Forest Diary by Martin Stankewitz | Make Your Own Book The re-print of the entire forest diary sketchbook is now available as color paperback in the Blurb bookstore. The book preview shows the all 158 pages. The size of the book is 6X9 inches, it has more than 100 images,the book weight is 275 grams. [...]

This gouache sketch was done rather quickly without building a background first. Instead I started with the tree trunks in black and added the other elements step by step and modifying colours by sketching wet in wet.

Buy this sketch as postcard on Zazzle This sketch was done in two sessions starting as usual from the back and painting/sketching towards the foreground. Each state of the sketch could be seen as a kind of under painting for the next stage. The sequence of images below documents some of the intermediate states of [...]

Buy this sketch as postcard on Zazzle There are windy days, the wind howls up in the trees. I have walked to the very edge of the village district. Looking through the trees I can see some orchards down hill and in the far distance the next bigger city in front of hazy blue background [...]

Buy this sketch as postcard on Zazzle The end of summer has come with some hot days, but autumn is near. The sound of falling acorns can be heard everywhere and the cobwebs glisten in the evening sun. The growth of foliage on trees, undergrowth and grass is at its peak now. Each and every [...]

Today I walked again to a place called “Graubrunnen” (grey fountain). It is a patch of some 50 acres of forest. There are a number of small creeks which fall dry in summer unless there is rain. But nevertheless it is moist there. For me this place is a special, sinister place. During the Nazi-regime [...]

Buy this sketch as postcard on Zazzle July has been to moist and too cold for the season, but I do not mind. Hot weather is not for me. I prefer 15-19 °Celsius. In other words the weather on 30th of July was perfect this year. Today I wanted to sketch the forest ground, a [...]

Deciduous Summer Forest envelope Recently I turned some of my gouache sketches into envelopes with windows. Zazzle found the one above worth a TBA (today’s best). The collection of forest diary envelopes will be continued. for those who are looking for matching postage there is a collection of forest stamps as well.

As long as there is no wind I still like to go out to sketch. I found a fairly dry place underneath the layers of beech foliage and decided to make notes of the forests grid of tree trunks. As I neglected the foliage this image looks like winter. I buy ink in bigger bottles [...]

Buy this sketch as postcard on Zazzle I needed two sessions to complete this gouache sketch in the forest diary. It is the mating season for the roe deers. Today I heard a roebuck jumping through the undergrowth coming nearer. Finally there he stood some 40 yards opposite of me staring curiously at the intruder. [...]