Four students from Albrecht's drawing course at the Swabian Alps.

I am a big admirer of Albrecht's drawings. Looking at his postcards, you will understand why: No fanfare and funny tricks, but good solid knowledge of technique and with a talent to add just the necessary creativity and expression to bring it to life. Not many artists have all these skills in balanced amounts.


If you look closely at his postcard, you will see that one can take away any of the elements and the artwork will still be able to stand tall. I see many sketches which rely on the addition of a second or even third medium to turn it into good art. It is an aspect I strive fro in my own art: the ability to draw a single line so that it draws on all elements of good art making to be able to stand on its own. Which brings me back to my firm belief: to do good art, one has to have a knowledge of drawing. Technique and the basic principles of drawing DO have a solid place in art. Albrecht's postcard is testament to my belief.
Have a look at the close-up to below see the lovely lost and found edges, a technique which seduces the eye of the viewer to "continue the lines and complete the drawing", a great way to get the viewer involved in a painting/drawing/sketch.

This sketch was done by Albrecht during his last drawing course of the year and it is four of his students busy working under the beech tree that he captured. the course took place at the Swabian Alps, "which was about 50 million years ago the borderline of a warm Jurassic ocean". Albrecht and his students were fortunate to find many fossils during this course...something else I love...digging for fossils!

Read more of this course and his other work here.

Thank you for my beautiful postcard Albrecht.

Peach Jam by Desiree

Peach Jam

The written tale on the reverse of this postcard had visual qualities nearly as good as this beautiful painting of peach jam by Desiree Habicht.

So here it is....

Dear Katherine

With our fruit trees in full production and everything ripening at the same time I am forced to deal with bushels of fruit.  I do love to can and put up things I grow. The weather has been so nice and I have an outdoor kitchen where I sterilize jars and process jams.  It helps keep the house cooler but requires a lot more running for me.  After two solid days of picking, cleaning, processing and sealing I feel it qualifies as Sketchercise!

This year I made peach jam, peach-japaleno jelly, peach bellini jam, peach salsa, peach-cantaloupe preserves and corn relish.  Yummy - 45 jars of goodies!

Enjoy

Desiree

I most certainly did Desiree - I am salivating at all those wonderful products of your labour - and that amount of work most definitely counts as sketchercise!

How now, Ayrshire cow?

My second postcard from Bridget, and I'm so pleased to have one of the very appealing residents that abound in the area in which she lives. This Ayrshire calf was spotted in a field on a walk with friends - it sounds like Bridget had to forego the packed lunch to get him on paper! She says she had such trouble drawing the legs that she left them out, but I love the way he seems to have walked right up to her in the quizzy way that cows sometimes do, full of movement and twitching skin, to stare at her with those beautiful eyes, and now staring at me!

Castiglion Florentino

Robyn Sinclair
Watercolor on paper

Robyn sketched this postcard in Paris, France when she was on vacation last month and then she said she painted it in Italy when she got home.  It is lovely and a real treat for me because I was at this shop a gazillion years ago and it seems like yesterday.  This card is also special because some of us in the Postcard From My Walk group helped Sennelier with a study for their new formula of watercolor paint that has now just become available to the public.  Robyn said she hadn't realized it was beside the river, on the Left Bank.  It really was Sketchercise getting there and back.

PS the stamp is very cool, too. 

The Barrier Reef

Alison's Sketchercise took her for a swim near the Great Barrier Reef. While spending time in this uniquely beautiful place she took the time to paint and send me a postcard. I feel very special. You can see by the intense color that this is deep clear and clean water. Not something you see every day. I have lived near the coast all of my life but this is not color you see in my part of the world.  I think you have to be under the water for this kind of color. My camera has not done the colors justice but still it is a remarkable painting.  I will treasure this beauty, thank you, Alison.

A cup of french Earl Grey with Liz.

For some reason I am drinking much more tea since a few weeks back. It lifts many an eyebrow, because it is unthinkable that I would refuse a coffee for a tea.
"What happened? Are you sick?" Apart from a shoulder shrug and a lifted eyebrow myself, I didn't have an answer. Until I received my card from Liz. It hit me. Of course! It is Liz and her love for a cup of good tea!
For quite time Liz had been sketching these colorful tea scenes around a tea pot, a cup or two and yes...a tasty treat, like once again in this card. Now how does one stay on the right path when seduction is thrown so blatantly in your lap!

Thank you for a lovely tea scene, Liz, and I'm enjoying my cups of tea so much so, that now I'll be on the search for your latest discovery...French Earl Grey. By your hand I am becoming a refined lady!

Kew Gardens

This exquisite colored pencil and sepia ink painting is from Katherine Tyrrell .  She said this is a sketch of one of her favorite views in Kew Gardens.  It’s the east/west axis from the Palm House looking toward the Chinese Pagoda.  The Pagoda in reality is a deep crimson but Katherine said it always looks blue when viewed from a distance.

It was such a treat to come home from my vacation/working week away to find this wonderful piece of art just sitting there waiting for me.  I can’t even put into words the beauty of each colored pencil stroke combined with another color to magically make shape and depth and glowing contrast.

The Horizan at Cape Cornwall and the Brisons

Vivian’s postcard arrived at just the right time to brighten an exceptionally hectic day.  I felt calmed and loved all at the same time.  Isn’t it special? 




Sunset Across the Bay
Vivian Blackburn           Leicester England



Of course it’s much better in person, holding it in my hands and looking very closely to every colored pencil line that combine to make the most wonderful colors of this remarkable sun set.  Vivian said that she sent me a sketch of the sunset across the bay.  On the horizon are Cape Cornwall and the Brisons.  She said that the weather coming across the Atlantic means that the clouds form over the land making gorgeous shapes.

