Jamie's Sketchbook

August Tidbits

Soft loose ink and watercolors of a summer sky.

I finally scanned my sketchbook again. I hadn’t scanned pages since 27 June! I begin again. I did just post an entry for July, that I’d written the first paragraph in the beginning of July, then never finished. Now I fill in with August. These pages mostly just capture the weather information. Very, very little sketching. But even when there is very little, that says something when you go back and look.

Sketchbook spread with loose sky watercolor painting, and weather notes for 28 July to 12 August 2026, and a handwriting. — Soft summer skies and a lot of hot days.

Sketchbook spread, with color background, and sunflower collage junk journal ephemera. — Sunflower Collage

Sketchbook spread with swatches of Senneier Neutrals palette and a selection of Luminance Neutral pencils. — Sennelier Neutral Palette, and a selection of Luminance pencils.

I am rather loving that Neutrals palette by Sennelier and I hope to do more with it. Plus, I finally ordered some Luminance pencils. I’ve long resisted because I don’t generally love dry media, and the line is fairly costly. However, I just could not resist these percent tones in the neutrals. So I will now find out if these pencils are worth their hype. So far, they felt lovely to swatch them. And the ink wash over them worked out very nicely.

Sketchbook Design begins in September. That is by far my favorite course with Liz Steel at Sketching Now. I had hoped to get a strong head start and begin in August. I know the course load is hefty, and I’m a completist, so only doing some of it feels so wrong! However, the month has just flown by.

I do have a number of unfinished pages for the second half of August, which conveniently is something the intro week recommends we have, so I’ve scanned those. They are pretty barren, but that’s the intention isn’t it?

Unfinished sketchbook spread with Intense color swatches, lines for handwriting, and a weather card. — Unfinished page dated 14 August 2026

Unfinished sketchbook spread with ink washed UFO sketch, and earth colors swatched in Derwent Drawing pencils. — Unfinished page with sketched UFO and Derwent Drawing Pencils

Sketch of UFO "sport model" in Sailor Shikiori Suberakashi ink wash — UFO “sport model” sketch with Sailor Shikiori Suberakashi ink wash

Anyone else following the monthly PURSUE releases on the UAP files? Fascinating stuff! I have watched a few other documentaries on the subject. I used an ink wash for this flying saucer. I am pretty sure this is the Sailor Shikiori Suberakashi ink. It’s a black ink with a greenish undertone, which seemed perfect.

Unfinished sketchbook spread with Weather cards for 17-22 August 2026, Notes and sketches on the Grail Method, and other subjects. — Unfinished sketchbook spread, The Grail Method and various notes.

I watched a video on You Tube called the Grail Method by Perry Daniels and I was quite inspired by it. It gives me the idea of perhaps a less perfect sketchbook, and including more life things, more notes in the same book, rather than keeping so many subject specific notebooks might be a great idea. This is the page I sketched after watching his trio of videos on the subject.

Ink sketch of notebook with baby dragon. — Ink sketch of notebook with baby dragon

I just have to mention these adorable little baby dragons. I’m trying to learn how to draw these. I had them on my bookshelf in June, and here is another one. I am currently copying these from AI generated art, as I know nothing about illustration techniques. But they add a light-hearted whimsy that seriously brightens my days. I hope to keep drawing many more of these little guys until I can actually draw them myself, instead of copy them. Can’t wait to get this guy painted!

Unfinished sketchbook spread for 24-25 August with weather and notes on Write Away. — Unfinished sketchbook spread with weather and notes on Write Away method

Unfinished sketchbook page with weather notes for 26-29 August 2026 — Unfnished sketchbook page with weather notes for 26-29 August 2026.

And here we are, back to scorching heat and breaking records. These temperatures are usually in early July, not the end of August! I’m hiding in the A/C while I prepare for the Sketchbook Design course. I’m ramping up some spreads, if not too many sketches yet. I am thinking of some abstracts for these empty spreads? More ink washes?

Speaking of ink washes, how about I just share the accumulation of swatches I’ve been testing as well. I don’t have much to say about these.

Ink swatches on handmade watercolor paper

Ink and colored pencil swatches on handmade watercolor paper — Ink swatches on handmade watercolor paper

This catches me up and now I get to swing into Sketchbook Design again. I have a tag for previous courses at sketchingnowsketchbookdesign.

