Watercolor pencils, waterbrush and brush pen in a small Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.

This weekend I was at Eurocon in Zagreb and was pretty busy the whole time, and the only time I had to sketch was during the panel involving some famous writers and other people, and a physics lecture. So I sketched people on the panel, and my boyfriend during the lecture, though the sketch looks nothing like him :( but I try. Ballpoint pen on the first, watercolor pencil on the second.

Graphite and watercolor pencil on Moleskine sketchbook.

This is a doodle I did with a brush pen las night:

Watercolor pencils in a Moleskine sketchbook.

Next I sketched Iva who was sitting across the table:

I used my Sakura Koi watercolors, Pentel Aquash waterbrushes and a small Moleskine watercolor sketchbook. This is what I used for all the remaining sketches - I haven't even opened my larger W&N watercolor sketchbook.

The weather was very unstable, alternating between rain and sunshine (and both) so we decided to move to a different cafe instead of walking around the city. We grabbed something to eat, then went to a cafe that overlooks the port. Here's where I sketched the breakwater with cranes, a sort of typical Rijeka motif.

I drew the cranes with a Pentel brush pen and got frustrated because the ink wasn't flowing properly and had this very textured look on paper. The brush seemed very dry, and when I took it apart I saw why - the cartridge was empty. I didn't expect it to be empty so soon because I didn't have the feeling like I was using it so much so I didn't even bother to check the level. Lesson learned.

Anyway, there was an artistic performance - sheep shearing - and an exhibition on the pier so we went to check it out. We got there, looked at the exhibits and the shearing, got some free red wine and Pag cheese, and sat up on the pier enjoying the view of the city. The clouds were moving fast so the lighting on the city changed by the minute - but I felt like sketching it anyway and did this very pale looking sketch:

Other girls gave up on sketching, but other two friends of mine came along - Nina and Maja - so I shared my drawing tools with them and they did some sketching as well. Then I sketched Nina.

After that Maja and I went to yet another cafe, the same one I drew the Rijeka city clock tower at, and I did the last sketch of the church of Saint Vitus:

It was 8 P.M. when I went home, a very long day during which I only did a few sketches, but overall I think it went well. The girls enjoyed it and there was some mention on making this a regular thing on our own? I would sure like that :) Here are some bonus Instagram photos (bottom left is Djuro's sketch of me :)):

I posted a few photos of the work in progress on Instagram, if you want to follow me there for real time updates, the username is nelchee :)

The wind was blowing and it was freezing cold up there on the balcony, my hands were shaking toward the end so I couldn't work on fine details. The waiter was very amused and then went to show the finished drawing to his boss, and invited me to come again to draw: "We have some nice buildings on the other side too!" - he was very nice and beside a little chatting didn't nag me too much, but I still suffer from performance anxiety and freak out a little when people watch me draw. But I guess you can't avoid attracting attention when drawing outside. Here's a snapshot of my sketchbook with my sketching tools and the tower (shadows are a bit different because the Sun moved quickly):

The statue of a woman is made of stone, and this sketch took about 10 minutes. The second is a statue of Ivan Zajc cast in bronze, it took around 5 minutes and doesn't look very good because I was sitting far away and my eyesight is terrible.

Scenes from my neighbourhood and some guy in a bus in front of me on first picture, on the second one the interior of a club I went to last night, and the third is a view in the center of my city, Rijeka. And here are some fragments from my big Moleskine sketchbook done with a brush pen and watercolor pencil + waterbrush. The bird statue and grotesque wall ornament are referenced from a book about Art Nouveau architecture in Rijeka.

You may see a calligraphy test too which doesn't look very good, and the brush pen strokes look faded, which is why I was very disappointed with this sketchbook.

Pentel pocket brush pen, Koh-i-Noor watercolor pencils, Pentel Aquash waterbrush.

I mispelled the plant name. It's zantedeschia.

EDIT: Turns out this Moleskine sketchbook is pretty terrible for inking. It soaks up ink in a very weird way, so everything looks faded and un-uniform. Definitely *not* for calligraphy! My quest for the perfect sketchbook continues.

I love pure black ink drawings, but this scene really lacks depth (or it is because I'm not that good yet), so I colored it at home with watercolor pencils, using a waterbrush.

Done in my small sketchbook.