Back from another ski trip! This time we were in Switzerland, in the German-speaking St Moritz area just for five days. And what a relaxing and fun trip that was! We took the car and drove for a good 12 hours to arrive at our destination in Sils. And what were we up to there? The Sunday was a horse event on snow called White Turf which was the main purpose of us travelling there as my partner was photographing. This comprised of horse races on snow with the jockeys also being dragged in a horse carriage or on skis. Such an interesting event, and I have indeed made some sketches about it separately and will be sharing them here shortly! And during the rest of the trip? Lots and lots of exercise and getting fit in the snow with plenty of fresh mountain air and admiring the stunning scenery of the Swiss Alps.
For the next three days, I signed up for ski lessons, but this time cross-country skiing. A bit less scary and lower risk of falling compared to downhill skiing which is why I prefer this. Lots of hard work too but as I am quite fit for my age, it suits me fine. I love it! Whist working out, you also get to appreciate the beautiful mountain views around you. Unfortunately, we signed up too late so there was only one instructor available for private lessons, and since my partner is more a beginner level than me and prefers downhill skiing, he gave that chance for me, how sweet! “Not to worry”, he reassured me, “I am happy to take a walk around and photograph”. My lessons were in the afternoon so in the mornings, we would take an hour or so walk on and around the frozen lake. It was one of the most energy-recharging vacations we had. We certainly needed it!
And of course I had to paint about my adventures out there! A few days after returning home and getting resettled, I took out my A4 Strathmore Sketchbook and excitedly sketched away across the two-page spread. First the usual pencil draft followed by tracing over with a black felt pen (Staedtler 1.0 Pigment Liner). Worked on the background next with Ecoline Ink for the sky and Kuretake Gansai Tambi pearlescent watercolor for the ground. A variety of media was selected for coloring in but mainly composed of markers (Faber Castell’s Pitt Artists Pens) for the smaller areas and water-soluble oil pastels (Caran d’Ache Neocolor II) for the larger. For texture, I went for gel pens, glitter glue and metallic gouache.
And a closer look at each page:
Love how the drawings turned out. Always fun to create something lively and kawaii about my vacations to enhance the positive vibes. And of course I had to incorporate a few Hello Kitty’s too since I brought a plushie along to photograph with in the snow. And how sweet and happy do we look! I’m defintely up for another trip like this. But first, we need to take a few months aside and tidy up the house and organize our garden for the coming Spring and then we can reward ourselves for our next break!
My Kawaii Quarter 