Picture yourself sitting in an Adirondack chair somewhere along the coast of Maine, water gently lapping at the shore in front of you and seagulls soaring lazily overhead. The sun is sinking low in the sky and there’s a stillness in the air, as if the earth is holding its breath, waiting for darkness to come.
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| All sketches were done in a 9″ x 6″, Stillman and Birn Alpha series hardbound sketchbook |
That was the scene at Primrose Cottage when I painted “All is well”. The peace and serenity I felt that evening flowed through my paintbrush and onto the page. I painted directly, with no preliminary drawing, a first for me, and it felt very freeing, just letting the color flow without worrying about accuracy or page layouts or trying to be perfect. It’s just a simple little sketch, nothing special really, but the memory it holds will be with me for a long time.
Another way to pack a lot of memories into a sketchbook page is to include photos. I often make a page of photos in my travel sketchbooks. I use Microsoft Publisher to lay out selected photos on a page, then print the page on matte photo paper and glue it into my sketchbook. On this particular page, I left an empty white border around the photos, then drew a black and white border design with a Pitt Artist’s Pen after it was in the sketchbook.
Everyone really enjoyed the quirkiness of Primrose Cottage, and I think most of us did at least one sketch of the interior. Mine is of a corner of the original kitchen, with it’s pretty antique china, enamel table, pink chairs, and white curtains with pom-pom fringe. I drew it directly with a Pitt pen, not worrying at all about perspective or straight lines. I wanted the style of the sketch to feel kind of funky and fun, like the room itself.
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| Pitt pen and watercolor |
Later in the week, we made a second excursion to Birch Point State Park. It was a warm, sunny day, and the water was sparkling and beautiful. I enjoyed watching all the happy children busily digging, pouring, running and splashing. What a contrast to earlier in the week when we all sat huddled over our sketchbooks, bundled up with jackets and hats on, wishing we had brought gloves!
Watch for lots more sketches coming in a few days!
3 Comments
These are SO wonderful to see – brings it all back so vividly! I'm right back in Primrose Cottage, happily sketching away… ah bliss! ( so glad you went with the pink border on your kitchen sketch, too – perfection. Can't wait to see more; thanks so much for sharing these! xoxo, gretchen
I always love seeing your charming sketches from Maine since it is such a familiar place to me having family up in Damariscotta. I love the one of the interior of the cottage kitchen with the pink chairs and the enamel table…what a Maine cottage should look like. Great series of posts!
I love Damariscotta! We stayed in New Harbor in a big old summer cottage and I grew to love that area. Pemaquid Point light is gorgeous, and the old fort was a neat place to sketch, too. And the shops in Damariscotta are so much fun to browse in. We often stop there on our way to Owls Head. Lucky you, having family there!