Sketching and Cycling!
Sharing pages from my sketchbook
Hello everyone! I have been enjoying the beautiful Spring weather all week, and spending a lot of time in the garden, which is just bliss! I have also dusted off my bike and am getting out and about in an attempt to get fitter (and slimmer!). The weather has made that super easy for me, so I am off to a great start with three rides under my belt this week! I have also added a small sketchkit to my handlebar bag, and have been challenging myself to make a sketch en route too - read on for more!
Cycle Bag Sketch Kit
So, of course my kit took a great deal of deliberation… I have a plethora of watercolour palettes, pens, colour pencils and pencil cases - but which ones to take on my bike ride! Because space is very limited on a bike, I really had to distill my kit down to the bare basics, and this is what I came up with:
Small Sketchbook - A6 size Stillman and Birn Epsilon sketchbook
Small pen - my Tom’s Studio Lumos Mini is perfect
Small watercolour palette - Art Toolkit Pocket Palette
Cloth for cleaning brush
Here is a quick video showing my kit before I made a sketch!
Sketches from this week’s bike rides:
On Monday, I rode 20km up into the Quantock hills. I stopped in the shade after a big hill climb and sketched the Lydeard Cross signpost, before continuing down a long hill to Kingscliff wood, then back home via another long hill - this time back uphill!
I overdid it a bit on Monday’s ride, so on Wednesday I rode a shorter 10k ride, stopping halfway at a bench outside Broomfield church to make this sketch of a lovely house. The ride home was mostly all downhill, so not as tiring as Monday!
Finally, this morning I rode a lovely 12k loop around a couple of local villages - Kingston st Mary and West Monkton, stopping closer to home on the way back up the hill to sketch the far reaching view! I enjoyed sketching from this elevated perspective, and it was fun working my way around the scene with all those trees!
I hope you enjoyed seeing the quick sketches from my bike rides, I have been wanting to incorporate sketches into my cycling for ages and don’t know why I didn’t just start! Having this small sketch kit stored in my handlebar bag really helps, as it cuts down on time needed to gather materials. I also find the limited tools are perfect for just getting the sketch down without pondering what to use!
Do you combine any of your hobbies with sketching? I’d love to hear if you’ve found creative ways to sketch while hiking, traveling, or during other activities! What’s the most unusual place you’ve stopped to make a quick sketch? Share in the comments, maybe we can inspire each other with new ways to incorporate sketching into our adventures!
This week’s Diary Comic
Week two of my diary comics course with
had us thinking about hobbies, which happens to tie in well with my cycling adventures this week! I thought back on my decision last year to get back into cycling and buy an e-bike… with the conversation with my husband going something like this!
It’s really great having this course every week to push me out of my comfort zone and think about putting a story into a comic. We make these comics during the class, so it completely eliminates my procrastination inclined self! Now I just need to get into the habit of creating quick comics throughout the week too!
Plein Air Project - Revolve week 38
Well over half way through this 52 week project now! Every week I am making an A6 sized plein air sketch which I will exhibit in September along with other artists up at Worcester Arts Collective. I am getting quite excited about a weekend away to set up and enjoy the exhibiytion with my sister
, who will also be exhibiting her 52 week project of sketching her beautiful garden.This week’s sketch was done after making some coffee and hot chocolate for my family out in one of the fields on our farm. We have taken to setting up a day camp with a tarp off our Land Rover, and it’s a really lovely way to spend time together at the weekend, plus a convenient time to do some outdoor sketching!
My husband made a fab camp kitchen box from an off cut of our kitchen work top, which he cut to fit over a crate. It stores our Kelly Kettle, coffee, hot choc, mugs, and of course snacks! :)
That’s it for this week - I hope you all have a lovely weekend! See you next week with some more cycling and sketching and my latest comic diary!
Take care :)
Emma x
P.S. If you found value in this newsletter, consider sharing it with a friend who might enjoy it too. And as always, I welcome your feedback and suggestions for future topics!
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Love the bike comic debate. 👌. If it's any help just have both ebike and road bike that way you don't need to make a decision🤣
E -full suspension mountain bike for fun on & off road, normal road bike and a third road bike for the indoor trainer and virtual software called myWhoosh 😉
Fab Ems ☺️