For me sketching is about practicing, and drawing even the simplest thing helps. I think I need to improve sketching folds and shadows in fabric so why not this (folded pair of hiking trousers)?
Mon-1-Dec-2025
111-3300 – Practicing drawing fabric
HouseholdSketch
110-3282 – Calamansi marmalade
Here is the calamansi marmalade that I made (see sketch No.109-3266). It didn’t exactly set (not enough pectin I suppose) but I reduced it enough that it’s not runny.
Tue-11-Nov-2025
110-3281 – Hoarders
This bottle held some homemade sloe gin (given by a friend)…it’s such a nice bottle I can’t bring myself to throw it out…and I am open to ideas about what I can use it for. I drew this before (when it still had booze in it) in October 2021 (see sketch No.1868).
Mon-10-Nov-2025
110-3272 – Has anyone seen my slippers?
These slippers (what in the UK they would call flip-flops) usually get accidentally kicked under the couch…and then my wife spends the morning crawling around with a torch looking for them.
Tue-4-Nov-2025
110-3270 – I bought them to eat also
I bought these persimmon at the wet market…I confess partly just to sketch them! I’ve drawn one before (see sketch No.69-2283 in Jan 2023) but also took it an an opportunity to test my new paper. It buckles a bit (only 220 gsm after all), but lets the watercolour mix fairly well and doesn’t pill…so far…so good.
Sat-1-Nov-2025
109-3266 – Calamansi
A colleague of my wife gave her a huge bag of calamansi (apparently they are rejects from his farm). I spent the evening squeezing the juice out of the same amount as shown in this bowl. We are freezing the juice in ice cube trays. I am going to turn the remaining lot into marmalade. Calamansi are a small citrus fruit that is native to the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia. It look like a small lime and has a slightly sweet and sour taste. Apparently its a hybrid fruit – a cross between a kumquat and a mandarin orange.
Tue-28-Oct-2025
109-3262 – Ripening papaya
I’ve sketched a papaya many times – though never the inside I suppose – but with a big “red lady” (that’s the type of papaya) like this one, I do like the patterns that form as it ripens. Very soon after this sketch it was all yellow outside and a delicious pinky-red inside.
Wed-22-Oct-2025
109-3257 – The laundry I didn’t do
I should have taken this basket up to our laundry area but was too busy cleaning behind (and under) the couch (so much fluff!), expecting a new Converge (our WiFi provider) router to arrive…of course it didn’t show up. Their customer service is appalling.
Wed-15-Oct-2025
109-3255 – From the fridge
On this evening I was a bit short on subjects to sketch so just sketched some random veggies (and fruit) from the fridge. I used water soluble felt tip pens and watercolour pencils for this and it ended up quite fuzzy!
Mon-123-Oct-2025