Saturday was the second class of “Keeping a Sketchbook”.The weather has been so rainy for so long that I was careful when planning the classes to always have a wet-weather option. Just as well. Saturday was a bit wet, so we went to the Tropical Centre in the Royal Botanic Gardens rather than be outside. The Tropical Centre is an unusual building with a lot of unusual plants in it.
It is warm and steamy inside but better than the rain outside. There are so many things to draw that every time I go there I plan to go back right away. The quality of the sketches done by the people in the class made me very happy indeed. They must have been inspired by the surroundings too.
I am in two minds about sketching while I am teaching a class. I need to be there for the students. However I checked with them & will keep doing so. At least if I am sketching I can be demonstrating techniques and use of tools. I never paint during my acrylics classes – unless I demonstrate something.
First I sketched the Bat Flower. I was able to demonstrate Cathy Johnson’s technique for a border that she does in the free Strathmore Online Workshops. I also beefed up the colour in the flower so that the leaves didn’t overwhelm the page. Later, at home, I added some highlights with white gouache.
The heliconia (I love heliconia) I did very quickly at the end of the class. Quick and rough. It was quite a grungy heliconia anyway. So I did lots of spatter and a little writing with a grey pen to complete the page.
Gorgeous, love these