Fireworks and Sirius

Americana collage and weather information for 4-5 July 2026, with painted fireworks.

Time is moving swiftly this summer, isn’t it? We are in the Dog Days of Summer now. I love that phrase. The Romans and Greeks considered a time of madness and insanity. Here in Phoenix, when the temps are over 110F, people do indeed go a little crazy. Me? I’m just hiding the in the A/C. And buying way, way too many books!

I had written the above paragraph ages ago, and then… the summer happened. So here are the July Pages:

Sketchbook spread with Americana collage, note cards, and weather notes for 30 June through 5 July 2026 on top of a handwritten background. — Americana collage for the 250th 4th of July celebration.

Sketchbook spread with americana note cards with handwriting, and junk journal ephemera. — Collage with Americana and Magical Herbalism images.

Dates and weather for 6-25th of July. Mercury retrograde dates, and Northlands Collage. — Weather and Collage for July.

Sketchbook spread with pencil swatches, date and water for 26-27 July 2026, and a Draw Your Day style with collage and text. — Pencils, and Draw Your Day style page.

(Posted on 30 August 2026. Backdated to 28 July 2026.)

Books and Dragons

A whimsical ink and watercolor sketchbook spread celebrating Midsummer as a cozy bookshelf scene. Two wooden shelves are draped in climbing vines with white daisy-like flowers. The top shelf holds hand-lettered book spines in two clusters: witchcraft and herbalism titles on the left (Leechcraft, Saxon Sorcery, Herbal Lore, Wild Magic, House Witch) with a steaming black cauldron at centre, then psychology and self-help titles on the right (The Happiness Trap, A Liberated Mind, Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, Disentangle, Set Boundaries, Disease to Please). Small black soot-sprite creatures peek from behind the spines, and a contemplative teal dragon with a question-mark speech bubble perches at the far right. The second shelf holds writing craft books (Million Dollar Outlines, Outline Your Novel), a cup of pens, and a rolled yellow scroll. Below the shelves, a bunting banner spells out MIDSUMMER in teal and multicolour letters, flanked by two crumpled weather-note tags recording Friday 20 June 2026 and Saturday 27 June temperatures. At the bottom of the page, a blue dragon sleeps curled at lower left, a green dragon dozes on an open book at centre with ZZZ drifting upward, and soot sprites cluster at lower right with tiny stacked books. The mood is warm, witchy, and softly celebratory.

So the question comes up, how do I document that I’m buying books, when I buy ebooks, and don’t really have anything to actually sketch? I could sketch the covers. I could sketch the kindle or the kobo. Or I could venture out of the world of observational sketching only, and venture into illustration. Gasp!

Well, if I’m going to venture into illustration, might as well add soot sprites and dragons then! Ha! So here is my illustrated bookshelf. the books are real and purchased, and I really am working on Homestead and Haven. The shelves, the vines, the flowers, the soot sprites, and the baby dragons are just for delight.

Done with ink and watercolor wash, using my standard watercolor palette.

I think my favorite is that poor soot sprite trying so hard not to fall off that weather card! He is having a struggle moment, for sure!

Date and Weather Notecards

A sketchbook spread with a clean white background. Three small handmade weather diary cards in pale yellow are arranged vertically along the left margin (Saturday June 20, Sunday June 21, Monday June 22), and three more along the right margin (Tuesday June 23, Wednesday June 24, Thursday June 25). The center two pages are occupied by two large collaged prints: on the left, an ornate botanical mandala with a sunflower-like starburst in black, white, and gold, surrounded by small decorative flourishes; on the right, a botanical illustration plate showing detailed flowers and foliage in black ink and amber tones, with scientific-style annotations. Temperatures on all six cards range from 105°F to 114°F.

If nothing else this month (or two), I finally attempted to draw little aged note cards to give my weather pages a bit more design. Even when I’m not sketching, or doing much of anything else, I like to keep the weather notes and dates in my sketchbook to mark the passage of time. They serve as a record of when the going was more pitted gravel than smooth highway.

