Posy - Gorse, Heather (and a few travel essentials)

Happy New Year!

Christmas was a last minute rush, but yesterday, I had time to get on with some sketching! Walking in the Heddon Valley it was uplifting to see the Gorse glowing with new flowers and buds. I'm sketching a few more of its prickly stems as I have a plan for it. It's colours are on a previous notebook page (here), but instead here's a posy of Gorse and Heather on a wet and windy New Years Eve!

My Christmas presents this year included a few travel kit essentials!

A Schmincke Aquarell waterpan set! (Boxing day fun)...

Paint, Gorse and new super duper specs...

A3, A4, A5 and yes A6 Moleskines with the lovely Loona Doona...

Last but not least - new pocket secateurs - (I couldn't have picked the Gorse without them!)

Roll on 2016!

Colour from the season - Spray Chrysanthemum orange

There's nothing like a Chrysanthemum bloom to re-ignite my motivation to draw however tired I'm feeling!

These spray Chrysanthemums are locally grown and infinitely more appealing to draw than the equivalent supermarket variety. Long stemmed, unpretentiously ragged growth and rich shades of burnt orange. Their warm colours are a welcome foil to a grey Winter's day, and I have every intention of finding the time to draw all six stems, here's the first...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.