The Dog Park

My palette lately seems to consist of a lot of golds and ochres - but these are typical Highveld colours, sketched this afternoon near the entrance of 'the dog park' - the section of Emmarentia Dam where people are allowed to walk their dogs. I used to dislike this dry, almost bleached-looking scenery, but I've come to love the softness and subtlety of it - I think this is the first time I've tried a landscape on this theme, there is much more to observe and paint than I thought, and as always with plein-air, it changes constantly.

I tried to sketch a few of the hundreds of pooches that scampered past (and one owner)- of course all far too busy and quick to be caught accurately!

Some playtime

I have a little treasure, a present from a special blogfriend, that I've been waiting and waiting to play with after my work was done. Rhonda, of Watercolors and Words, when I wistfully wished I could try out some Yupo in her comments, kindly and generously went to the trouble of packing and sending me a piece so that I could decide whether I liked it enough to order a batch online! All the way from Kentucky! Isn't that amazing?
I said she had a heart of gold, and she replied, with her obvious bubbly nature, maybe that's why its been giving her a spot of bother lately - Rhonda I hope with all my heart that you return to the best of health quickly, you so deserve to, and Thank You!!!
I had trouble finding rubbing alcohol to clean it with (which I finally got yesterday, from a suspicious looking pharmacist - did he think I wanted to swig it?), but before that I just had to doodle on a small strip, fingerprints and all. I like the weird things that happen with the colours granulating and sitting on top of the surface, and the more intense colours that result from non-absorption - and the way you can lift it off easily if you want to, and move it around endlessly... I'm thinking up what to do on the big piece that's left - so fun.

I'm planning on going Sketching today, for the 23rd Worldwide Sketchcrawl, though for one reason and another I'm, so far, stuck in the house (but with my yupo :-) - I've registered with the site, but for some cookies/security/computer-innards reason I can't log in, but still, if I can I'll be getting out there.

Winter garden

Hello there! I'm back in the land of watercolours, trees, walks in the park... I think there are more work projects on the way, but for now... wheee! I must say discipline and deadlines do me good every now and then and I'm glad my 'work' is almost as much fun as my 'play'. Just so much of it at a time!
But this morning I got up, free as a bird, and put on my walking shoes and my new pedometer and went on my usual route around the dam - 5613 steps including an extra bit to the supermarket to buy some yoghurt to put on my breakfast. Only 220 calories burnt - a bit downcasting, but I'm not sure if I've set my new toy properly. I'll have to figure out a way that the walk at least cancels out the breakfast. I didn't stop and sketch, it was bracing to say the least, but when I got home I had a hot shower and sat in the sun in the garden to sketch the branches of our big jacaranda. As purple as the flowers are in early summer (see sketches here and here and oil paintings here) the foliage goes golden in winter before it all falls off - W&N Quinacridone Gold and Green Gold are the perfect match.

I very quickly sketched my neighbour's jacaranda to get a bit of distance on the subject - on the original Emmarentia farm rows of them were planted, along with avocado trees which you can still see dotted around. Tragically, lots of recent immigrés to the suburb are chopping down every big old tree on their new properties and building vast palaces and concreting what's left - what kind of mindset is that? Joburg, as I've mentioned before, has the biggest manmade Urban Forest in the world, but I don't know for how much longer at this rate!

The choir

Over a week since I've been here - I'm still nose to the grindstone and it feels like I've blended permanently into my computer chair, but on Sunday I went to church to listen to the Holy Cross Anglican choir of Soweto who came to sing for us. Warm, spine-tingling, deeply holy - hard to describe the feelings that this harmonious group engenders, from sorrowful to soaring joy. I sketched as I listened, but of course only one person at a time, so if I drew one person dancing and swaying, they were all dancing and swaying, or clapping or happy or sombre. Services in Soweto apparently go on for hours, unlike in the Northern suburbs, where everyone is impatient to get to their golf, or lunch, or Wimbledon on TV - so the choir had just warmed up, said Thandi the leader, when they had to wind it up for us - but a wonderful start to the week, in which there are yet more illustrations to be drawn... until next time!

Sawtooth Oak

Just a quickie posting of this tree I sketched on my walk today - took some Time Out from computer colouring. I'm planning to join in Vivien's Tree Challenge when the rush is over - you can never have enough tree practice!

Back soon

My big drawing job has returned for urgent finishing - a lot to do by this time next week, so I probably won't be doing much blogging until then... I also feel I just haven't got time to stop and sketch right now when out walking. Yesterday I trotted off, and went past a tree with a layer of beautiful. ebony, curling, twisting pods spread thickly underneath it - a perfect sketching subject but no time, and no equipment with me either......nor anything to put them in - but I gathered up as many as my two little hands could hold and marched on home, feeling like a rather dotty lady with my spoils held aloft in front of me. They're displayed in a basket for now, waiting for a time when life isn't quite so demanding, to be painted and drawn.

On Sunday my nephew, his wife and gorgeous pumpkin of a nine-month old baby boy came and joined BFG and me for a walk around the dam - which I'm amazed to hear many people who've lived in Joburg all their lives don't even know about! - we took turns to carry the pumpkin, whew! Talk about weight-bearing exercise, that was a hard workout... but a lovely day and so much fun. We stopped for Jesse to have a snack (he'd worked so hard!) and for us to catch our breath, and I did two very fast and rather shaky sketches. Sorry Fel! That is a truly horrible rendition of your pretty face!
OK - back to work - that took far longer than I meant it to. Enjoy your paints/pencils/pens, walking and whatnot. See you soon!

Damp sunshiny day

Winter in Joburg is usually as dry as a bone - your hair crackles and flies, you get nasty static electric shocks when you touch door handles and each other, and though the air may be icy, you can always find a sunny spot to curl up, thaw out, and doze in... but this week, it has rained and rained and rained, so my sketchercising outdoors came to a halt. I know I can't expect sympathy from you who live in much wetter climes, but rain and cold bring out the quivering wimp in me!
However, this morning the sun emerged and I put on my tackies and hotfooted it down to the dam. A few metres on from the stagnant pond is the edge of the main dam [which was built on the farm called Emmarentia (after the farmer's wife) at the end of the Boer War by returning landless farmers] where I sat to draw and paint the ducks, and then the broader view from the same bench.
After the rain, everything seemed washed clean and the damp drippy foliage was full of sparkles and subtle herby smells - beautiful and worth the few wet days - but the clouds are building up again, and I think I speak for most Joburgers when I say That's enough!