Drawing Amsterdam Dailies, Days 101-150 Video Now Available
I’ve just finished my latest video showing the progression in my Amsterdam travel sketchbook over the days 101-150. Some days it doesn’t seem like much, but 30 minutes a day really does add up. Take a look! Let me know which images you like best and what you think!
One of my favorites from this video is the spread from the outside of the Rainarai restaurant. It was one of the first time that I used gouache and watercolor in addition to the black ink on my drawings. The color really makes the drawing pop.
Architecture and food on the same page! How could I not like this? Ink, watercolor and gouache.
I put together videos from every 50 days of progress. If you want to see the days as they are done, you can see them on my Dailies page or you can subscribe to @anya_toomre on Instagram. The videos can be found on my Dailies Collections page or on my YouTube channel.
Flip-Through Video of My Portugal Travel Journal and Some Time-Lapsed Drawing
The view uphill near the Alfândega in Porto, Portugal.
I continue to work on my art daily and have also continued making videos of my drawing process making progress on various projects.
The video I made here is a combination of a flip-through of my Portugal Travel Journal to show where it is currently at.
In the video I also work on one drawing from a hillside in Porto that was opposite the Alfândega where the International Urban Sketchers Symposium was held in 2018.
Conveniently across the street from this collection of houses with all their windows and doors (and laundry!), there was a short wall that was great for sitting. During the Symposium, there were dozens of people sitting along this wall looking at the view in my photograph. It was so much fun walking down and stopping to look at artists’ sketchbook after sketchbook with so many different styles and approaches.
All of my videos are available for viewing on my YouTube channel. Click here or go to YouTube and search on my name.
Do you have lots of pictures from trips sitting in your phone and not being looked at? Have you ever wanted to make a travel journal with some of your photos? I love travel journals and I love teaching my workshop, Create a Travel Journal in Ink and Watercolor. The next one will be done live online via Zoom starting Tuesday, April 14th, 10:00 am - 12:30 pm Pacific Time. Check out my workshops page for more information and to register.
Travel Journaling in Ink and Watercolor
I like to travel journal after I get home from a trip using my photos and odds and ends that I bring back. This is from a trip to Porto, Portugal. The seagulls are happy to dive bomb unsuspecting diners to snatch treats away. Do watch out!
I use ink and watercolor in Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbooks. I choose pictures from a day that have the most meaning and significance to me and then edit and put them into an arrangement that seems pleasing. I make a rough sketch of the elements on scratch paper. Once I like how it looks, then I start drawing in my sketchbook. I use pencil first, then ink - often with a fountain pen but sometimes with a fine liner but always with permanent waterproof ink, and then I watercolor. I try to leave white space for a title and notes.
If you are interested in learning more of this process to create your own ink and watercolor travel journal from your own photos, check out my workshops to see when the next one will be offered. At the time of this post, my next Travel Journal 6-week workshop will be on Wednesday evenings, 6:15 - 8:45 pm, at Cloud 9 Art School in Bothell, WA.
My February Art & Creativity Newsletter is available
My February Art & Creativity Newsletter is available. There's news of what's been happening and what's coming up including upcoming classes, a conference, and art walks. - https://mailchi.mp/686015fc768b/anya-toomre-studios-february-art-creativity-newsletter
Some of my sketchbooks that were on display at the Kirkland Library in January.
How I begin with drawing chocolate wrappers
Here’s how I start drawing a chocolate wrapper.
Here’s the start of my next chocolate wrapper from Amsterdam. I freely admit that I bought several bars of this van der Burgh chocolate because of the wonderful paper they are hand wrapped in. I start by tracing the basic outline of the wrapper. They’re a nice size to draw life-size and fit nicely into a sketchbook. I usually always do pencil first but I don’t get things “perfect". The lines are there so I can adjust with my pen if I need to. I draw with a fountain pen and often turn the pen upside down so I’m drawing with the back side of the nib which usually provides a finer line. This is a fun, complicated and yet meditative pattern to try and replicate and draw. It’ll be time to bring out my teeny tiny paintbrushes when it comes time to paint!
Drafting a Portuguese Tile Pattern - Next Steps
See the next step in my process of drafting a Portuguese tile pattern.
Here are some photos of the next stage in working on my Portuguese tile pattern. I’ve inked the four tile group but have left, for the moment, the pencil lines for you to see, both grid lines and approximate sketch lines that I adjusted in ink. I made some adjustments in the pattern between the inking of the solo block and the group of four. I saw different details as I looked over the wall of repeating tiles in my reference photograph. My next steps are to erase the pencil lines, scan the pattern, then paint.
Jantzen Beach Carousel Horses
I was lucky enough to be able to go to Portland, OR last month and visit a conservation and restoration studio (MPF Conservation) where some historic carousel horses from the Jantzen Beach Carousel were in-house being evaluated for restoration. There were about 15 of them there. So interesting! Here are a couple of my takes of two of the horses. I penciled them there and inked them at home.