To sketch this family celebrating a birthday by the swimming pool, I sat with my wife in the little cafe in the clubhouse where we live. I used my new blue ink (Sailor Sei Boku pigment ink, a birthday present from my daughters) in my Platinum Preppy pen and kept it simple by only colouring the greens and the people – helping to make the people the focus…and make the process faster. I find that sketching helps build up your Chi (vital energy), if you are feeling a bit exhausted, and that was one of our objectives this day.

Sun-29-Mar-2026