I’ve been busy getting ready for the holidays, painting Christmas cards, baking cookies, and trying to do a little decorating despite the upheaval here, with our basement construction project still in full swing. We have boxes filled with plumbing supplies, flooring, lighting, and much more piled in the front hall and spilling over into the living room. I need to get everything moved, because I’m hosting Christmas here at our house! I have my work cut out for me.
Suffice to say, I haven’t had time to finish my Santa Barbara travel journal, but I have been able to make some good progress. The rest will have to wait until after Christmas.
Staying at my friend Karen’s house near San Diego was such a treat. My final day there, I spent hours on her back patio under an umbrella, sketching the view looking out across the pool, beyond the palm trees and jacuzzi, to the Pacific Ocean. I’m at my happiest when there’s no agenda and I can spend hours drawing and painting. It felt so good to escape all the chores that continually call to me when I’m at home (“Fold the laundry!”, “Clean the house!”), and just bask in the sunshine and drink in that view.
I used a three-box grid to break up the sky area in my sketch, filling the boxes with flowers which grew near the house.
For the journaling box on the facing page, I painted a border design that features a simplified version of the beautiful blue tiles that surround the pool.
I know it looks complex, but it’s greatly simplified from the original. There’s a limit to what I’ll attempt to paint in a 1″ square!
I used a tracing paper transfer for the drawing: I simply drew one tile pattern on tracing paper, flipped it to the reverse side, positioned it over one of the squares I had drawn then rubbed the tracing paper with my fingernail, using firm pressure to transfer the pencil drawing to the sketchbook page. I repeated the process for all 20 squares, retracing my original tracing paper design occasionally when the pencil lines grew faint.
I masked off the grout lines, then painted the squares assembly-line style, working my way around the rectangle, painting one color at a time. It was relaxing work, and I enjoyed seeing the pattern develop with each new color addition. At the end, I used felt-tip pens to further define some elements of the design.
I hope your holiday preparations are going well and you’re managing to find a few quiet moments amidst all the busyness. Despite the challenges of our ongoing construction project here at my house, I’m looking forward to celebrating our first Christmas here. The environment may be dramatically different from what we had in the past, but our traditions will continue to connect us with Christmases past and with each other. Our Christmas Eve feast will taste just as good as it did at Summerhill, and the grandkids will still go wild on Christmas morning. It’s a new chapter in our lives, but it may end up being the best one.
5 Comments
The whole project is beautiful but that mosaic border is WOW! Wishing you and your lovely family a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
Thanks! Sometimes I don’t realize what I’m getting into when ideas like this pop into my head, but using the transfer technique definitely made it easier and more doable.
Love the pop of color with the flowers above your sketch of the view looking out across the pool. Nice composition. Thanks for sharing how you made the tile border around the statement of how you spent your day. Love this idea, it looks complicated but you make it sound easy with your technique of how you made each tile. Have a Merry Christmas
The transfer technique definitely made it easier to do, and working on a repetitive project, like painting the tiles, can end up being enjoyable. It’s mindless and relaxing. I can watch a video or listen to a podcast while I’m painting, and it’s just fun to watch the design reveal itself little by little.
I discovered you today and am excited to learn from you. My hope for the new year is to take my simple watercolor skills to a new level with your help.