A sketchbook spread on white paper. The left page shows a handwritten weather diary for seven days (Wednesday May 20 through Tuesday May 26, 2026), with each entry recording the date, high and low temperatures in both Fahrenheit and Celsius, and a small hand-drawn weather icon — sun, partial cloud, or crescent moon. Temperatures range from 95°F to 98°F for highs. At the top right of the page, handwritten notes read "GoFun White No 101" and "Flax Beige No 401." The right page features a collage of three tarot-style cards at the bottom left — one showing a rose, one showing roses with swords, one labeled "Blades of Destiny" with a skull — and a large decorative print in the upper right: an intricate compass rose surrounded by botanical illustrations, pressed flowers, and heart motifs in black, grey, and dusty pink. — Weather diary, May 20–26.

I’m currently working in a new Stillman & Birn 7.5″ square Alpha. Remarkably, this page marks only the fourth spread in volume 30. Thirty!

Recently, my printer stopped working, (too old for modern networks!) which forced me to pivot. I ended up getting a new one, and since I had a junk journal kit on hand, I decided to test print with it. When I didn’t end up sketching anything else to capture the days, I used those pages for collage. I became captivated by that specific shade of aged paper and wondered if my Gansai Tambi paints could match it.

Gofun White 101: A perfect match for the natural shade of the Alpha paper.
Flax Beige 401: Has great potential for an “aged” look, but didn’t quite match these specific printed sheets.

Shifting Plans & Playing with Color

A sketchbook spread dominated by a vivid, mottled watercolor background in loose washes of yellow, green, teal, blue, purple, and red-orange. Scattered across both pages are twelve small handwritten note cards, each recording the date, high temperature, low temperature, and weather icon for one day from Wednesday May 27 through Sunday June 7, 2026. Some cards also note a wake-up time. The cards appear slightly irregular, as if hand-torn, and are drawn to look aged, with outlined borders. Temperatures climb from the mid-90s°F into the low 100s°F — Weather diary, May 27–June 7.

I had plans for sketching, but as the days slipped away, I simply played with watercolor and stencils. I used the Holbein watercolors that I assembled into my Travel Sketching palette (which I talked about in my last post). The dark blue spots were stenciled with watercolor over the color blocked background.

Crafting the Aged Look

A sketchbook spread with a dark, smoky purple-grey watercolor background on the left page, and a soft solid yellow on the right page (left blank). Scattered across the dark left side are twelve small handmade note cards in warm amber-yellow tones, each recording weather data for one day from Monday June 8 through Friday June 19, 2026. Several cards note a wake-up time (5:30, 4:50, 4:00, 4:45, 3:30). The cards are hand-drawn to look aged and yellowed, with dark outlines. Temperatures range from 103°F to 112°F. — Weather diary, June 8–19.

Really diving into how to make these note cards look aged, I used the Holbein palette:

Yellow Ochre: Used for that weathered, historic feel.
Eurasian Jay Rose Grey: The moody background complementary color to make the cards pop.
Jaune Brilliant 1: The yellowed wash on the facing page.

I originally intended to sketch something specific for the summer solstice, but I suspect now that this solid wash of color will remain as my tribute to the day.

Solstice Collaging

Fortunately, this junk journal page felt incredibly fitting for the solstice, so I collaged it in alongside the Jaune Brilliant 1 note cards.

That opacity gave me some trouble over the text. With opaque paints I should probably paint my background first, or stick to a much more transparent paint!

Even when energy is low, keeping a visual record, an illustrated diary is important to me. I miss it, but at least I’ve captured this era in these small ways.

Missed Travel Sketching

Abstract Watercolor Painting in soft greens and yellows, with dark indigo and red accents.

Once again the autoimmune adventures hit hard, and life piled on. I ended up just not doing any of the Travel Sketching class work except the intro kit building, and the current sketch. Now for the hard work of forgiving all the things I cannot control and just accepting the losses. I have, however, decided that I’m going to rest this summer, and not try for the Watercolor on Location group run. I’m obviously needing the recovery time.

It was hard to let go this time. But so be it. Back to the days and days of just listing the dates and the weather to mark the passage of time. I left some white space. In one of those half pages, I did a watercolor abstract like I used to do, and that turned out really well! (See below.)

Before I lost all oomph, I did get the color charts done for the Tombow Dual Brush Markers:

Circles of Tombow Dual Brush Markers swatching colors 090 Lemon Cream, 947 Burnt sienna, 533 Peacock Blue, 228 Gray Green, 026 Yellow Gold, N75 Cool Gray 3, 569 Jet Blue, 761 Carnation, 990 Light Sand. — Tombow Dual Brush Markers in Travel Sketching Palette

Those colors are Tombow Dual Brush Markers: 090 Lemon Cream, 947 Burnt sienna, 533 Peacock Blue, 228 Gray Green, 026 Yellow Gold, N75 Cool Gray 3, 569 Jet Blue, 761 Carnation, 990 Light Sand.

