meldrum art
I met some other sketching friends during the weekend. We spent a lovely afternoon at Greta’s café which had a good view of the square on Hötorget. It’s in central Stockholm. Every Sunday there is a flea market. Lots of old stuff to buy or not to buy.
The format I paint in is quite small, 18 x 13 cm. This allows me to finish a sketch quickly. It is a good thing, because the object or person I am trying to capure has a habit of moving or disappearing totally.
I had a fun evening during the weekend meeting up with an old friend. We went sketching at the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities here in Stockholm. That’s the “Medelhavsmuseet” in Swedish.
I sketched the only bust in the place that didn’t have a broken nose. He wasn’t a very happy. He was a bit intimidating to be honest.
Later, we had a curry and a few beers. A great night.
I met up with my sketching friends and had coffee (fika) at Gretas café. Wet snow, grey sky and a bleak town square. It was nice to sit indoors and watch the world through glass windows. All seven of us sketched, it was lovely. ( 12 x 18 cm )
I spent a few hours on new year’s eve with my dear sketching friends. It was too cold to meet outside so we sketched in the Central Station. My little painting is 18 x 11 cm in size.
I travel out to the stockholm archipelago as often as I can during the summer months. It is an endless source of inspiration. On this trip I took myself to the island of Fjärdlång to sketch and paint. It was early in the season, I was very much alone with the beautiful nature. I find it very healing indeed.
I slept in a hammock, it’s the best solution as there are not many flat surfaces to be found. The further one travels to the outer bounds of the archipelago the lower the trees become. Then you have to use a traditional tent and pitch on the rocks. That’s an important consideration too.
I was out and about two weeks ago doing a little bit of plein air painting. Fun as always.
I have been a bit slow to publish here. These are my watercolours from this summer’s sailing trip. We did not sail so far this year. Just sailed with the wind, sometimes going south, other times sailing northward. We had a lovely three weeks in the archipelago anyway. It’s always beautiful there.
My pencil sketches from last year and the year before.
New video 
My previous sketchbook video seems to be quite popular on my YouTube channel so here is the next one. I use these small sketchbooks because they are easy to always have in a pocket or shoulder bag. I like the texture of the paper, it’s called, Hand Book Journal.Co and it’s distributed by Speedball Art Products, Statesville, NC. It’s made in India. Here is a link to their website: https://www.speedballart.com/our-product-lines/paper/artist-journals-sketchbooks/travelogue-journals/
It was a very windy summer. We spent so much time trying to find protection from the strong winds. Survival stuff it was sometimes. After two and half weeks we had had enough.
So this watercolour was the last of the paintings from my holiday. It sums up the the end of our adventure pretty well. We were in a small natural harbour on the island of Kallskär which is in the outer archipelago. After this we headed west towards Stockholm dodging strong winds and squalls that hunted us.
Kallskär 18 x 13cm
