Keeping an Artist's Journal

Weeds in my garden

Well, the on-line art class "Keeping an Artist's Journal", offered by Cathy Johnson, has come to an end after 5 weeks, and this was an exercise in one of the lessons where we had to explore using various techniques in your art journal. Here I used some salt on the wet foreground, making for some interesting texture.



In the above exercise I explored collage - a piece of Hessian glued onto the page and used for the foreground of this watercolour scene, with some threads pulled up to give texture to the grass.

Although I've been journaling for many years, I found Cathy's class extremely informative and organised, beautifully laid out with great in-depth detail, covering every possible aspect of keeping an art journal.

I normally have been keeping various journals for various things - a Daily Journal for my deepest, inner thoughts, in which I often sketch and paint as well; A Gratitude Journal, where I write about what I'm thankful for every day, accompanied by little sketches; a small Moleskine note-book for to-do-lists, reminders, etc; a separate Moleskine Notebook for graphite and ink sketches and a Gardening Journal, where I note progress on my garden, visiting birds, etc. It's mayhem when I want to record something, and cannot find the relevant journal quick enough!



And this habit of having many different journals comes from my love of writing and note-books and sketch-books - I just cannot walk past a Moleskine or a pretty sketch-book without buying it!

Cathy's class helped me decide to integrate virtually everything into ONE journal. My daily gratitudes are now accompanied by little sketches, my To-do-List is at the back, together with my shopping list, also with little sketches. Pencil and ink sketches are done at a whim and my gardening progress, with sketches, dried leaves, flowers and dates is also incorporated as well as all the insects, birds and wild life in my garden - all together in one place, and easy to take anywhere!


My Feint 6-Quire Daily Journal. I mostly use it as my daily thoughts journal, but also do some accompanying sketches.

The only one that I'm keeping separate, is my Daily private journal. I use a large, thick, 6-Quire Feint, much too heavy to carry around and besides which, it is lined, beautiful to write in with my Parker fountain pen and has come a long way with me, helping to clarify thoughts and work through problems.

The Rain in Tarlton

I saw in the northwest first rise, in the rose-tinted horizon sky, a dark, narrow, craggy cloud, narrow and projecting as no cloud on earth, seen against the rose-tinted sky - the crest of a thunderstorm, beautiful and grand.
- Henry David Thoreau

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!


The Rain in Tarlton - watercolour 16" x 12" (41cm x 30cm)
For sale

We had a lovely down-pour a couple of weeks ago, and as the rain moved on, the sun appeared, shining brightly on the surrounding landscape. The contrast was beautiful and luckily I could capture it before it disappeared.

Magaliesburg Hotel

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.
- John Muir (1838 - 1914)

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!


Water feature at Magaliesburg Hotel dining area - watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour sketch-book - Maree©

Had supper at the Magaliesburg Hotel 3 weeks ago, sitting outside under the thatch next to this little water feature. Luckily I had my Moleskine sketch-book with me, so I quickly captured this in between sips of my glass of wine.

Cosmos on the road

There’s nobody living who couldn't stand all afternoon in front of a waterfall .... Anyone who can sit on a stone in a field awhile can see my painting. Nature is like parting a curtain, you go into it .... as you would cross an empty beach to look at the ocean.
- Agnes Martin

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!


Farm in Magaliesburg - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 12" x 8.5" - Maree©
For Sale

Every time we go to Magaliesburg, as we come over one of the hills, the Farm of Maloney's Eye stretches over the horizon, the sun casting golden shadows on the fields. This is also the place where the Magalies River originates, bubbling through the earth, forming a swampy area covered in the most exotic ferns and trees, rising up from the deep depths of the Sterkfontein Caves about 15kms away. As we drove past, the Cosmos was standing fresh and tall after a lovely down-pour.

I did this sketch from memory.

Moon - Waning Gibbous

Moon - Waning Gibbous 5th Dec 2009 - South Africa, Southern Hemisphere - Maree©

The moon was 84% of full tonight, and waning, peeking through the rain clouds after a lovely downpour. I decided to try and sketch it, but substituted half of the black tree-lined foreground with water. This was my first attempt at sketching at night and quite a new experience for me!

Veld fire in Tarlton

"There may be a great fire in our soul, net no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke."
- Vincent van Gogh

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!


Veldfire in Tarlton in October 2009 - watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour sketch-book Maree©

This was another veld fire in our area, very late for the season - we stopped on the side of the road and this time I had my watercolour pencils with me! Did some quick preliminary colour and finished it off at home. The sunset was actually stunning behind all the smoke - should have stayed longer and gotten more detail on the clouds ... ah well, next time!

Harrismith landscape

"Harrismith landscape" - Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - size 12" x 8.5"
For Sale

I drive down to Ballito on the North Coast of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, about 6 or 7 times a year, and have done this route along the N3 South for so many years, the scenery is etched into my mind. During June/July, our winter months, the Drakensberg mountains in the distance are covered with snow and makes for a beautiful sight.

