Friday 18 August 2017

sketching little spanish villages

Plan, Spanish Pyrenees

My poor blog has been unattended as we travel through Europe, because we haven't had enough mobile data to keep it up to date. Today I'm at a friend's house in France and I thought I'd hop onto their wifi and do a bit of time travelling back to little villages in Spain.

These are some of the sketches I did back in May and June this year while we were in the Spanish Pyrenees. We'll be back there in a couple of weeks and I'm dying to revisit unfinished business - so many villages, so little time :-)


Fields of poppies, a sure sign of spring in Europe. Organya, Spain


Tella, Spanish Pyrenees. This sketch is sold.


Torla, gateway to Ordesa National Park, Pyrenees, Spain.


There's a village called Sin :-)


Historic house, Sin, Spanish Pyrenees.


Ermita de la Fuensanta.


Watercolour postcard of a Ermita near Tella, Spain.


Historic building, Sin, Spain.


You can purchase my sketches

A number of people have asked if my watercolour sketches are available. They certainly are! They are easy to remove from the spiral bound book.
A few sketches have already been sold, but a number are still available.

You can purchase them if you see me in person. Or you can message me about a particular sketch and I will post it to you when we return to New Zealand.

Original sketches are 85euros + postage if applicable.

You can view all the sketches from Spain on Instagram.

Please contact me for more details :-)




Monday 14 August 2017

hiking sketch kit

Sketching above Lac Premier, near Fouillouse, France

I've taken sketching gear pretty much everywhere with me. I even took a super super lightweight kit with me when we went on a climbing trip to Patagonia.

But over the years my hiking kit has become more and more elaborate. And when I bought a big, new, fancy camera I couldn't fit both it and my sketch gear in my bag. So, shame on me!, I've been hiking with my camera instead of my sketchbook for the last 6 months or so.

A couple of purchases was all that was necessary to create a new super lightweight sketch kit and I've been sketching (and photographing) in the hills again.

Here's is what is in my hiking sketching kit...


Hiking and painting outside - what is in my sketch kit


  • Small sketchbook - currently a Hahnemuhle pocket watercolour sketchbook
  • Update : Lamy Safari fountain pen with EF nib and DeAtramentis black document ink
  • Waterproof black marker - a Staedtler pigment liner 01(as backup in case I run out of ink in my fountain pen)
  • A white pen - Uniball Signo
  • Small travel watercolour set - Winsor & Newton palette, mostly filled with Daniel Smith paints
  • Aqua water paintbrush - Pentel... Update June 2019 - now using Escoda Perla 08 travel brush
  • Pencil, sharpener and eraser
  • And a little baggie from our flight on Emirates for putting it all in.

It weighs almost nothing :-) 

I'm having so much fun stopping on my big walks and taking in all the sights, smells and sounds. Catching little critters unaware. Taking time to breathe.

Sommet Rouge, near Saint Paul sur Ubaye, France


Les Eaux Tortes, Laverq Valley, France



I should have a follow up post with my more elaborate kit that I take when I do my urban sketches. In essence it mainly varies by having a much bigger palette, nice fountain pens, and a variety of good watercolour brushes.

As always you can see more on my Instagram account - @reneewaldenart