Still inspired by my visit to Belgium, the month started off strong with pencil drawings, gouache experiments, and many Patreon drawing sessions. I also tried a few days of the 3 materials challenge, but as my focus had to shift to illustration work + I almost ran out of sketchbook pages, I did not use my sketchbooks as much by the end of July.
Luckily, my order with a few new sketchbooks arrived perfectly in time!

From a very calming drawing session with Emma Carlisle: stamps:

The harbor of Antwerp, painted with acrylic gouache + pencils:

Another session with Emma Carlisle with the fascinating theme: archaeology!
Oh, I wish we could have been there live. Digging + drawing. Wouldn’t that be fun!

On the 4th of July, TJ did an extra live session on Instagram.:

Emma brought wonderful black-and-white images from the Victorian era, but feeling time blind the entire session, I felt like I couldn’t do them justice. That, however, did not spoil the fun. Some days are just better than others.

Bigfoot was the theme of a session by TJ and Beth Spencer. And it was fun! A creature I wouldn’t be drawing for myself, so extra good practice.

Then a few sketches from the 3 materials challenge.
I often work with a limited palette or just a few pencils, but being ‘forced’ to use just 3 doesn’t feel natural, and I can get frustrated. I did, however, find some new color combinations, and drawing solutions and I’m, sure that if I’d make the time to dive in, many discoveries could be made. I know that the idea of the challenge is to make quick drawings with limited materials and draw just where you are. Think busy mom who drives her kids to the pool or summer camps. The way I like my summer is kinda boring for the sketchbook. I love spending time with my dogs, swimming, reading, and working in my studio. The best thing about a Swedish summer is that it’s slow and the only thing I’m willing to squeeze in, is more hammock time 🙂

The most recent session with TJ was themed Hawaii!
From beach finds to volcanoes and sunsets, we got a bit of everything without the need for an SPF150 🙂
TJ had some technical issues so I had a bit more time for a few drawings, while I left others just as they were when she managed to get back in. I don’t have the habit of ever finishing sketches after the sessions.
At one point I really wanted to use acrylics and it was all fun until I ran out of dry sketchbooks 🙂 – and then quickly gathered some loose papers.