Nova Scotia

I had an amazing two weeks in Nova Scotia last month and I already want to go back! There was inspiration everywhere and the views, food, art & people were incredible. I packed the smallest kit that I took everywhere...a small altoids tin with three primary colours, a watercolour brush, small red pencil crayon, red fountain pen & a sharpener. It fit so nicely into my shoulder pack.

I visited Maud Lewis' home and Memorial, spent much time in Halifax and then Peggy's Cove, Chester, Lunenburg, Marshalltown, Wolfeville, Digby, Annapolis Royal (the birthplace of Canada).I loved it all. I was able to fill a small 3x5 inch watercolour sketchbook and am still inspired to create paintings in another sketchbook as I have so many photographs to keep me painting.

The thing I learned about urban sketching this summer, the thing that works for me, is to take photos while I walk then sketch them out in red pencil crayon ( Faber-Castell - I don't want to erase as it forces me to pay attention to shapes and I love the red), then paint using the primary watercolours (Daniel Smith hansa yellow light, quinacridone rose, indanthrone blue - the colours may vary over time), and, finally outline with red ink (I picked up a Platinum Preppy 0.03 red fountain pen at a bookshop near our inn. When I had a few drawings in my sketchbook then I could paint whenever we had longer stops (in our rental car, parks, cafes, pubs, restaurants & at our inn). It's been a lot of trial & error but I've finally found something that feels easy for me and I cannot wait to paint in my sketchbook every day.