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Talweez and Scott, Afu Au Waterfall, Savai'i, Samoa

I'm Talweez, and this is my blog.

Here, I share my sketches, paintings and illustrations as well as things I’ve found useful along the way, things I’ve learnt, things that have inspired me and anything that catches my fancy.

Hello and Welcome!

Scott in Machu Pichu, Peru

Photo Credits

Many of the reference photos I use for my sketches and the blog are taken by Scott Sheridan. Where possible, I indicate photos that are Scott's, but this is a general credit to him for playing a large part in my work. He very kindly and patiently takes wonderful photos not just when he likes a subject, but when I ask if he can get the detail right on a leaf or a bird or part of the landscape. I wouldn't be able to sketch and complete paintings at home as well if not for his photography and for that I am very grateful.

Sketched on 5th April from a photo taken a couple of days earlier with the intention of sketching it. This was a scene from the octave bar in Bangkok. Worth getting a drink up there for the 360degree views. Travellers Notebook watercolour paper with
Super quick sketch #pleinair while waiting for dinner on the 5th of April in Ayutthaya, and painted later in the evening back at the accommodation. The perspective is a bit off, but I'm still pretty happy with it ☺️. This was done on #travellerscompa
3-4 April 2024. #pleinairpril No.2. This painting was started en plein air in the later afternoon/early evening and completed later. Picture 3 is what I was able to finish on site before it got too dark. Beautiful view from the Starbucks at the EmQua
1 April 2024. #pleinairpril no.1. View from our accommodation. Bangkok. Still not great with the cityscapes/buildings/perspective but should improve with practice. It was a quick sketch to start the month off. I am not going to be trying to do this e
K - Kimberley Rock Monitor! This was completed on 13 February. We saw two of these gorgeous monitors quite by accident while we were sitting under a rocky ledge at Champagne Springs in El Questro station in the Kimberley at the end of August 2022. We
Jim Thompson House Museum. Absolutely loved the lovely grounds of this museum and spent a few hours doing a quick sketch there (not this piece). It's a beautiful and absolutely delightful spot especially if you're into traditional hand-made crafts, b
Eucalyptus Macrocarpa, Dec 23. We'd seen a beautiful flowering Macrocarpa in the Dryandra woodlands in November last year, and it prompted me to try my hand at it in Procreate on the ipad. #procreategouache #eucalyptusmacrocarpa #australianfloraill
J - (Comb-crested) Jacana! Part 10 of the #alphabetsuperset project - a Jacana dad with two little ones following behind. I've toyed with the idea of switching up the medium for this project to #Procreate on the iPad for a bit because I like to do a
I - Intermediate Egret! Part 9 of the #alphabetsuperset project is also late haha but I'm still on it. This was completed on the 14th of January 2024. We've seen these lovely birds in so many different places around Aus from Perth to Darwin and Kaka
H - Humpback Whale! Week 8 of the #alphabetsuperset project. Finished this piece on the 27th of November and while I'm still massively behind, it was a ton of fun painting especially because I haven't painted much marine life so far. While we didn'
G - Gouldian Finch! Week 7 of the #alphabetsuperset This was finished about a week and a half ago but I haven't gotten around to posting about it yet. There have been a few other projects this last couple of weeks that had taken me away from the pr
F - Frilled Neck Lizard! Week 6 of the #alphabetsuperset is done - this one is a week late for various reasons, but so much fun to paint. We saw Frilled Neck Lizards twice! The first time was on on the Mitchell Plateau while driving back from Punam
E - Emus and an Echidna! Week 5 of the #alphabetsuperset is done - a day late but done ☺️. We saw both of these cool creatures in the Mount Remarkable National Park (SA) back in June/July 2021, and while I'd done a quick sketch in my nature journal a
Pitcher Plants seen at the Cairns Botanical Gardens a few months ago. It's always fun when pieces go from "work in progress" to complete. It was hard to know when this page was done but after working on it a few days ago I decided to leave
Lumholtz tree kangaroo mum and Joey #inktober #5minsketch in pentel brush pens (black, sepia and gray). I didn't have time for a full painting of these gorgeous kangaroos yesterday but really wanted to do a quick sketch to capture them in my sketchbo
Not quite #inktober because it was done in August and also, I just couldn't leave it without colour 😅 but I've been loving Pentel Brush pens for quick sketches lately. This was a quick 10 min sketch from August, of a section of the Babinda Boulders
D - Double-barred Finches! Week 4 of the #alphabetsuperset is also done. We saw tons of these cute finches along the way while camping and while I painted a few different finches earlier this year, I seem to have forgotten about these ones! So glad t
C - Channel-Billed Cuckoo (juvenile). Week 3 of the #alphabetsuperset done. We saw a juvenile Channel-Billed Cuckoo while camping in Jabiru in the Kakadu National Park. It was making a call we couldn't recognise and after a bit of investigation to fi
(male) Olive-backed Sunbird! Just a quick sketchy painting of the bird after sketching his nest a few days ago. They're such gorgeous birds. The make has a distinctive blue throat. #gouachebird #gouachenature #gouacheillustration #australianbirdpa

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