding the coloured pencil at home.  To get a good view I had to stand up and lean on the rock I've drawn above, not the most comfortable position!
I sat on the grass nearby to pack up my sketching kit then looked up and noticed how beautiful my rock looked against the blue of the sea.   I'd already burnt my shoulders in the sun so I took a quick photo and drew that one at home.
At this time of year the grasses and wild plants have all gone to seed and become dry.  I love all the different browns, yellows and golds against the turquoise blue of the sea.  I gathered up a little treasure trove of seed pods, grasses and  feathers to take home, now waiting to be sketched!

The Card Players

Sketch in pen and coloured pencil

If you go to any small Sicilian town or village on a warm day, you will always find some old fellas playing cards, sometimes under a tree, in the village square or even wedged between some fishing boats.  Sometimes they bring their own chairs, often they bring just a bit of cardboard to sit a the wall with.  I have never seen any money exchanging hands, so it can only be for fun!
The man in the cap I'm sure I've drawn before in a bigger coloured pencil piece from last year, so he must be a 'regular'. (He's the one with his back to us). 

Coloured Pencil on Fabriano F4