My new helper - Carl Gouge Hole Punch

I have tried a few new things since this US road trip started. First, I started using chalk pastels with watercolour. I found the pastels work especially well when I couldn’t get the lightest value with watercolour.

Then I tried sketching on toned pastel paper. I always admire Tina and Sue’s work on toned paper but wasn’t sure how to approach it. As James brought a pad of toned pastel paper with him, I finally decided ot give it a go. I quite like how my sketches turned out on these papers! To me the papers work the best when the lighting is bad and watercolour wouldn’t have the best effect.

So I started to think how I could have both watercolour paper and toned paper in my sketch kit. At the beginning of the trip, I was using a B5-sized folder to hold my paper and finished sketches. It was convenient enough as I could put assorted sheets of paper in each plastic sleeve, which means I did have watercolour paper and toned paper at the same time. The folder, however, was not so practical for sketching on location. Therefore I started looking into binding my own sketchbook again.

I have tried stitching my sketchbooks in the past. The books worked fine but it was time-consuming. To stitich up a sketchbook that opens flat would take me a couple of hours at least and requires some tools to hold the paper and the strings. Not ideal when I’m on the road. Just then I read Shar Blaukopt’s article, which mentioned Brenda Swenson’s method. That got me started digging around the internet, and there I found Carl Gouge Hole Punch!

Instead of explaining how the punch works, here is the link to a video about the punch. https://youtu.be/lyh_2z3Z-Tw

As you can see, now I can make spiral-bound sketchbooks in less than an hour and have any kind of paper i like. I just completed filling in my first DIY sketchbook made with Carl Punch and made a second one last night. I can’t wait to make more sketchbooks in different sizes soon!

Zion National Park

Zion National Park is famous for it's magnificent landscape. There are a few popular trails and Angel's Landing is one of them. It is not an easy walk up and at the end of the 2.5 mile trail I was welcomed by selfie sticks. I laughed and sat to sketch the scene.

The Narrows is another popular walk, the first section is easy, mostly paved and then you have to walk in the water to the canyon beyond. While James explored the river, I sketched in a shady spot.

Tagging along- USK Tainan sketch outing

The USK Tainan sketch outing usually last for 4 hours. I'm not sure why but that's just the way it is. It's a bit too long for me. Last time I arrived on time but nobody turned up till later. By the time I finished sketching it was way before the throw-down. Therefore I didn't meet anyone. This time I arrived later but I missed out the introduction so I still didn't get to meet anyone.
It doesn't bother me though. Although I miss how I mingled with my fellow sketchers from USK Seattle, I'm usually content to just sketch on my own. That was what I did today. After walking around the location, I chose a spot where I could see the icon building where USK Tainan chose to meet as well as some sketchers in action.

This house is 80 years old and was turned into a small cafe/ cultural hub from an old hardware store. The couple who leased the house from the original owners kept all the interior so the house has become a popular Instagram spot.

It took me about 90 minutes to complete the sketch but it was still more than an hour till the final throw-down. Instead of waiting for the throw-down, I walked around to look over the other sketchers' shoulders. A silent tag-along sketch outing I had today.