Brancaster creek - sketch © Mari French 2011
Trawling through my sketchbooks today, for inspiration and to print out and paste into my current workbook for reference.
Some of these are recent… some older, but it was interesting making their acquaintance again.
Thought I’d share…
Rain approaching - watercolour sketch © Mari French 2011
haybales catching the sun - watercolour sketch © Mari French 2011
Poplars and poppies - sketch © Mari French 2009
Reedbeds, Blakeney - sketch © Mari French 2011
Other artists may experience something similar, but I only have to look at these to be whisked back in time… I can remember what I was thinking about, sensations, weather… it tends to be true for most of my finished paintings too.
Barleyfield - sketch © Mari French 2010
Harvest - sketch © Mari French 2011
October shoreline - sketch © Mari French
Mari French RI : contemporary artworks 
Oh, these are exquisite Mari. I really envy your watercolour skills – I just can’t get the hang of it myself – but these are little jewels 🙂 Particularly love Rain Approaching …
well thank you! not sure they’re that great but I enjoyed doing them, and I’m touched by the response.
I love sketching wet-in-wet on the spot, although it does make a mess of many sketchbooks with thinner pages ; )
My main ‘trick’ is not to use small brushes – I bash in the main areas with a 1″ soft flat acrylic brush (I love Daler Rowney system 3 series, which I use up to 3″ for my acrylics). The smallest I’ll use tends to be about 1/2″ even in the smallest sketchbooks(!)… it stops me fiddling and fussing with detail too much – I can add detail/notes with a watersoluble pencil.
Lovely work; glad you did share
My favourite has to be Reedbeds, Blakeney
Many thanks, that does seem to be a popular one!
I’ve been intending to produce a semi-abstract canvas from that… so I should really get on with it ; )
Love love love Poplars & Poppies, October Shoreline, Reedbeds & Haybales x
Thanks Sam, I will produce something from them eventually!
In the meantime, I’ll be posting an image of the finished ‘Sea Lavender’ canvas soon… x
Oh goodie I will definately be looking forward to that. x
I love seeing inside other people’s sketchbooks. I think it is good to revisit old work. As artists we are constantly gathering/collecting and looking; sometimes it is beneficial just to slow down.
Love the work.
Thanks Miriam, it certainly is. : )
Thanks Mari, I do love watercolour now, as you know, although it used to drive me round the twist. These are a lovely loose, flowing collection. I’d be interested to know how you move some studies on into (acrylic?) full blown pieces. At present, I’ve stayed away from anything but thin oils because the way the medium moves seems to be important for now. Its made me think what I was reflecting in my older oils.
I’m glad you’re getting to flex your watercolour muscle (and able to show the results in a good gallery!).
I tend to work up v few sketches as such to be honest, they help me to observe and embed the original impression in my mind. At a later date they feed into my subconscious as I work on a semi-abstract landscape, helping me to ‘recognise’ elements and guiding the work, but still allowing me to take advantage of ‘accidents’ and serendipity with the materials .
I find if I work directly from sketches it can inhibit me – trying to reproduce the original spontaneity and freedom is almost impossible. This can be frustrating too, as I really would like to reproduce these as full-blown pieces!
Maybe I’ll find a way eventually ; )
I love going back and looking at my work (photography) too. It surprises me how my voice changes and I enjoy seeing the things I loved before. I really like these works. They just make me stop and take a breath and stare a while. Thanks so much for sharing.
I’m delighted you enjoyed looking through them Katie, love your photography (blog) by the way.