Seagull #549

Daily painting #549 pen and watercolour from my sketchbook NFS

We have arrived in beautiful Cape Town! Without a doubt one of the most beautiful cities in South Africa. We took my daughter straight down to the waterfront after we landed. She was amazed at how many seagulls there were...she has never been to Cape Town before. She kept taking photos of the seagulls! By the end of the week she will be sick of them!

I have left my oil paints behind at home and plan to do more sketching and little documents in my private journal. I will share one of them each day as my daily painting. I sat drawing on the plane yesterday and every time I looked up the lady across the aisle was smiling in my direction. I clearly provided her with 2 hours of entertainment for the duration of the flight. There is nothing more unnerving than a stranger peering at you while you draw. I could see she was dying to ask me if she could take a look but I was trying as hard as I could to ignore her and concentrate. While waiting for our luggage after arrival I saw her pointing in my direction in an animated conversation with her (I assume) husband. She must have been telling him about the crazy lady on the plane!

So a little share from my daily recordings today....I feel lost without my oil paints but it's good to get back to working in a little sketchbook again.

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Plum and a half #548

Daily painting #548 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

Making good use of the plums that were still sitting in my studio from yesterday and enjoying every minute of working with my oils. I am off to Cape Town tomorrow and have decided to not travel by air with wet oil paintings, so my oil paints and brushes are staying behind....I already feel a little lost at the thought! I will still be daily painting but will share pen, ink and watercolour images from my personal journal instead. So my last little oil painting until the 9th April.....Cape Town here I come!

I will share photos from my trip via my Instagram account. You can follow along too and will find me under the username heidishedlock....

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Three plums #547

Daily painting #547 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

Blue and crimson ...one of my favourite paint combinations! The rich, almost royal tones of the plum always catch my attention. Sadly though I have found them to be rather tasteless this season which is disappointing but they never disappoint with their vibrant colour!

We are counting the days until our trip to Cape Town! Not long now! I am taking my daughter to the One Direction concert while we are there so she is beside herself with excitement. It will be her first big concert experience. I can't say I am as excited to be amongst a bunch of screaming teenage girls but I am looking forward to the look on my daughter's face when they come on stage!

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Left over mushrooms #546

Daily painting #546 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

A quick late night study....

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Evening sky - heavy with rain #545

Daily painting #545 from my sketchbook NFS

I am leaving for Cape Town on Tuesday and have decided not to take my oil paints with me so I will be sharing little images from my personal sketchbook instead. I will be in Cape Town for 8 days and don't feel like traveling by air with wet oil paintings! So I have been gathering all my drawing tools and inks and watercolours and getting them packed and ready! I am struggling however to replace my old moleskin sketchbook which had thick enough paper to hold copious amounts of water when playing with washes of ink or watercolour. Every other sketchbook I own is good for drawing but as soon as I start swishing water into the drawing the paper simply is not think enough to cope! Slightly wrinkled paper is fine if it is just me looking at the images in the book (although I do get frustrated that the water is absorbed too quickly) but it's not fine if I want to photograph the image to share with you! I simply cannot find a decent watercolour sketchbook in Durban other than buying a pad of watercolour paper which I don't want. I am going to be heading off to those Cape Town art supply stores and stocking up on sketchbooks with good quality paper....

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Button mushrooms #544

Daily painting #544 6"x6. Oil on primed canvas panel

Mushrooms always have to be cooked separately in our house. There are very few things my family don't eat but for some reason my daughter cannot stomach mushrooms. It doesn't matter how finely you chop them she figures out purely on taste that there are mushrooms in the dish and simply cannot eat another mouthful! My son and husband on the other hand LOVE mushrooms! So mushrooms are always cooked on the side in our house. These plump button mushrooms are going to be used in a garlic and herb mushroom sauce...yum! My daughter doesn't know what she is missing! She, on the other hand, will have to settle for something more philistine like tomato sauce (ketchup).

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Time out #543

Daily painting #543 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

Today is my last day of teaching before the Easter holidays. It's always good to have a change in routine although I don't have any set routine, everyday brings with it something different. Perhaps the change of pace is what I enjoy more. Teaching is a way of sharing what is in your 'bucket' but that 'bucket' also needs to be constantly topped up in order to have anything to share....

So I am off to Cape Town next week and I can't think of any city in South Africa that is better than beautiful Cape Town to get those creative juices flowing again! I will share plenty of photos via Instagram so if you want to follow along my user name is heidishedlock.....

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