Exotic skyline

I am wanting to do something like this in my textile work so I have been sketching what I can find, this is I think from a photo I found of Cadiz.
I havent had a lot of time for proper painting but have a days lesson on Saturday. I have been too busy trying to get other things done, like house work!
Had Tabby and her family over for dinner last night, I hadnt seen Millie all week and thought I would like to see the girls as well and then Tabby's John suddenly came home from the Northern territory as well.

trying out quick street scenes

No time today, but this was a quick street scene and I am trying to get some sort of impressions down quickly. No color on this which would be better.

Near Frankston

We walked in the rain along the river that runs out at Frankston and I cant remember its name.
I took a couple of photos of boats that were moored and although this one looks rather as if it has sandhills behind it actually it had houses and shrubs and trees. Cheating I know but I am allowed to not put in things I dont want to.
This was a bit wishy washy too in real life but has been a little bit digitally enhanced with adobe.
Look it is a painting and with my busy life style anything is better than nothing!!
Life has been on the run since we got back, nothing exciting, just a lot of boring stuff that MUST be done and NOW, like tax and forecasts for the future, stuff no one wants to know about.
Actually the boat doesnt look too good either, ah well, it has some lovely memories.
Talking of memories, I am thinking of writing up just that, memories so my gandchildren have some idea of what our lives were like.

Images in a window

I sketched these strange and slightly distorted images that were the reflections in a window in a building opposite the Frankston railway station.
They looked so odd I had to record them.
today I walked out the back again, no beach walks as John had farm accounts to try and sort out, for about the 4th time this week and it was cold and a bit drizzly and I wanted to get some stuff done inside so the walk was late but I did a good half hour up hills so feel better for it, even if the weight doesnt seem to be shifting.

The house down the road in Melbourne

I stood on the corner of the road opposite on a very hot morning and sketched this house and then colored it when I got home.
I really like this house with its wonderful wrought iron gates and terra cotta washed walls and what will be a huge date palm in the front garden. I wonder how long this will last, but at the moment it is a good foil for the rest of it.
I have no doubt it replaces a much more modest house but I do like its Spanish influence.

Rickett's Point

We are home from our few days in Melbourne. Very hot and then wet and cool. That is Melbourne for you.
I sketched this sitting on a railing along the beach walk near Rickett's Point the other day. Very hot that day and children and parents everywhere.
I didnt have time to do a lot of sketching but I will put up what I did in the next few days.
Lovely to see the children and grand children and we managed to work out the public transport system, thought we were pretty smart, no idea how it works here but I know it is not the same.
Managed the bus back from Westfield shopping centre and then the bus to and from the station and the train down to Frankston. A whole day senior ticket cost $3.30 each. Amazing.

The end of the Hindmarsh river

The end of the Hindmarsh River, one of the two so called rivers that Victor Harbor sits between ends at the moment in a lagoon.
Anyway we went walking early this morning, early as it is so hot after days of lovely mild weather we are back to summer with a rush.
We walked along the beach where this river should come out to the sea but the sand has built up so much it sits there in a lagoon which I painted.
Obviously early Sunday morning is dog walking time, I have never seen so many dogs and I am not sure that every one does the right thing by picking up their poo's.
We are off to Melbourne in the morning until late Thursday so I may not get anything up until I get back.
John is still not well so it could be a fun filled few days!!

Red bellied black snake

This is not a very good sketch but it is hard to sketch an actively moving snake and a dead one doesnt look all that good. It was about 18 inches long and in our sitting room.
Very hot today after a few weeks of relatively cool weather.
I am sorting out one of the spare rooms, it had a double bed and a single bed in it but we have taken over the double bed and so I have room for other things, when the family comes I just hope I can round up enough beds for them.
I bought at great expense ($15) a falling apart unit with drawers and shelves that I hope I can resurrect to go in there. At least now I can get into the clothes cupboard.
We are off to Melbourne for a few days on Monday so I am getting ready for that.

What I take with me to paint and sketch

The first photo is what I carry with me in my handbag, a plastic screw top jar of water, an A6 spiral notebook and a uniball waterproof pen 0.2 and a toothbrush case with some square Barry Umpton (checkz republic) watercolors held in with blue tack and a couple of brushes. the colors in this set aurelian, helio light yellow, madder rose, cad red, ultramarine, ceurelean, cobalt green, raw sienna and burnt umber. Not sure why the green is there but I do use it.
Next is what I have set up in a W & N traveling set for America, Cotmans lemon yellow, raw sienna, burnt umber, light red, alazarin crimson. ultramarine and Paynes Grey.
Next set is my small metal traveling set of schimcke (?sp!!) colors, Cad red, Indian yellow, Yellow ochre, burnt sienna, helio cereulian, ultramarine, Paynes Grey, ruby red, pure yellow, raw sienna, sepia and olive green my summer set for here. and last another little cotman traveling box with cad yellow pale, cad yellow, yellow ochre, burnt sienna. burnt umber, raw umber, cad red pale, aliz crimson, cobalt blue, ultramarine, cereulian, raw sienna. earth and sea and sky colors. I am still working out which I like best so I take one one time and another at another time.
For home I tend to use W & N artist colors. the last photo is of some small spiral bound and arches paper books to take with me.
A snake in the house today, too much excitement.

