OX - our Saturday destination

After wandering the riverbank yesterday we decided to scratch an itch, sketching some of the fine buildings in downtown Guelph.

What better place to start than our regular 'watering hole', OX.

I should call this "without before within" because as soon as we were done we crossed the street for our reward of tea and croissants / muffins. 
We are all creatures of habit :-)

Pen (Micron 0.05) and soluble graphite.

Alan

This last weekend we were had our "First Annual Fall Getaway" to the Bruce Peninsula.
Arriving late on Friday staying up half the night talking and the threat of rain kept us inside until lunchtime on Saturday, so I took the easy route and sat in a comfy chair and looked out the window.. :-)

Rainy Morning - Through the Window..

When the rain eased off we ventured out ..

However Sunday was the day to be venturing abroad especially with a new sketchbook (Hand-Book Paper Co. Watercolour large Portrait) :-) ...

Tenacity - Halfway Log Dump - Bruce Peninsula

Many thanks to Doug and Lynn for sharing their cottage with us.

Alan

A rain delay this morning and we decided to visit the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory .. because we miss the humidity ;-P

Apart from the butterflies, children and the humidity we managed to find a couple of spots where we could sit, relax and draw ...

Maybe it was a late start but the companionship and laughter made for a great morning, that stretched into a great afternoon :-)

Alan

Broken Pot - 5 minute Sketch

A continuing theme .. "I have no time to Sketch" 

Larry Marshall - Sketching when you have no time 

This was done in 5 minutes while I sat eating lunch and having a 'cuppa'...

Far from my 'normal' detail but enjoyable non-the-less :-)

Alan

Well I have begun my new blog, now in which direction do I point it?

My initial thoughts were to transfer over all the drawings, sketches and paintings that I had on my existing ajnphotography blog.

In the clear light of early morning I think that might be a bit redundant. So I will continue moving forward.

For any newcomers you can browse backwards through my previous blog posts here www.ajnphotography.blogspot.ca

So a quick overview as to what I have been up to and how I got here..

Recently I read 'The Creative License: Giving Yourself Permission to Be the Artist You Truly Are' by Danny Gregory

http://www.amazon.ca/The-Creative-License-Yourself-Permission/dp/1401307922

In the section under 'excuses' i.e ' I don't have time to draw' he says and I'm paraphrasing here, “So you get up in the morning, make coffee and breakfast and then what?

Well instead of just sitting there, draw your breakfast!”

Well I did and spent the whole day, I was on vacation, drawing and sketching. Was that because I started early?

I also started a daily (well supposed to be daily) Sketching Journal. Some of those pages will appear here, warts and all.

Recently I joined the KW Urban Sketchers group and tagged along on an outing to Doon Village in Kitchener.

Never heard of the Urban Sketchers movement?

Well here is their website: http://www.urbansketchers.org/

I find my 'style' to be very 'technical' and detailed. The Urban Sketching style is more loose and free flowing so I am trying to expand my horizons in that direction too.

 The Surf's Restaurant-Balmy Beach Ontario

Waiting for dinner to arrive

This is one of my first 'Urban Sketching' attempts .. I still find my colours 'muddy' and this breaks the Urban Sketcher manifesto of complete it on-site, I added the watercolour when I got home ;-)

Alan

A good place to start ..

Goldie Mill - Guelph - June 28 2014

A good place to start...
I have had my photography blog for several years but in recent times I have reignited my need to draw and paint. This caused a confilct with my photography so I have decided to give it its own space.
Why 'Happeninks'?
Well in trying to find a catchy name for this blog I used Wordoid, a nifty name generator.

I knew that the majority of posts would be pen and ink sketches so I used the tags 'pen' and 'ink' and hit generate and 'Happeninks' was born :-)

My visit to Goldie Mill in June was my first En plein air excursion, my coming out of the closet day so to speak, so it is fitting that a pen and ink sketch from that day should be the first post.

I hope you find inspiration here and return often to see where I have been, what I have been up to and where I am going with this...

Alan