A Huuuuge Moly Treasure

Yesterday evening I found a package in front of our door: It was the new sized moly (DIN A3) I had ordered. Moleskine is producing larger sizes now. What a treasure... what a huuuuge treasure. I´ll be receiving two middle sized ones (DIN A4) too, which will be easier to carry around - specially during vacations.
On the pics you can see the two other sizes which I usually use.

I Did Something...

I just started a new sketch journal (of course a watercolor moleskine). The drawing above is from one of the first pages.

Appreciating a gift more than 25 years later

Currently I´m drawing/painting some ideas for a cover illustration of the new book by Markus Hediger. Actually my talent is sketching or ink drawings but for this cover, I somehow had the urge to try out Watercolors.

So yesterday off I went to an art store to buy a small set of these colors. I had planned on buying a little black Schminke* watercolor set. My dad had given me one of these when I was 6 years old. I never knew how to use them and painted with them the same way like I did with children´s Watercolors. And I still don´t know how to use colors with a brush properly and using the colors delicately.
But when I had a look at all these lovely Watercolor sets at the art store I just couldn´t buy one of the Schminke sets. They are very expensive (I never knew and now I appreciate it, that my father gave me the set when I was a little girl).

Just for trying out watercolors and maybe not using them again, I went for the Winsor & Newton´s Cotman Sketcher's Pocket Box Set. It was the cheapest and the lightest. Maybe one day (hopefully) I will have understood how these colors work and you will see me running around outside with the sketchbook and the colors.
The Sketcher's Pocket Box Set is conveniently small, consisting of a sturdy, plastic box containing 12 half-pans of Cotman Watercolors and a pocket Scepter brush. It includes the colors Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue, Ultramarine, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Cobalt Blue Hue, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Red Pale Hue, Sap Green, Burnt Umber, Alizarin Crimson, Viridian Hue, and Chinese White.

*Schmincke has a reputation for using only the highest-quality natural gums, water-soluble resins, and pigments. For example, the company uses only Kordofan Gum Arabic from the southern Sahara region, and distinguishes between good and bad harvests or "vintages" of this natural resin as it selects its raw materials.

Fuerteventura Gulmohar Flower Drawings

Remember the flowers I stole in a shopping center? Here are some of the petals which survived all the way to Germany.

New Book, Hot Coffee, Empty Journal

Take an empty Moleskine Watercolor Sketchbook, a good book and a hot coffee and all of it will lead to a new idea:

For a detailed view click on the images.

Portrait Surprise

I check out a lot of blogs daily, but there are only a few blogs where I enjoy every single post. Today I was surprised pleasantly by one of my favorite blogs: logbuch - isla volante. I just discovered the island recently and I admire the joint project by three writers (sofffi täuscher-art, markus a. hediger, marea gomez) and a studio (rittiner and gomez)

Isla volante is a virtual island - somewhere, nowhere, out there, in the future and you can read about the happenings on the island, the people living there and about the visitors.
When I stumbled across the blog incidentally, I felt like I had found a little treasure, which I wanted to keep for myself. But I´m sharing it with you. The logbook always shows the same style watercolor painting with a few lines of text. Even if you do not understand the German text, take a look at the paintings. They are wonderful!



And today when I went to read the new entry, I immediately recognized myself and thought I must be dreaming. I had to look twice. It is an incredible feeling to be drawn by someone whose art I have been admiring daily. Thanks!

BTW: If you need the translation of any of their texts, just let me know!