A Sketchbook Day

 Yesterday we had great fun in the studio. Two of my level 2 students, Julie and Tracey are finishing their Patchwork and Quilting course. We decided that it would be fun to start a new sketchbook so that they have a starting point for their own work.

You may have seen this photo from my Seville post a few weeks ago, Taken in the Real Alcazar palace. I love the textures and pattern in this tile and it was the focus for a sketchbook day.

We started by preparing pages by painting, adding scrunched tissue paper, salt and cling film to give different textures. This is a page which has tissue paper a paint wash and then highlighted with wax crayon.

When the pages were dry we made printing blocks using polystyrene pizza bases ( nothing gets thrown away in my house ) These are a great way of making a quick printing block. Using a sharp pencil you can carve lines and marks very easily. Don't forget to add a masking tape handle on the back. I have printed twice on this page which I think gives a depth to the print.

 The print had such a depth after printing that when I rubbed over the reverse side with wax crayons I got this lovely textured page.

This page was very uninspiring when it started. I had excess paint on a roller so I just painted a page with it. Over printing though has made it into a more interesting page. I really like the faded edges. Don't you love serendipity.

I have made this page the front cover of my sketchbook.. It has a line of tissue paper painted with a blue ink wash. The rest or the page was painted with an acrylic paint wash, printed and then wax crayon added

 

Here is a selection of my pages

And some of Julie's pages

And some of Tracey's pages

 We now have an exciting start to some new sketchbooks.

Bev