Moments and Memories of France

Fancy Chickens were on a table cloth I saw at  Market in Saint Saturin les Apt.  I took a picture of them and then sketched them in my sketchbook.  Of course, by then I had non buyers remorse.  Luckily the next trip to L'Isle sur le Sorgue they were at market and I bought a length.  I also bought the little stone carving.  She is about 6" tall and was so calm and peaceful I just had to add her to my French women collection.

In L'Isle sur la Sorgue our drop off is next to the School of Music so this year I sketched their sign to add to my memories.  There are nice bridges that cross over the canals and I decided to capture part of one of the bridges.

Before coming on the trip I bought everyone in the group a Blessing Bell with a Fluer-de-lis design.

Bonnieux is a very hilly but beautiful little village. We found the rusty old bike hanging on a wall in corner which was quite fun to sketch.  We sat and had a great snack at Le St. André Café where I sketched the Place De La Liberté.  Of course we found the Post Office for our stamp and time for more lavender on the page.

Another collage done with Jackie Long.  I started this one and got a little stuck after the black and color were glued down.  Laura and I had gone to the bakery in Apt for our snack and we each got a bread bag and it was the perfect addition to finish the collage.

Robert Bateman 6" x 9" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

More from Provence……

A few little eye catching things from Menerbes.  Interesting mailbox and door decorations, more lavender and of course a latte with a little biscuit. The frog was an etched design in the glass of a shop front.  I decided to make him very regal in red.
A frog playing a french horn!

The little window with a jug of fresh daisies, which lasted over a week, in the dining room.

The contraption is actually a lavender still which collects the lavender oils. This one was just hanging out in front of a shop in Rousillion.

"Where are we going today" road signs!  They're always a great addition to a travel journal. A new "old" key to add to my collection, ceramic flowers from the cemetery, Latte stain from Café de la Poste,  Jackie had bubbling lemonade, "Pschitt" got to love the name!  In Goult one little house has a great front window which is always decorated in a super fun ways. This time with a small Vespa!

Here is a picture of the beautiful golden Ochre Hills by the mines.  One can always find interesting signage, and another fun mailbox.  The little purple plums were so delicious and quite fun to photograph and sketch.

Robert Bateman 6" x 9" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

A Little Trip to France

My friend, Marj and I took another group to France for two weeks of art fun!  I'm finally taking time to post some of my sketchbook pages.

First day of sketching with Laura outside at Les Bassacs.  We picked a stem of Lavender and got up close to sketch it.

A little windmill and a bit of a stylized grape vine.  Ardi brought a very cute French stamp from home which we each got to use in our sketchbooks.

I sat right down in the dirt between rows of grape vines and sketched this 30 year old vine.

I decided to add the sprig of Lavender every couple of pages to have a Lavender trail through my sketchbook.

This is the first of a couple of collage pages that I did with Jacki Long using collected papers of Provence.



Robert Bateman 6" x 9" sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

Zentangles on the Go

I've been so busy with just life I decided to start carrying my newer, as I can't say new any longer, 6" Aquabee Mixed Media book around with a couple of pens.


Then if I find myself waiting or with a couple of minutes I can manage a stroke or two until the page is finished.

Doesn't everybody love a small branch of eucalyptus leaves.  They are a very forgiving shape to draw and so very fun to play with. Then I added some tangle patterns and a little side trellis as a border.

The larger shapes I found on Pinterest and I'm sorry to say I can't find the original post so I can't give credit where is due.  Thank you as it was a fun pattern to play with.

Fun and flowy!  I filled the right side of the page and decided to divide the page with an in and out border. Hmmm…what to fill that little side space with. Nothing wrong with a stacked grid.  I used a couple of the same patterns to keep the eye moving up and down.




AquaBee 6" Sketchbook
Micron Pen

Colors and Pen and Ink

The top four feather pieces are exactly that, four pieces of two feathers.  It is a thin plastic stencil you combine to make two whole feathers.  I decided to use it as a whole stencil.  The large feather at the bottom is a real feather.  The squiggly lines in the background are a sgraffito technique I learned from Jane Davies.

I then decided to go back into the dry print with some pen and ink work with some outlines and details.

7.5" x 9.5"
Monoprint
Pen and Ink

I'm not sure but I think this might have been a quick little demo of some techniques in class.

Once again that little black pen seems to have appeared and taken over the print.  In the end I think this will make four very nice laminated book marks.


5" x 7"
Monoprint
Pen and Ink

The Last of the Sketchbook Project

Here are the last of the pages for the Sketchbook Project.  I sent it off and received an email saying they have received it!  Hooray!!

I really enjoyed this venture into colors, textures and patterns.

Not only did images using the dots of bubble wrap and the nettings or holes of the netting continue to emerge but also I seemed to enjoy adding a curling undulating line to the pages.

The final page and inside back cover of the book……a few more feathers for good luck!

Sketchbook Project Pages

…more pages….
This is the back of the front cover and the first page of the sketchbook.

A new perspective on a cityscape?

It was very fun to go back into these pages of color, texture and pattern with the black pen and bring out the story of the page.

More Sketchbook Project

More pages from the Sketchbook Project.  I have two more pages left in the book and then it's off to Brooklyn and then back to California for the Spring Sketchbook Tour.

I've decided on a title:
"…and the black pen"

That is what fell into place when I decided to go back into each page with my black pen.

More to come…….

Sketchbook Project

I got an email from the Brooklyn Art Library about another edition of the Sketchbook Project. This time it was for California artist and a California tour before resting in New York.

Well, sounded like I qualified so I signed up…..and now I just have to finish!

I must say the paper was fairly thin and any watercolor bled through and the pages became very wrinkled.  So I switched gears and used my water based print inks and just rolled on layers of colors.
You can see the smooth left side and the wrinkled right side where I had applied watercolor to the other side of that page.

After getting a few pages layered I decide I would go into each page with black pen and make that the theme of the sketchbook.  This one went a little crazy but who doesn't need a little crazy in their life.

These are double spread pages.
Pages are 5" x 7"