Sketches and a gift

Sketching took a bit of a back seat as the Christmas period was very busy but I did manage to get a few sketches done. I'm trying to add other things to the images along with the sketches, like small scraps of fabric in combinations that might work if I decide to use the sketches as a base for a piece of textile work.

The photograph was taken on the 8th of September as we were driving back from Ythanbank in Aberdeenshire. I always love to see the large round bales on the hills and in the fields and looking back at my sketches, I am surprised that I focused instead on the textures of the trees.

We've recently welcomed a new niece into the family, a little girl born on the 22nd of December who I decided to make something for instead of a store bought card. After several sketches of storks with nappy wrapped babies, I settled on balloons instead. I'm not sure that the colours have been reproduced very well in the photos but it's a watercolour image on heavy watercolour A4 sized paper. I used a mix of water soluble pencils and watercolours. I felt that the pencils gave me a little more control over the depth and range of colours used.

I'm really happy with the finished painting, I'll be adding a label with the baby's details on as I would hate to make a monumental mistake directly onto the image.

I have really enjoyed the last few days working on this, although it has been frustrating at times. I feel a bit of my artistic mojo creeping back.