I’m just back home after a wonderful 12 days in Port Macquarie – spending lots of time sketching the local beaches and catching up with friends (often over food).

My three goals were
1. to be outside as much as possible,
2. to catch up with friends, and
3. to play with and try new things.

I got the perfect balance of all three things, and I feel refreshed and inspired by my little break.

I now have a lot of scanning to do, but before I start sharing sketches and pages, I thought I would mention tools and media first! 🙂

 
Sketchbook

I decided that I would use a 8×10″ Softcover Alpha book (by Stillman and Birn) that I really enjoyed using last year for my Bathurst region trip. As I was going away for nearly two weeks, I packed a second book just in case.

I find that when I take the pressure off and put no expectations on my work, I generally produce more. And this indeed was the case for this trip. On my solo days, I didn’t have anywhere to go and could spend as long as I wanted at the beach (especially if I was sitting in a shady spot), so I often did more than one sketch.

Also, knowing I had a second book made me freer to experiment – there was no limit on the pages I could use.

I completed the first sketchbook on Day 8 and managed to fill half of the second book. I don’t care about the number of pages I completed as such but it is a sign that I reached a state of flow and that feels good!

New Media

I ended up doing a lot of mixed-media experimentation, with the new media for this trip being Posca paint markers.(I started using these the week before thanks to hanging out with my friend Laurie Wigham – see more about that here.)

I combined them with watercolour and Neo Color II water-soluble crayons in all kinds of different ways. I wanted to play with opacity and build up layers to create interesting layers.

Not every experiment worked, but the repeated subject matter was good for trying new things. I ended up with some overworked bits in my sketches, but that’s often how I develop new working methods. I have to do some ‘kitchen sink’ work (i.e., include everything but the kitchen sink) before simplifying!

I found that I preferred using the big chisel tips and creating big, loose shapes, and I ended up using them in nonstandard ways – adding water to them or smudging them! (Alpha paper gives me a few seconds when I can move them before drying permanently.)

Using a completely different medium and constantly trying new techniques was super fun!

New Tool – Missing Tool

New Tool: On the second day I went into Kmart to get some cheap washi tape and ended up seeing a really cheap set of waterbrushes. I ended up using this flat brush for texture. I don’t like using it for painting with watercolour (as it doesn’t let out enough water), but it was great for mixing the Poscas and Neocolors together and for creating textured edges for waves.

Missing Tool: My favourite pencil to use for water is a white chinagraph (or lumocolor) waxy pencil which helps me preserve white under my watercolour. I didn’t have it with me, and it was sorely missed! I couldn’t buy a replacement in Port Macquarie, but I’m realizing now that I should have bought some cheap white candles!

Too much stuff!

There is no doubt at all…

I carried way too much with me on this trip, and now that I’m home, I have the challenge of trimming my kit down to something more manageable.

A few thoughts

1. During this trip, the rule for my sketching was to play, to take risks (more than normal!), to put the Poscas markers to the test, and not to judge the outcomes! If I were doing this type of experimentation at home, I probably wouldn’t share most of the results publicly. (It’s good to sometimes do work just for me!) But as I was travelling, I will share all my sketches with you as I want a record of my adventures. So please look at these works in the same spirit in which I created them. 🙂

2. In many instances, I don’t recall exactly what my steps were (remember I was playing!) So there isn’t much point in asking me how I achieved certain textures as I’ll probably not be able to tell you. 🙂 If I develop techniques into my everyday sketching I’ll share more in the future.

3. The way I used the Poscas doesn’t make much sense in some respects, but I see them as a possible transition to gouache. A small gouache palette would be much less bulky to carry around with me.

4. It was fun to see my distinct mark-making and my style emerge in a different medium!

5. Doing so much layering goes against my nature a little. At times, I was impatient and didn’t let layers dry, so it took me a while to get a feel for the timing when mixing media.

6. I’m also happy to be using a flat brush. I’ve wanted to use one for years, but it never felt right to me to use a flat brush for watercolour. This might open the door for me to start using proper flat brushes (i.e., not water brushes) in my watercolour work.

7. I’m still totally in love with Neocolors!

8. It goes without saying that watercolour is still my favourite – but something special happens when I start using new media. It gives me a new appreciation for pigment suspended in water!

9. Final thought: I think I might have just written my Reflections Post for this trip! 🙂