The Tombows do not seem very reactive to water. The second half of each circle was activated with water, and it shows in a couple colors, but not in most of them.

Color Swatches of Holbein Watercolors. — Holbein Watercolors in Travel Sketching Palette

Still in the grip of my obsession with recreating this Travel Sketching Palette (I blame the brain chemistry from the allergen hits!) I bought these Holbein Watercolors. Aren’t these lovely?

Holbein Watercolors in Travel Sketching Palette: Permanent Lemon Yellow W235, Lunar Eclipse Red WG605, Verditer Blue W295, Green Grey W352, Yellow Ochre W234, Grey of Grey W353, Indigo W298, Shell Pink W226, Jaune Brilliant No 1 W231, Lavender W316, Davy’s Grey W355, Eurasian Jay Rose Grey WG661.

Last year I was doing some of these watercolor abstracts. They are such a lovely way to play with color. I had to test this palette with one. I rather like this one. It ended up looking like an abstract landscape. (Also note: I cannot for the life of me get Posca pens to work! Is my climate just too dry? But there is a hint of white showing my attempt!) These abstracts are so good for capturing mood, or a moment that I find they fit documenting life surprising well. They hold memories and feelings quite well.

The complete spread in my sketchbook. A bit more thought on page design than I’ve used in a while, which feels good.

As for this summer, I have a few half pages with white space along with my dates and weather. Perhaps I will be able to sketch items or scenes. I will definitely make more abstracts.

I want to return to illustrated journaling, and documenting life as it happens. That has always been my primary goal, and what drew me to keeping a sketchbook in the first place. I am missing that in my influences and in my own work, so when I regain some oomph, I shall revisit my old inspirations.

I’m looking forward to the run this upcoming autumn of the Sketchbook Design course. Every time I’ve done it, I end up capturing more life and making pages I love. My sketchbook ends up feeling like me.

Dates and Weather from 13 to 19 May 2026. An abstract watercolor painting. Holbein Watercolor swatches. — 13-19 May 2026 with Abstract Watercolor, and Holbein Travel Sketching Palette swatches.

Nine Palettes Now

An abstract watercolor grid painting made up of colorful painted squares arranged in a sudoku-style layout, nine sets of nine color blocks each representing the same limited Travel Sketching palette rendered in a different medium. Colors include yellow, orange-red, blue, teal, olive green, gold, grey, pink, mauve, purple and peach, painted in varied textures reflecting each medium's character.

Remember One Palette, Six Ways: An Obsession? Well.

It’s nine now.

I had to add Tombow Dual Brush Pens and the Holbein Watercolors to the palette family! And I had to open Volume 30 with all of them as my frontispiece.

The concept is simple: same limited Travel Sketching palette, nine different media, arranged sudoku-style. Little nine patches of each medium. The first three nine patches are Inktense, Holbein Watercolors, and Tombow Dual Brush. The second three nine patches are Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Markers, Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils (the original palette, in the center, and Goldfaber Aqua Dual Brush. The bottom three nine-patches are Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pens, my standard watercolor palette, and Neocolor 2.

The big surprise? How close in hue I was able to get each medium. The Neocolor 2 are nicely rich and creamy. Without labels you’d have a hard time telling most of them apart in a sketch.

This is the perfect way to really see how the different media work, and feel.

I have thusly begun Sketchbook Volume 30! I have been in a landscape format sketchbook for over a year, testing various Stillman and Birn papers in the 5.5 x 8.5 and 6 x 9 inch books. I am SO glad to be in a bigger book. This is the 7.5 x 7.5 inch Stillman & Birn Alpha and I can already feel the difference. With a little more space, I’m thinking about sketchbook design more and hoping to keep that in mind for this book.

Sanguine Tomatoes

wo side-by-side illustrated food diary pages showing meals from Saturday 9 May and Sunday 10 May 2026, painted in a limited color palette using Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Markers. Each day shows loose watercolor sketches of meals arranged on yellow plates and bowls, including a cupcake, salad, and various dishes, rendered in soft washes of yellow, green, brown, blue and muted red.