They are gorgeous aren't they? 

2010 Whistler Olympic Monument

Charlene Brown
Watercolor on Paper

Charlene has been climbing every mountain and visiting every country and reporting about it for all to enjoy through her many blogs.  Go and visit and you will be thrilled as was I the first time I found her wonderful art and words over a year ago.  Her web site “1150 Words” @ http://charlenebrownpainting.blogspot.com/is a real treat.  However not as big a treat as receiving one of her pieces of art in the mail…..just for me……all mine……but I am sharing the image with you all now.  The computer screen with its back lighting does make it beautiful but not as nice as holding it in my hand.  I used a flash to show off the touches of gold added to enhance the monument.

Gallery of February Postcards.

All the postcards of February have reached their destinations safe and sound. Each card has been presented in an individual post the past few weeks. Scroll down the blog to see and read about each card.

Cathy Gatland's Painted Postcard from South Africa

Pride of India Trees line his neighborhood street
Watercolor on paper by Cathy Gatland

Here is the wonderful painting that Cathy Gatland has painted just for me and sent it all the way from Johannesburg, South Africa.  Cathy covered the card with an overlay and wrote all sorts of notes so I could better understand where she Sketchercises.  Then she popped it all into an envelope so that it would get to me unharmed.  Cathy and I have known each other of a few years now and become dear friends. I found her blog and fell in love with her work, wit and wisdom.  She is a very special lady.

Front with overlay and a portion of the back.

Here is a the back of the card covered with pictures of the front with its overlay on and just lifting.

Aren't these flowers to die for and beautifully painted?

Introducing Cathy Gatland

I'm lucky enough to live near beautiful botanical gardens in Johannesburg, and have been walking around here for the last 15 years, off and on. I've discovered that the more I walk, the better I feel in body, mind and spirit. Sometimes the spirit is willing, but the mind and body want to stay plonked in front of the computer, so Sketchercise has been a great motivator to get off my blogging chair and outside, later to share, encourage and discuss what we've been up to.

I've been sketching regularly since starting my blog over three years ago, before that only occasionally, perhaps on holiday or in my garden. I regarded drawing mostly as work, which it was for many years as a renderer and part-time illustrator, until I came across the wonderful world of art blogs and people who sketched for fun.

Though I do have a small portable sketching kit, when I am walking regularly, I like to have a good workout, so don't always break my rhythm to stop and sketch.

But it's a joy to take note of my surroundings, the birds, trees and changing seasons, and either stroll or drive back later with my sketching things, pick up something along the way to sketch at home, or cool down later in my studio and sketch the birds (and my ever present faithful old pooch) outside my window.

I am excited to be part of this postcard exchange, and to send and receive real live little artworks from my sketching buddies, who have become such an important part of my daily life, all over the world.

Introducing Ronell van Wyk

I love the outdoors
I love walking
And cycling
I love sketching
I love plein air painting/sur le motif( painting outdoors...on the spot)

...painter..

My sketching tools, which I carry constantly in my bag, are very simple. A sketchbook, pen, pencil a little watercolor palette with a water spray and a brush.

...sketching tools...

When going for a longer walk or a bit of cycling, I’ll take my folding chair with backpack where all the tools fit onto nicely, but still it stays very simple with only the addition of some extra water soluble pens.

...let's sit a bit...

For a long plein air session of about 1 to 2 hours, the tools change a bit. I do plein air in oil and therefore will take along my French easel and oils...and oh yes.. very important...a flask of coffee!

...painting sur le motif

To do art en plein air, provides a satisfaction that is hard to find elsewhere. Whether it is drawing or sketching or painting...seating myself in a spot where I am surrounded by beauty and fresh air , with all its motion and smells and sounds, fills me with optimism and enthusiasm and challenges me to a point where I can’t say no. It stirs all of my senses at the same time. Even though I may not leave that spot with a perfect painting or sketch,(which happens more often that I would like!) I leave it nonetheless with a perfect expression of my emotions. Good or bad. It doesn't matter. The more do it, the more I want to do it.
The process becomes an addiction.
I don’t mind.
I just do it.

...à bientôt..Ronell

Welcome to "A Postcard From My Walk" - an international postal art exchange project

Sketchercise is a group of people - from all over the world - who enjoy sketching from life (no photos!), have already developed the sketching habit AND have found ways of getting out and about and exercising with a sketchbook.

A postcard from my walk is a project which arose from our group's desire to share our art and outdoor experiences in a more personal way than by simply posting to our online forum.

...allé hop..1..2..3..!!

...ink sketch by Cathy Gatland...

Over the next 13 months, 14 members of our group will create a postcard each month from an outdoor exercise, like walking, cycling or kayaking or other, and mail it to another member of the group.

It is an international exchange and our cards will travel to Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, England, Scotland, South Africa, Australia, Canada and the USA.

The way it works:

• Each card is about 6" x 4" to 7" x 5", depending on individual preferences.
  
• Each artist decides on his/her own format, media, subject and style for the postcard
• Each artist sends off her/his card the last week of every month.
  
• In the following 13 months, each artist will receive a card from another artist in the group. However, the sender remains unknown until the card arrives!
• Once received, each artist will share the card on our forum and here on the blog.
• Which means that every month on this blog, there will be 14 posts or more of illustrated postcards created by artists all around the world

We are very much looking forward to our postcard travel over four continents with breathtaking landscape vistas, fauna and flora and a full year’s circle of changing climates and seasons.

We hope you the reader, will join in and travel along with us.*You can find the means to subscribe to the blog in the right hand column.

Who knows - you might enjoy it so much that you will start up your own version of a postal art exchange!