December Daily 1

I have big hopes for the month. I’ve been deep in grief and hopefully returning to the page with sketching my advent will be just the thing. (Or, at least that was the plan. Execution was far less than perfect.)

Every year I love Diamine Inkvent and this year is no different. Each day gets the ink swatch. I wanted to sketch each building in the Jacquie Lawson Christmas Village this year, but insecurity got the better of me. I did trace the first week of buildings, however. In red, as the Liz Steel Patreon theme this month is Red.

This was traced in Procreate, then printed. I inked it over with J Herbin 1670 Hematite Rouge and a dip pen with a crow quill.

The other procreate traced Christmas village buildings, and the Portuguese coin I sketched in ink, using Ferris Wheel Press ink Leadcast Letters.

I am not quilting this year, as I do not have access to my sewing area, but each year I still like to follow the Bonnie Hunter Winter Mystery Quilt, even if I’m not sewing it. This is my second of what I’m calling my December Daily captures. These quilting clues release weekly, but they are a significant part of my December traditions each year for many years now.

The December tradition I’m loving the most this is The Diamine Inkvent for 2025. This year is the Teal Edition and the inks so far are:

  1. Celestial Skies – Shimmer – A teal with a gold and red shimmer.
  2. Energy – A purple with a green sheen.
  3. Carousel – Waterproof pigment red!
  4. Smoky Tobacco – Walnut brown, scented.
  5. Marie Rose – An amber with a green chroma.
  6. Blush – A lovely warm pink.
  7. Fir and Fog – Greyish Green. Love this ink! It looks more green in person than it scanned.

The full spreads:

Phenology Wheel

I saw a You Tube video that inspired me. She had painted every day for a year, then two years, a phenology wheel. Each month was a different theme. I thought maybe I’d try this and see if it could get me back to painting or sketching.

Since I was a week away from a new month, I decided to do a week worth in my Stillman and Birn Zeta sketchbook of the skies and weather. I’m hoping to keep it up in December and do a full sized one.

Same View, Similar Sketch, Four Years Apart

In hunting down the older clutter sketches I came across this one.

Likely sketched Autumn 2021.

I realized this is the same view I sketched this week, so I had to put them side by side and compare!

I definitely like the variable brush tip better than the single width. I like that I went ahead and did sketch in all the background. Might use a smaller brush for the background next time. (Which I did in one of the other clutter sketches I did this week.)

Another thing I find very interesting, is that my technique is the same for these. I traced over a photo in Procreate to create these line art sketches. You’d think there would be no difference in the drawing skill. But I see differences and improvements between these two, and frankly, that surprises me. The biggest differences I see are drawing the lines that denote thicknesses. Those alone create much more three-dimensionality. That which seems to be the difference between what I used to feel looked like “coloring book” sketches, versus more realistic sketches. It’s taken me years to learn how to make things that look less like “coloring books.” Ha! Ironic that it is a traced sketch that reveals more of that learning.

Everyday Sketching 2025 Week 29

The weather is shifting, and we are getting some storm clouds, and a little temperature drop. I’m feeling the “dog days of summer.” I love that phrase, especially as it marks not only this hot, difficult stretch of summer, but the astronomical fact that this period of time has the star Sirius (in the constellation Canus Major, hence the dog star) rising at dawn. The Farmer’s Almanac calls July 3 to August 11 the Dog Days of Summer.

I’m once again using watercolor and stencils to art journal. This stencil came in my Cora Crea box of Dark Academia and I love it. The paint is Schmincke Dark Sepia Reddish. These little moon collages are from Coloring Book of Shadows.

I did a number of clutter sketches this week.

I’m liking the variability in line using the Gelsinki pen in Procreate. I like the effect better than the technical pen brush I used in previous sketches.