Passing through the Free State, you come upon the town of Harrismith, close to the border of KwaZulu Natal, which is one of the major stops for fuel on this 670km trip(about 420 miles). Here the landscape changes dramatically from miles and miles of totally flat farming landscape to mountain vistas and an area called "The Valley of a 1000 Hills", and there are thousands of hills as you descend down Van Reenen's Pass for the next 20 kilometers or so into KwaZulu Natal towards the coastal region.

I did this watercolour from memory.

Crested Barbet

If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.
Chinese Proverb


Crested Barbet - pen and watercolour in Agenda Planner Journal - Maree©

I heard the Crested Barbet's warbling song early this morning, so I rushed out with my sketch-book, knowing that they sit still in once place for a long time, stretching their warble for so long one thinks he's going to run out of breath!

Had plenty of time to do a quick outline sketch, filling it in with detail as he warbled on. A few quick stokes of colour and I was done!

The Crested Barbets are regular visitors to my garden and seem to know when the feed tables contain fruit - the love apple and banana and will sometimes swallow grapes whole!

I used only 4 colours on this quick exercise - Payne's Grey, Orange, Alizarin Crimson and Burn Sienna, all from Daler-Rowney. Oh, I almost forgot - and Sap Green for the leaves.

Farm gate in Magaliesburg

"Live out of your imagination instead of out of your memory."

~ Les Brown

Farm gate in Magaliesburg - watercolour in Moleskine - Maree©

The town of Magaliesburg in Western Gauteng, has these lovely little meandering roads leading off the main road, going to the various properties and farms, some on the banks of the Magalies River. This entrance to someone's farm is not far from a little Bistro we frequent and, as we drove past, this gate caught my eye and we stopped so I could do a quick sketch. Wonder what's on the other side of the gate?

:: 

Little Green Patch in Tarlton

This little green patch on a hillock caught my eye as we drove past the other evening on the way to Magaliesburg, the sunset casting a golden glow on the distant fields. I did this sketch from memory once we got home.

Veld fire on the road to Magaliesburg

We were on our way to Magaliesburg the other day and to my amazement! a veld fire sweeping across the hills! Some areas that had not previously burnt were still brown and dry, but it always puzzles me how the fires start in good weather with no lightning. A passerby's cigarette...?

The Hills of Magaliesburg

From where we live in Tarlton, South Africa, the small village of Magaliesburg is just a short 13km drive through some wonderful scenery, especially during summer, when the area turns the most amazing green after a brown and dusty winter. Although our first rains have fallen, much of the landscape was still dry and in danger of veld fires in October.

Sketching in soft-cover books

Blue gum tree in soft-cover book

I'm feeling a bit distracted these days - I get like that when I've got a lot on my plate - besides sketching daily, doing larger paintings once or twice a week and my Private Daily Journal - I've also started an on-line art class with Cathy (Kate) Johnson on "Keeping an Artists' Journal" and I'm also participating in a sketch-book exchange between South Africa and Australia, which you can read about on Artists' Circle.

To centre my thoughts and ground my energy a bit, I took and old soft-cover book with me to record little sketches of grasses, weeds and indigenous flowers on our property. Before I started on the grasses, I couldn't resist doing a quick sketch of this Blue gum tree - I'll use the sketches that I do in these soft-covers as reference for larger paintings at a later stage.

Painting with Watercolour pencils

'Magalies River' in Moleskine watercolour sketch-book

I bought some Watercolour pencils yesterday morning, for the first time ever, NEVER worked in them before, but thought I'd get them seeing as they're on Kate's list of supplies for the 'Keeping an Artist's Journal' class, which starts today. I got the Derwent AQUAtone set of 12 as well as the Derwent Aquarelle set of 24 because it had some different colours.

We went to Wicker Tea Garden in Magaliesburg for lunch, so I took the small AQUAtone set with me. I did this sketch of the river bank, asked the waiter for a glass of water and voila! instant colour on the spot.

Can't say I'm mad about using watercolour pencils, feels like I'm back at school colouring in! But as far as portability and instant colour with little fuss is concerned - they just fitted into my purse - I'll certainly be using them again. But the colours seem to be fairly muddy - don't know if it's me or if it's the colours. And the colour range is also very limited - tried mixing the colours on the paper, which just made it muddier.


The Derwent sets of watercolour pencils are available in nice tins, easy for carrying around

Sketching in anything available

I hope you love birds too. It is economical. It saves going to heaven.

- Emily Dickinson

The Red Bishop on my fence post...

I was cleaning up and came upon some old books, so I carried them to the patio with a cup of tea and was busy going through them to decided which ones to throw out, when the Bishop in all his glory caught my eye. The male's buzzing song alerting the female to the nest he's building for her is always the first to alert me of their return. I was so excited to see them that I grabbed one of the books, opened it and started sketching him sitting on the fence post. I then rushed to get some paints and got his colours while he was flitting around, showing off to the female. So now none of the books are being thrown out - I've found a new use for them!

He only carries these colours during the breeding season and in Winter reverts to brown similar to the female, below.