Sketching Houses

I found in my friend Paddy's bookshelves a wonderful book called David Gentleman's Britain yesterday and I love the way he sketches and paints so although this is Britain I am copying some of his sketches.
I want to get proficient at fast sketching before we go away and I want things that i like at the moment.
I was in Adelaide all day yesterday, visiting my mother and Paddy and we were not home late but I sat up watching a new British who dunnit set in Oxford, I think I would prefer Cambridge my fathers old University but Oxford is ok.
To day I visited a friend, we havent seen each other for ages and as John didnt need the car I took advantage of it. She is going overseas just after us but a much more interesting tour, albiet with jersey cows. So we compared notes on what painting and sketching stuff we were taking with us. Lucky girl she is going to the UK and Jersey Island.

Fast and loose

The date on this blog is wrong, it should be the 12th I missed yesterday and will probably miss tomorrow as we will be going to Adelaide, John has meetings and I will see my mother.
I am not quite sure that this came off, but it was fun to do and that is all I need at the moment, fun.
Still relatively cool and windy but no rain, some areas of the garden are not looking too good but I get tired of lugging the hoses around.

From King's Beach

After feeling thoroughly depressed this morning after yesterday when we went to celebrate a life, which means they are dead, I decided I had to get my act together.
John had gone fishing so I tidied up all sorts of loose ends and after lunch sat to watch Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole in how to steal a million dollars, it was delightful and made me feel so much better.
This is the result of the picking out my paints and brush, still the same limited palette and not as good as the last one but I really wanted to show the orange on the granite boulders. I presume it is some sort of algae.

Walking on the farm

I really hate it when this happens, I have just lost the whole post!!
Back to what I was writing, I decided that after mountains and sea I should go back to painting the farm.
The heavy green are pine plantations, the trees in the middle are the road with the neighbors property beyond.
In the foreground to the right is the paddock the yearling fillies are in and to the left is the house paddock.
I used a limited palette of ultramarine, a touch of alazarin crimson, raw umber and cad yellow (light I think).
The odd shower today, I measured 2 mm this morning, quite warm and humid when I walked.
Made up a delicious pork filet and proscuitto with lemon and vegetables in white wine casserole for dinner tonight.
John had meetings all day so he wasnt going to want to cook. Followed by fresh peaches from our tree and icecream.

49th Wedding anniversary

Who would believe that we have made it this far!
Probably not those who think I am a crabby old bag. We had a lovely day, out to lunch with a good bottle of fizz and a lovely view.
I painted this when we got home, not brilliant but sort of ok in parts.
Lots of seaweed on the beach.
At least it is in colour and not a scribbly sketch.

A Quick scrappy sketch

You always know when I am tired or havent much time as these appear!
I did this while having coffee waiting for John.
People sitting and relaxing on the lawns by the sea at Victor, always good for a few quick people sketches.
It is still cold and we have had a bit more rain, not a lot but every drop helps the rainwater tanks. Infact I got wet feeding the chooks and dogs.
No hoses on for at least another day.

Scribbly sketch

This was done out of the rear vision mirror of the car while I was at Willunga the other day, I was going to do something bigger with it but havent had time.
I was trying to get the feeling of the road heading down towards the vineyards and the sea in the distance.
I am not sure what I do with my days but finding time to paint in amongst all the other things isnt easy.
We have had a bit of rain, not much but it is nice to have things looking and feeling damp.

The last mountain

This is the last mountain in my exercise of painting mountains at different times and their shadows. If I had been painting when we were skiing I could have had lots of mountains, no good regretting that now though.
We took my mother out for lunch which was good and she really enjoyed it but was pretty tired at the end of it, I think at 95 she is doing really well but do understand her getting tired, so do I!
Hot in Adelaide and really about 10 degrees cooler down here, so much more pleasant but John keeps telling me it wont rain until it gets hot. I dont think it will rain here while there are floods on the east coast. But maybe we will have a wet winter for a change.

More Mountains

I am having fun with these mountains, although will I remember how to paint them if I see any is the question.
I am doing some exercises from I think (its in the other room) Collins book on how to paint watercolour. It is quite fun and only uses a few colours at a time, this one was yellow ochre, cerulean, alazarin crimson and hookers green, I dont normally use a made up green but it is interesting trying out the suggested colours.
John went fishing today and I fiddled around, painted but not a lot, did some sewing and watered the garden, not well it is getting dryer and dryer. We did have some big drops of rain but not enough to do anything.

The old telegraph station

I sketched and re sketched this building, it is where we had our painting lessons. A lovely old building in Victor.
A busy day and not much accomplished
we had a lovely walk along the beach early and collected the papers, during the week the school bus delivers them but at week ends and school holidays we have to go in to collect them.
Home and then after ironing John's p[ants back in to deliver him for a bus trip to do with the NRM (Natural Resource Managment) Group he is involved with.
I tidied my work room so I have some space and then organised dinner and back in after 5 to have a cup of coffee while I waited for him to get back. Did more to this then. One day I may get enough courage to paint it.

Misty Mountains

I have been playing and practicing. Playing with colours and practicing in the hope that I may see something like this on our trip.
Wet in wet and then dry, using 4 colours, I quite like the affect. Of course it is a pretty simple scene.
I dont think this is the correct quote but to me it said "up the misty mountains down the rushy glen's we go a searching for little men"
I am playing with my paints and trying to work out what colours I want to take with me and in what containers. I would like a pretty limited palette so am seeing which ones I use most and why.