What do you do with a bag of many different types of markers, all in the same palette? Draw food, of course.

Well, I draw the food anyway. I’d been loving the Sailor Shikiori markers for food sketching — those gorgeous watery effects! But I’d also just finished building the same Travel Sketching palette six ways. Or eight. (What? I got obsessed.)

I knew the palette worked for landscapes and cityscapes. But food? I had to find out.

A sketchbook spread covering Tuesday 5 May through Friday 8 May 2026, showing four days of illustrated food diary entries. Each day's meals are painted as small loose watercolor sketches of bowls and plates in a limited warm palette, with handwritten meal names, costs, calories, and macros. Media noted include Goldfinbar Aqua Dual Brush Markers. — Food sketches in Shikiori and Goldfaber Aqua Dual Brush Markers, 5–8 May 2026

Shikiori markers for the first few days as I had been doing previously, then the Goldfaber Aqua Dual Brush Markers, then the Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Markers, and finally the Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pens — my first time ever using those in color.

Not too bad, actually! The water-based markers end up more similar than different — the palette mostly wins. Except those tomatoes. You have to think about it to realize they’re tomatoes, because the sanguine is just not red enough. Every single person who looked at my sketchbook squinted at them. Sorry, tomatoes. You deserved better.

A sketchbook spread covering Saturday 9 May through Tuesday 12 May 2026, showing four more days of illustrated food diary entries in a limited watercolor palette. Meals are painted as small loose sketches of bowls and plates with handwritten annotations. A journal entry on the right notes creating the Sketchbook Index and starting Lesson 1 of the Travel Sketching course. Media noted include Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Markers and Faber-Castell Fine Brush Pen. — Food Sketches in Albrect Dürer Watercolor Markers, and Pitt Artist Brush Pens, 9–12 May 2026

In other news — I started indexing all my sketchbook pages. Can you imagine? A searchable index so I can find when I last sketched a particular subject, or when I sampled a paint color and then never used it again. Oh yes.

I didn’t draw the geese

A watercolor painting of a dramatic fire-red sunset sky, framed by loose bold painted borders. A dark silhouetted treeline and rooftops stretch across the middle ground, rendered in deep brown-black washes. The entire sky above and below the horizon glows in intense layers of orange and red, painted in Bloodstone Genuine and Transparent Pyrrol Orange watercolor.

On Monday evening I walked over to Stonecreek to check on the goslings. They’re at that awkward adolescent phase where their down has turned brown instead of green, but their tail feathers are not yet coming in. I chickened out on drawing them.

The sky, however, was putting on a show. I captured the soft pastels while the geese were eating. But I could tell the color was going to be spectacular so I raced to the other side of the pond, to catch the reflections. This extraordinary fire-red-orange rewarded me. What a stunning sunset! I found out the next day there was a wildfire to the west of town. That might explain the stunning color.

I used Bloodstone Genuine and Transparent Pyrrol Orange. Even the frame is all watercolor. My first “Darks” drawing for May’s Patreon theme by Liz Steel.

A sketchbook spread covering Sunday 3 May and Monday 4 May 2026. Left side shows a Coloring Book of Shadows Earth element page and two Diamine ink swatches labeled Lady Grey and Earl Grey. Center, handwritten journal notes about walking at Stonecreek and watching the sunset. Right, a bold watercolor painting of a fiery red-orange sunset sky with a dark silhouetted treeline, painted in dramatic washes of orange, red, and deep brown-black. — Fiery Sunset, 3–4 May 2026

April, in Dinners

Close-up detail from the April 21–22, 2026 food diary spread. A bowl of Greek bowtie pasta with cheese sits beside a small round bowl of Giggles candy in cheerful confetti colors — red, orange, yellow, purple, and green — in a Stillman & Birn Delta sketchbook.

Dinners Only

The last food diary post took me through April 6th. Then April happened.

It wasn’t a bad month exactly, but it was a rocky one with symptoms flaring, energy unreliable, the kind of month where keeping up with a daily sketchbook practice just wasn’t in the cards. I kept eating dinner. I just wasn’t drawing it.

So yesterday I sat down with my phone, pulled up my photos, and drew twenty-six days of dinners in one go. Two and a half hours with the Shikiori markers, then another fifty minutes going back over everything with water to activate the color. I do love the blooms that activating watercolor markers can generate! Five pages. April 7th through May 3rd, all in one long, slightly meditative catch-up session.

