Holiday Sketchbook in France

Creating a watercolour sketch in Le Crotoy 

Bonjour!  I have returned from an amazing, relaxing holiday in France.  Just an hour from Calais, on the outskirts of a town named Rue, in an incredible Chateau for a whole week.  Bliss.  When will I realise how much easier it would be to post more frequently?  With hindsight I could have explored the possibility of using my mobile phone to upload images and text to this blog.  I have quite a few images to share with you of work done in 2 different sketchbooks.  One was a gift from friend in the West Norfolk Artists Association - by Derwent (17 x 12cms) it has useful pockets inside the soft suede-like hardback cover to store receipts or collected ephemera.  I discovered that pencil and pen glide beautifully over the paper surface but light washes of paint soaked in immediately.  This sketchbook became ideal for quick line drawings when time was short.  The other sketchbook is from Stillman & Birn in the Delta Series (14.5 x 22cms).  I had read a lot of favourable comments about this brand and wanted to try it myself.  It's a little larger than A5, black hardback, and I found it takes watercolour, water soluble pencil and Inktense pencils really well.  This sketchbook then is perfect when time is more flexible and I can settle down with some watermedia. Here's the art kit I took with me:



Art equipment fits into small (stylish) shopper bag

  

Large pocket on front of handbag perfect for sketchbook & small pencil case

 



I shall not bore you with lots of words and waffle this time but hope you enjoy the following photos of some of the sketches I made during my week in France.  Oh, starting with a few from Dover as we stopped there the night before taking the ferry...

Two views from sitting on a bench in Dover

A few captured lines from studying the ever moving seagulls and pigeons on beach

The harbour gets busy with people and the local sailing school

 

Evening stroll, stopped to watch cattle by Chateau entrance

Inktense pencils - attempt to cope with all those greens!

 

Guess where I am...

Monet's House and Garden, Giverny

Not brilliant but looking at it brings the experience back fully - the receipt
 was from early lunch and yes, I had small Prittstick in my pencil case! 

 

The famous bridge - painted on a wet afternoon in the Chateau from my photo
 (the only one not from life)

Water soluble graphite pencil to describe misty start to the day



 

A second sketch with soft diffused watercolour washes

Looking out across bay at Le Crotoy

Pencil sketch - view across site Battle of Crecy, 1346

Visit to museum at Azincourt.  Overheard young girl whisper to parent "I saw a lady drawing in her book"...

Observing cattle just up the lane from the Chateau

 



The cattle quickly lost interest in me, and I was left in no doubt

Nell the Chateau cat is very old - like most of the fixtures & fittings in the Chateau!

Lovely way to spend an hour on our last afternoon in France

I have a confession.  I did try one plein air painting with water mixable oils in the week.  I stood in the delightful Chateau grounds and attempted to paint the building itself, framed by trees.  I thoroughly enjoyed the process despite struggling to depict the façade of the building and all the windows without getting fiddly.  However, I confess to it being a total disaster.  The painting looked very flat and unconvincing.  Take heart - it happens to all of us!!!  Nothing for it but to keep on trying.  And I have a cunning plan to keep me motivated and to continue working from life - a self set project in the pipeline.  I shall reveal all in another post soon.

Rear view of Le Chateau du Broutel



Sketching at the Samovar Tea House in Ely

A new group has just off the ground, the Fenland Sketchers, and today I joined four other members for the first official meeting to chat and sketch in the delightful Samovar Tea House in Ely.  It was a fitting venue as this was where Anita and Emma-Jane hatched the idea of creating a Facebook group for people to connect and arrange sketch outings.  Nine days later and their idea has successfully come to fruition.

Interior of the Samovar Tea House

Sketching and chatting - great company...

Our sketchbooks were all very different and we enjoyed peeking into each others and sharing information.  Mine are quite messy, Anita described it as 'a working sketchbook'.  She favours an accordion style sketchbook currently and creates beautiful visual journal style pages with added text to capture the moment.  Emma-Jane worked in a smaller book and Isabel had the largest sketchbook.  Amy became the fifth sketcher - she was seated at a table nearby and became interested in what we were up to.  On enquiring how she could join she was encouraged to just grab some paper and get drawing right there and then.  Hats off to her, she dashed out to buy a sketchbook, came back and got on with it!

Water soluble graphite pencil on collage/gesso page

Graphite pencil on tinted gesso page

Pen and Inktense pencils on collage/gesso page

As you can see I had prepared some pages in advance in my sketchbook (an A5 hardback, Seawhite) by tinting white gesso with some acrylic paint and painting the paper with multi directional strokes.  I like the random colouring and matt surface to work on.  I also had a few pages with collage on then painted over that to integrate the material into the surface. 

If you live in and around the Fens and are interested in joining us for meetings locally to sketch then access the Fenland Sketchers Facebook page and click 'Join' (Emma-Jane will sign you up asap).  If you live further away see if there is a similar group in your area, and if not start one!  What are you waiting for?  It's a great way to meet new people who share your passion for drawing, and to find fascinating new places to visit.  Thank you to the staff at the Samovar Tea House for making us so welcome!