Cat's Corner

This year I’ve taken part in Art House Co-op’s ‘The Sketchbook Project 2012‘ – a project in which anyone can enter a sketchbook of their artwork on a chosen theme.  The books will tour the world and finally reside at the Brooklyn Art Library in the USA – exciting!

I chose the theme ‘This is a Sketchbook…’ and then extended my title to ‘…about why I love the English Seaside’ and based my imagery on elements of Cornwall, my favourite place in England!

The paper in the sketchbook wasn’t very thick so I used watercolour postcards and then secured them in the book using craft brads – all the pictures were created using watercolour pencils or watersoluble pens.

Check out my complete submission on the Art House Co-op website here.

In January I told you about how last year I decided to finally learn to draw and I’d filled up my first sketchbook.  This year I’ve been mainly concentrating on two things – using ink rather than pencil, and practising drawing faces. 

Considering where I was this time last year with my drawing, I think I’ve definitely been making some improvements.  Here’s a little update on some of my sketches so far…

These were drawn roughly one per month over the past 6 months, I wonder if you can tell which are older and which are newer?! 

If you’re an artist (or wannabe, like me) and you have some tips or feedback, I’d love to know – drop me a line in the Comments section.  Thanks! 

By the way, you can now follow all my arty updates on Twitter via www.twitter.com/ArtByCat or on Flickr in my artwork collection here.

Please note that all images are Copyright Cathryn Cook 2011.

I’m always interested in finding new ways to use my Filofaxes and this year even more so, since my ‘everyday’ Filo has been put aside while I use the gorgeous Paperblanks diary I was gifted at Christmas (don’t panic – I’m still using my trusty A5 Balmoral for work!). 

Last year I customised this vintage Filofax as my everyday diary and this included a section of plain paper for impromptu sketching:

I’m still using this organiser at home for the other sections, but what I really miss is always having the sketchbook with me out and about.  I do have other sketchbooks, but the spines always get tatty in my handbag, whereas Filofax protects the inner pages much better – plus I don’t have to keep a pen and pencil loose in my bag as there are two handy pen loops.

Soooo…this is my plan – to convert this organiser into a multi-use sketchbook! 

I, like many other sketching types, tend to use a variety of media – pencil, ink, watercolour, pastels, etc and this often means lots of different requirements of paper type.  But what if you could get every type of paper in one place?  All it would take would be to trim the paper required down to the right size, use a Filofax hole punch and then separate using dividers! 

All I need to do now is get a Personal sized hole punch – I’ll let you know how I get on!!

Read all my Filofax posts here.

At the end of 2009 I set myself a few personal goals for 2010 – amongst those goals was to finally learn to draw!

Having studied Art and Design for five years, you might think I’d already be able to draw…sadly not!  Whilst I’d been accepted onto an Advanced Art & Design college course, it was for my portfolio of photography, collage and mixed media work - I’d hoped I’d learn the art of drawing later.  Unfortunately I never quite mastered it, instead embracing my skills in photography and later going on to study it further at university.

Then, in 2009, on holiday in Cornwall I went to photograph a stunning view of the coastline, only to discover that my camera battery had died.  Leaving the view uncaptured was not an option, so I pulled out a biro and notepad from my handbag and quickly sketched the scene.  Lo and behold, it actually looked a bit like a coastline!  I so enjoyed the experience that I bought a pencil and sketchbook and spent hours in Padstow drawing the view over to Rock. 

Last year I went out to Greece for a wedding and I decided I’d take a proper sketchbook and some basic watercolour pencils.  I loved drawing on the beach and decided I’d aim to fill up my 50-page book by Christmas, six months later.  I initially invested in some better quality pencils (Derwent Watercolour) and some ‘learn to draw’ books, and worked my way up to trying out different styles and media.  There has been a definite improvement over the last six months, and the book is now complete!

Now, I’m not yet an artist by any means, but I’m enjoying my new hobby and that’s what counts!  If you want to check out my efforts, visit my Flickr album here.

If you’re looking for a different outlet to traditional drawing, you might enjoy learning to Zentangle, a form of relaxing doodle, which creates a graphic-looking image using different patterns (like the one pictured left).

Please note that all images are Copyright Cathryn Cook.

In 2007 my husband and I spent 11 days in the beautiful Hawaiian islands.  I took literally hundreds of photos (using a film Canon EOS 5 if you’re interested!) and quickly put together a scrapbook to record our adventures.  Below is one of my favourite pages, showing Waikiki beach and Diamond Head, but you can view the entire book on TwoPeas here.

Stash includes: Hawaii drinks coasters, 3D stickers, contact sheet photos and an upcycled bar flyer (the hibiscus).

Here you will find all the latest about my creative works! 

Don’t forget to check out the links at the top for the shop, portfolio, press and info about me ;o)