Three days of food diary sketches in a Stillman & Birn Delta sketchbook, drawn in Shikiori markers with watercolor activation. April 7 shows BBQ chips, peanut butter cups, and quesadillas. April 8 shows more chips,sedanini with spinach and a quesadilla with enchilada sauce. April 9 shows a flying avocado, a fruit cup, and lemon cake. — April 7–9, 2026 — Food Diary catch-up — Stillman & Birn Delta

I’ve done dinners-only before, back in 2022, but not since. The logic is the same now as it was then: breakfast and lunch don’t vary enough to sketch, and if something in my diet is causing a flare, it’s almost certainly lurking in dinner. The food diary is part creative practice, part detective work.

Drawing from photos all at once gave the pages a consistency I don’t usually get from in-the-moment sketching. Same hand, same markers, same energy — everything has a kind of visual unity that I actually like. It’s a different flow from the day-by-day record, but it’s still a record.

Five days of food diary sketches in a Stillman & Birn Delta sketchbook, drawn in Shikiori markers with watercolor activation. April 10 shows banana, quesadilla, and a Ciao sparkling water. April 11 shows quesadilla with enchilada sauce. April 12 shows a glow bowl, lemon cake, and lemonade. April 13 shows applewood cheddar with crackers and red bean chili. April 14 shows cherry tomatoes, chocolate cookies, and cheddar crackers with vegan bacon. — April 10–14, 2026 — Food Diary catch-up — Stillman & Birn Delta

Highlights and lowlights, in no particular order.

April 9th has a flying avocado, a fruit cup, and lemon cake, and I’m pleased with how cheerful it came out. April 12th’s glow bowl is one of the better-looking plates in the whole run. The cheesy lemon spaghetti on April 18th was delicious and the sketch knows it.

Six days of food diary sketches in a Stillman & Birn Delta sketchbook, drawn in Shikiori markers with watercolor activation. Dates run April 15 through April 20, with meals including a Leafside creamy mushroom bowl, cherry tomatoes, a peanut butter sandwich cookie plate, cheesy lemon spaghetti, and carrot cake. A hand-lettered box reading DINNERS ONLY appears on the right-hand page. — April 15–20, 2026 — Food Diary catch-up — Stillman & Birn Delta

The DINNERS ONLY box that appears mid-April — I lettered it right there on the page as a label to remind myself I did still eat lunches! It has a slightly resigned, slightly determined energy that I feel captures the month accurately.

Seven days of food diary sketches in a Stillman & Birn Delta sketchbook, drawn in Shikiori markers with watercolor activation. Dates run April 21 through April 27, with meals including Greek bowtie pasta with cheese, a small bowl of Giggles candy, cherry tomatoes, quesadillas with salsa, dolmas with tomatoes and carrots, Mexican wedding cookies, spaghetti marinara, and carrot cake with a glow bowl. — April 21–27, 2026 — Food Diary catch-up — Stillman & Birn Delta

And then there’s the quesadilla. It shows up nine times. Nine. Quesadilla with enchilada sauce, quesadilla with salsa, quesadilla solo, quesadilla as a supporting player. It has practically become a character in this sketchbook. My Whoop has been giving me pointed looks about it. I asked about my poor sleep, and the theory offered is that a high fat and high carb dinner combination might be doing my sleep no favors. I did not buy tortillas on my last shopping trip. Let’s test this theory and see what happens. (But what will I eat on high brain fog, low energy days?)

Seven days of food diary sketches in a Stillman & Birn Delta sketchbook, drawn in Shikiori markers with watercolor activation. Dates run April 28 through May 3, with meals including quesadillas with salsa, avocado, cherry chocolate walnut dessert, hummus with dolmas and rice stackers, hemp cheese and bean burgers, crackers with vegan bacon and tomatoes, carrot cake with a glow bowl, and spaghetti marinara. — April 28–May 3, 2026 — Food Diary catch-up — Stillman & Birn Delta

This also concludes the small Delta Sketchbook that is my 29th sketchbook and my 6th food volume.

The featured image up top is from the April 21st spread — Greek bowtie pasta, and a little bowl of Giggles (allergen-friendly candy, think Skittles) with those bright confetti dot colors. It’s one of my favorites from the whole batch. Twenty-six dinners, one sitting, five pages. The record exists. On to May. Without my go to quesadillas!

