April 2022

I’m reading: Uprooted by Naomi Novik. I read Spinning Silver by her last year and loved it; this one is in the same genre and maybe I still prefer Spinning Silver but it’s very good! Lots of fantasy and magic and evil trees.

I’m knitting: Still working on my stripy tank top. I haven’t been knitting at home much recently so I’ve mainly been working on this during long car journeys (I can’t read or use screens in a moving car without getting a headache but also I get bored so I take some fairly plain knitting I don’t have to look at) (obviously I am not the driver). It’s worked bottom-up and I’m nearly at the armholes. I might have to knit at home for a bit then while I divide for the top parts etc.

stripy colourful tank top knitting project

I’m drawing: Lots of sketches at the moment! Trying to work from photographs and it’s very tricky. I can get better results by using a grid but I’m trying to learn how to sketch people freehand. I’ve managed one or two that are recognisable which I’m happy about!

sketches of my daughters, some better than others (the sketches, not the daughters)

I’m learning: How to do more lettering and doodle illustrations, from this course on Domestika, Creative Doodling and Hand-Lettering for Beginners with Grace Frösén. I like the Domestika courses, I’ve done a couple of others (Creative Watercolour Sketching for Beginners with Laura McKendry and Artistic Portrait with Watercolours with Alejandro Casanova). I like how they’re easy to pick up and do bits when I have the time and inclination and I’ve learnt a lot from each one. I do find it difficult to make myself watch videos, I usually have to be doing something else at the same time, something crafty or playing a computer game. I bought a bundle of courses in a Black Friday sale and still have three more to do but there’s no rush.

doodles!

I Love Lichen

I mean, look at it

yellow lichen on a tree branch

I love the shapes, I love the colours. When I’m out for a walk, in the forest or in town, I’m always looking out for it and maybe taking a quick picture.

yellow and grey lichen on a brick wall

So when I sat down to paint the other day, and flipped through the photos on my phone for inspiration, I quickly decided to paint some lichen-y shapes.

abstract watercolour painting of yellow, green and grey lichen

This was fun as it let me do my favourite parts of wet-on-wet, letting the colours mingle and dry however they would. The limited palette brought it together a bit more than when I just use all the colours (though it’s hard not to! I love all the colours). And I enjoyed painting the wibbly shapes and ferny bits of the lichen.

close-up of lichen watercolour art

Today I went on a woodland walk with my eldest and took a few more lichen pictures. So I’m sure more lichen art won’t be far behind.

another close-up of lichen watercolour art