Road Trip - Erin

I went on a road trip this morning all the way to Erin.
OK not a long way but far enough for some fresh scenery.

After checking out the (ahem) Bakery we settled down across the street to draw/paint the buildings of downtown.

I chose a rather freestyle pen and ink method (one line sketches) that I am tinkering with, thanks to Larry in Quebec City  http://www.larrydmarshall.com/

Noodlers Carbon Black Ink in a Noodlers Ahab flex pen
Strathmore 300 mixed media sketchbook 8.5" x 5.5"

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Patrick had taken on a rather large watercolour so I was done before him so I decided to work on a small watercolour, a fire hydrant ... thanks to Larry again!

It was to have ink added but I was told to leave it alone ...so no ink.

W&N watercolour Field set W&N travel Brush set
Moleskine 5" x 8" watercolour sketchbook

All in all a great, relaxing morning

Alan

Scotsdale Farm

Niagara was too far (KW Urban Sketchers went there today) .. so I decided to stay closer to home and visit Scotsdale Farm nr Georgetown.

600 acres of trails and buildings, another hidden gem.

The old house is currently unoccupied ( boy, what a place to live!) I have sketched it before from a different angle but wanted to try and work on my limited perspective skills.

Saunders Waterford 140lb NOT 16" x 12"
Windsor and Newton watercolours
My handy dandy W&N field sketch brushes

Yes that was way to big for a sketch !!
No my perspective skills still need work

But I enjoyed myself and met several people who stopped by to chat and even admire my work :-)

Alan

Misty Morning - Watercolour Pencil -

Continuing on from last weeks attempt at a misty morning rendition and reading through David Bellamy's 'Winter Landscapes' and 'Mountains and Moorlands' books.

... I love his atmospheric landscapes but they are not as easy as he makes it look !

Derwent Watercolour pencils and a water brush in my Moleskine watercolour sketchbook 5" x 8"

Alan

Morning up on Hwy 6 North

I was going to start a 12 " x 16" painting but chickened out and created this in my Moleskine watercolour sketchbook.
So it is about 5" x 8"  

A misty morning photographed as I drove north on Hwy 6 several years ago seemed like a perfect opportunity to try creating mist over the landscape.

Maybe I should try the 12 " x 16"

:-D

Bunch of Keys

Sometimes the mundane can take on a life of its own..

Just a bunch of keys that caught my attention while reading Barrington Barbers book
"The Fundamentals of Drawing Still Life"

Kissing Bridge.

Larger size here .. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/19015248265/in/dateposted-public/

Yesterday I decided to visit the West Montrose covered bridge. I had an image in mind for a watercolour, so off I went.
It was a perfect morning, just warm enough to sit in the shade and cool enough to keep the bugs asleep.
I sat by the river for I don't know how long, as usually happens when one is drawing or sketching.
. I was brought back to the present time when a Mennonite Lady approached to see what I was doing, after all I was sitting on her property .. oops.

A short but genial conversation followed and I continued with my painting, here is the result.

A two page spread in my Moleskin Watercolour sketchbook given to me by Constance ..

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there :-)

Alan

Blue shadows and yellow sunshine

Recently I was chatting with my friend Constance, who likes to review my watercolour sketches. During the conversation she mentioned using blues for the shadows and yellows in the sun lit area's as base washes.

So in a quiet moment, which are rare now as we have a new-to-us 40lb Siberian Husky puppy who has to be watched constanlty ;-) ... but I digress...

In a quiet moment I sketched the arbor and the fast fading lilacs in our backyard to try out the technique..

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

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