January Bookmark and Grid Drawing

 Here is the bookmark for January, the first in what will, hopefully, be a collection of 12. 

I have used colours which I thought represented January and the pattern of material blocks is drawn from the spiky patterns we see on the ice when the marina is frozen over.  I liked the idea of a trail of beads going up the centre and then added the small beads as embellishment to the seams.  The other seams were then embellished with a shiny white ribbon or embroidery stitches.  

I am now thinking about February's bookmark and might use snowdrops for inspiration. I took this picture of snowdrops in bud by the canalside.  I had to get down on my knees to take the shot which must have raised the eyebrows of walkers on the other bank!

Whilst watching the Sky Portrait Artist of the Year series I noticed some of the artists were using a grid system on their phones to assist in drawing their outlines and thought I would give it a go.  This photo of a crypt I took on our travels (without trawling through all my cruise photos I can't tell you where it is!)  has always attracted me with its pillars and arches and sense of recession.  

I downloaded the 'Drawing Grid Maker' app onto my tablet and selected the number of squares, the colour of the grid and also I opted to label the intersections.  

The next step was to draw a grid on my watercolour paper and using the grids as a guide I drew in my outline.  I don't think I would have tackled this subject without the grid system which gives a good point of reference but I still found it quite complex to draw.  

To complete the picture I inked in my outline with a fine liner pen and then enjoyed playing around with a limited watercolour palette to try and capture the calm atmosphere of the crypt. 

I'll certainly use the grid system again, especially for complex subjects.  As well as helping with accuracy it also speeds up drawing the outline.  Does it detract the artists input into the picture?  Possibly but I think that also depends on what you do after finishing the outline.