Acorn Squash

My daughter and I got a plot in a community garden for the first time this year. We were on the waiting list for several months, and finally got a plot early in July. The plot was a jungle of well established weeds, but with the help of my husband, we cleared it then amended the soil with compost, and got the veggie starts in by mid-July. Despite our late start, we are starting to harvest squash, cucumbers, and a few tomatoes. This is an acorn squash fresh from the garden.

I used pen and ink, and watercolors on Fabriano Artistico hot pressed paper because I am giving it a trial run to see if I want to use it in a hand-made sketch book. This is the paper that Nina Johansson uses in her hand-made sketch books and a video I watched on making your own sketch books said that Fabriano paper is less likely crack on a fold than Arches. I liked the Fabriano hot pressed paper for this little sketch because it was smooth enough for my fountain pen to glide over the surface, and took the watercolor really well. Also, it didn’t buckle very much at all.  It is a good candidate for my sketch book, if I ever do get around to making my own.