There’s so much to sketch in Shetland.
I spent a long time by the sea looking at rocks.
These pictures make it all look calm. It’s not calm. Shetland is a very windy place. While I am sketching, unseen forces turn the pages, move the paint palette around and tip my water over.
It is also damp. Paint takes a while to dry. So I do several paintings at once: I put the first wash on, and while that dries, I start another picture.
In the picture above you see my basic equipment. The paintbox is brass, which makes it heavy so it doesn’t blow away. The paintboxes I use are described here. The brushes are from Rosemary Brushes. The big one on the water pot is one of their Evergreen Short Flat brushes, size 12. It’s about an inch across, very handy for drawing quickly.
The sketchbooks are, from top to bottom:
- JP Purcell 190gsm watercolour sketchbook A5
- Hahnemühle Toned Watercolour book A6
- JP Purcell cartridge paper sketchbook A5 – Stockwell Cartridge 130gsm
Here are the twelve colours in the paintbox. They are all Daniel Smith except the Ultramarine Blue, which is Schmincke Horadam.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
In my next post I will show sketches of Shetland croft houses.
Jane Sketching 