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by Leonie Andrews

Under the volcano

[This was written in December 2025 and never got published, no idea why]

Gunung Api, or lewerani in the local language, is the volcano outside our window, just for this week. We are spending a week in the Banda Neira group of island in the eastern Molucca province of Indonesia.

Gunung Api from Pulau Nalaika (just clouds, not volcanic activity).

Not surprisingly the volcano is the major landmark for the area, visible for miles around. Also prominent on the island of Banda Neira is the Dutch built fort, Benteng Belgica.

On the afternoon of our arrival we climbed up to the fort to sketch. I was fascinated by the rapidly changing late afternoon light, along with sweeping rain showers. I could only get part of the sketch completed, because I had to take cover from the rain. The white shape at the bottom of the sketch is the outline of the fort that was never completed in my sketch.

Gunung Api from Benteng Belgica

While sheltering inside the entrance to the fort. I did make another sketch of the view out through the entrance gate across the channel to the nearby island of Banda Besar.

by Leonie Andrews

Another one in the series

Now we are moving into Autumn my drawings of the vegetables in our garden are transmogrified into seed sketches. You can see some previous sketches here.

This week’s offering is of our Dwarf Burgundy Snake Beans. Alas, these few beans are the sum total of this year’s crop. They really didn’t enjoy our summer weather at all.

Coloured pencil on paper
Caran d’Ache Luminance pencils
by Leonie Andrews

New starts

[This post was originally written on 15 September, but for some reason I forgot to post it. Oops.]

I recently went to the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Poznan,  where I did a workshop with French artist Olivia Markus. She was teaching,  amongst other things, an interesting approach to colouring sketches. The point of which, in part, was to reinforce a sense of depth of field in your sketch.

Two sketches I made at the Symposium

I think the simplified colour choices deliver exciting results. Of course, they also challenge your use of tonal contrast. So far, I’ve mainly used them for scenes with people in them. The limited colour selection imposes a unity, which is often missing from my regular sketches.

Now, I’m taking the next steps of testing out what I learned and then trying to integrate the process into my practice.

Evening moods in Wrocław
On the train from Wrocław to Prague

I use watercolour as my main medium, so that does yield different results to the inks that Marcus uses. To be fair, I really haven’t tried the process with ink yet.

Demonstration in support of Palestine,  London

I’m also experimenting with which colour combinations work most effectively together.

I find the stark black pen a bit strong, and it tends to overwhelm the watercolour’s subtle tones. Lately, I have been using less black, instead choosing to use a more intense pigment.

Friday,  queues at the coffee shop, first version
The final version with black and white marker bring added.

I’m still ‘not there’ yet in terms of the outcomes, but as today’s sketch show, there is some progress.

Today’s café sketch.
by Leonie Andrews

A bit of a diversion

Every weekend we have a Zoom call with some fellow artists in the UK. We meet for an hour to make art and chat. We started this during COVID, so its great that we continue to meet, both online, and now twice in person.

One of the sides, in book form

There’s no program, other than what we feel like doing. Before we start there’s always a discussion about what we will do tonight (our time).

The other side, in book form

I went back to some collage yesterday. I found a large envelope that I decided to turn into a small ‘maze’ book. Having cut the basic shape I started applying very random collage and marks.

One side as collaged

In the end it did take more than our one hour to complete, but by thar stage I was so engaged in the process that I kept going until I was done.

The other side as collage

For the first time in quite a few months I felt the stirrings of excitement, the potential to make new work. I can see several ways to proceed. While it is a ‘work’ in itself I see the possibility of using it as a springboard to new pieces, where they draw on the colours and marks in the book. There’s also the potential to work directly back into the book itself.

Random abstract collage
Marks made with watercolour pencils
There are endless options to work from

Who knows where this will lead.