Beltane Flowers

A loose watercolor sketch of a bouquet of orange roses and carnations in a green vase, with chartreuse and soft green foliage in the background, painted in a fluid, gestural style.

Beltane comes and you can feel the season changing. I needed a week off. (Burnout persists!) I tried to clear the decks. I ordered a soft peachy floral display with sage colored leaves for the soothing soft vibes. (The order promised peach roses, white Asiatic lilies, peach miniature carnations, and white stock, accented with pitta negra, dusty miller, and a soft green echeveria succulent.)

I printed my Coloring Book of Shadows Beltane images and the start of May as well, and distributed them through the remaining 12 pages (six spreads) of sketchbook volume 28. So close to the end I can taste it! I’m eager! I’m ready to move out of this year plus long series of landscape sketchbooks, testing the various Stillman and Birns papers. It’s been great, and I learned a lot about the papers. I am ready for a bigger page! I left room for sketches and hoped the spread-out collage pieces would create harmony on the pages. (The jury is still out on that.)

My flowers arrived, and I received vibrant orange and dark green instead. “Flowers may be substituted.” (Tropicana roses, white Asiatic lilies, orange carnations, and white stock with leatherleaf fern and salal, and a dark green echeveria succulent.)

Well, I guess we’re doing Transparent Pyrrol Orange today!

A sketchbook spread dated Friday 1 May 2026. On the left, a decorated Beltane page from the Coloring Book of Shadows, filled with flowers, pentagrams, hearts and swirls in pink, green, and blue. Center, a loose watercolor bouquet of orange roses in a green vase. Right edge, a small illustrated maypole with ribbons and flowers. — Beltane Flowers. 1 May 2026

These are the flowers I received, so I’ll paint them as they came. I tried to capture the white Asiatic lilies and the white stock flowers. White flowers are hard to paint! The Transparent Pyrrol Orange was the perfect shade for the orange flowers, with no mixing needed. I did not paint it as bright as those Tropicana roses, though. I carried that color palette over to the Beltane collage sticker, as the new color story of the day.

A sketchbook spread dated Saturday 2 May 2026. Far left, a Coloring Book of Shadows garden charms and spells page. Center, two abstract ink blob shapes in deep blue-black with dramatic chromatography, with handwritten notes reading "Keep up the Momentum / Peace / Sanity!" Below, a small plant illustration labeled "Diamine Good Tidings." Right side, a handwritten journal entry about a big garage declutter, with a Taurus/Gemini astrological illustrated page and cubic footage tracking notes. — Ink Wash Bags for Declutter, 2 May 2026

Naturally, the weather threatened a crazy heat wave coming, and working in a hot garage is a bad idea, so I pushed to finish the garage declutter while the cooler temperature held one last weekend.

Two abstract ink shapes resembling garbage bags, painted in deep blue-black ink with dramatic blue chromatography bleeding through the centers, creating an almost celestial or eclipse-like effect. — Robert Oster Graphite ink wash sketch, 2 May 2026

I love doing these Robert Oster Graphite inky chromatography garbage bags to document the decluttering. They are so expressive, and that color separation is delicious. Another big day of decluttering, and that settles the garage for the next eight months.

A watercolor and ink sketch of a stack of journals — black Witch's Composition Books and a red Aries Journal Book with a medallion on the cover — rendered in bold red, black, and grey washes. — Book Still-life — ink and watercolor. 2 May 2026

The Start Your Sketchbook Journal course by Danny Gregory is exactly what I want to be doing with my sketchbook practice, but I keep putting off the course. Maybe because I’m terrible at taking time off, and when I need a break, I end up decluttering garages, so the self-paced courses get put off so easily? Yeah. That.

A sketchbook spread showing a watercolor and ink sketch of stacked Coloring Book of Shadows journals on the left — black Witch's Composition Books and a red Aries Journal Book. Center, a decorated candle illustration with garlic, peppers, and onion. Right side, a "Start Your Sketchbook Journal" prompt page with a broom and flower bucket illustration and handwritten personal reflections about returning to an illustrated journal practice. — Notebooks still life, 2 May 2026

But I sketched the new delivery of composition books and Aries Journal from Coloring Book of Shadows. I even sketched one of the corner designs by hand! I really need to practice illustration-style sketching!