It’s a Blueberry Day

Today I’m thinking about blueberries.  I decided to buy a couple of blueberry bagels for a change because I knew we had a jar of jam at home.  Today when I opened the jar I saw that it was made in Belgium with Canadian blueberries for a Canadian grocery store chain.  It is the silly things that interest me it seems.

Never mind talking to them

Today’s page is courtesy of Karen  Stamper who demonstrated how to make a cityscape on Sketchbook Revival.  I didn’t feel like a city girl today so I painted Jutta from Sktchy (well, my version of her!)

This is actually only two pages (and a bit) of a four page fold in that I made.  I was running out if light today so I rushed the lettering. 

“Never mind talking to them”.  Created with matte medium, gesso, acrylic inks (raw sienna and sepia) , black India ink, collage elements like washi, labels and masking tape.  I used gouache and shadow grey high flow acrylic paint. 

What the bird said

With thanks to Toni Burt for the fun lesson! I had loads of fun creating this woman’s face even though it isn’t something I would normally ever do.  I do wish I had used heavier paper though.  It must be the child in me, I enjoyed tearing the edges very much.  The collage pieces came from a bar of soap wrapper and a paint swatch. 

My printing is better than my writing so I opted to pen my own text. My only regret is I forgot to use a ruler to line up my text.  Ugh live and learn! 

Envelope art

Okay so here is the envelope I made for my postal art project.  I haven’t created the cool art from yesterday’s videos but I’m working on that today.

I’ll be mailing this out next week.  I don’t usually work on square envelopes but I purchased these at the thrift shop AND they were having a sale!!!

Thanks again to Tamara Laporte for this fab idea and Karen (Sketchbook Revival) for this workshop! 

I carried the scene from the front over to the back. I hope the recipient likes it!

Oh drats, I  just realized I forgot to keep a space open for my return address.  I’ll have to fix that before mailing.

I Picasso myself

Actually this is a poor excuse for s selfie but it was loads of fun!

The only thing I omitted were my glasses.  I’m showing my hair with and without a braid. 

This is mostly about patterns and a little bit of collage. 

A Mythical Village in a Brain Near You

 I’m following a free sketchbook workshop and this is from one of yesterday’s videos.  This was inspired by Tamara Laporte of Willowing. I used many of her ideas and came up with some new ones too.  This is not my “thing” but I enjoyed spending time in my sketchbook regardless.  

Then I thought I could make something like this again for an “envelope art” project that I’m involved in. I’m always happy to be able to use the art on the page and incorporate it elsewhere.

A Mythical Village in a Brain near you! 

Rocky shores of Crete

Breakfast of Champions

The white mountain in the Mediterranean

People Drawing People while in Crete

I’ve joined Sketchbook Skool class, people drawing people; under normal circumstances I don’t always come in contact with other people to draw so I thought I’d better get cracking.  

I have my husbands “man cold” (there are lots of people here with colds) but for some reason it has really really hit me.  Thank goodness my hubby had some cold meds in his suitcase so I sleep for 4 hours this afternoon.

Greek Orthodox Church

We went to Malia today and stopped for a late lunch across the road from this church.  I so wish I hadn’t started the page with the beer bottle but that is the way it is.  The Cretans are a very religious people and there are countless (and I do mean countless) chapels. I had to make the tree more generic than I would have liked but I had to fill up space since I couldn’t see a large part of it.  I don’t have a name as there wasn’t any indication on the outside. 

Beach Day

We had a beach day today with the temperature at 74F or 23C.  Lovely warm breezes and a nearly empty beach made for a super afternoon.  I drew and painted almost all of this on site but finished it off back at the hotel. Hersonissos is there in the background.  

Lynchstatis museum

We went to Knossos today

We took the bus to Knossos today and after the tour we returned to Heraklion for a libation and a late lunch.  Europeans eat later than we do so the restaurants were full.  The one we chose was just off the main thoroughfare and away from the hustle and bustle of the park. Many locals were eating so we decided to have a beer first while we took a gander at the menu.  We had a wonderful lunch while I sketched.  Then our server asked to take a photo of my page.  The manager sent over a really nice dessert and a glass (shot) of raki on the house for the high of us. What a nice gesture!

Trying to draw the take out motorcycle from the back end was a challenge.  They were not there for long as the making many deliveries.  The motorcycle and shooter are popular forms of transport. 

I highly recommend!!!

The Palace of Malia

The ruins of the Minoan palace.  The super sized vessel held olive oil or vine.  I added another detail from our trip because the page looked empty.  I had to add the mountains in the background because I am enamoured with them!!! 

Day Two at the museum

I finally was able to finish this page today.  I had brought a Lyra watercolour crayon that I found at a thrift store and used it to frame the page with turquoise.  When I draw on a page I don’t often plan out a layout so I’m always happy when I get a nice result. 

Hersonissos afternoon

We took an impromptu trip into town today and enjoyed our walk along the waterfront.  Being a tourist is hard work so we decided to enjoy a liquid libation before we headed back home. I O so love the view of the mountains here; I would never have enough of this view!  I find it incredible that the clouds will not just kiss the mountain tops but sink below them too!! 

Creta historical museum

Believe it or not, we went to yet another museum yesterday here in Crete!! No drawing done there since we were using the audio guide so I stuck the tickets in my sketchbook instead.  We saw more El Greco art there.  I hadn’t realized that he had been born in Heraklion Crete when we saw his work in Toledo Spain. 

On the way to the museum we walked along the waterfront and met a fisherman who was selling his “catch”; shells and sea sponges. Of course I had to buy one! 

Since being a tourist is such a hard job we had to have a libation and a bit to eat afterwards.  I created my page there while we rested. The best French fries ever and halloumi fried cheese on a pita like bread and tomato with some green.  Delicious!  The restaurant gave us some dessert on the house and I tried my first local “raki” drink. 

A great day all told until we left in the pouring rain like I have never seen before.  We had our rain coats on but my shoes and purse were soaked!  Luckily my sketchbook didn’t get wet!!