Last week I decided to sketch a pink teacup each day – it turned out to be a lot of fun! I’m not really into pink so I was wondering if I would get sick of pink teacups by the end. But I didn’t!

BTW: It actually had nothing to do with Valentine’s Day but maybe I was subconsciously affected by all the pink and red on display.

So here are my sketches and descriptions at the time.

MONDAY:

Here is a crazy start to the week – T2 Eleganza Flamingo tall cup and saucer. It’s a crazy complex pattern and one that I’ve never attempted before. Yes! I’ve had this cup for a while but this is the first sketch of it. That would never have happened in the old days.

On the T2 website: Eleganza’s a circus-inspired frenzy that’ll leave you wanting more after each and every pour. Aqua, cobalt, pink and canary yellow sashay with geometric prints and abstract patterns, and then we glam up each number with a dash of liquid gold. 

The first time I sketch a new fancy teacup, I’m in exploration mode trying to understand the pattern and work out ways of painting it quickly. All while enjoying a hot cup of tea. And added to all that I’m still trying to get used to different paper – Epsilon by Stillman and Birn. Super fun but tough! So this was a challenging start to my day/week.

TUESDAY:

An extremely quick loose teacup sketch this morning before I rushed out the door. Done from a top down view as I drank my tea. Lady Carlyle by Royal Albert – this was a gift from the Victorian Watercolour Society for a demo I gave a number of years ago – 2016 I think. I used a little White Nights Pink Peony (opaque watercolour) in this sketch as an experiment.

WEDNESDAY:

There is only so much pink floral I can cope with in a row… so today I chose a pink cup with a brown geometric pattern. This is my Jane McGrath teacup by Tea Salon (Leona Emiston designed) which was a gift from Chris Haldane a number of years ago. Thanks Chris!

One of the things that I love to do is to work out how to abstract a detailed patterned into something looser. So I had fun today!

Other things: – used White Nights Pink Peony (opaque) again
– I did a few pencil setup lines (something I normally don’t do)
– I had to clean and fill up two pens to do this, one with brown ink and the other with my mixed raw sienna ink (both De Atramentis document)

Back to floral pink cups tomorrow!

THURSDAY:

Back to my Royal Albert 100 years set – this is 1960’s Golden Roses. I decided to continue using the White Nights pastel colours and once again it was Pink Peony in this sketch. It’s a little overworked, but that is part of the process of experimenting and working out a way to use these fun opaque paints. I also used a gold gel pen.

FRIDAY:

A very glamorous golden cup with big peonies – part of T2 Luscious Teaset from a number of years ago. They still do this range but with different patterns. Another teacup sketch that was a bit rushed and I didn’t choose the most interesting position for the saucer. I really want to have another go at this.

And here is the full spread – complete with SketchInk pink ink for the notes.

SATURDAY:

Probably my favourite of my pink teacups as it’s not as pink! Another from my Royal Albert 100 years set – 1940s English Chintz.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Well, it was a lot of fun to sketch pink teacups all week and a great way to get past the halfway mark in my project of sketching my full teacup collection. You can see all the other teacup sketches so far here.

I really enjoyed focusing on the one colour, so I think I’ll continue this. As I have a big Buildings and Watercolour workshop this week, I don’t think it will be a cup a day! Now what colour should I choose?