I got a new watercolour sketchpad from a friend for Christmas. John also got some lovely drawing gear from my family.
So, instead of working on New Year's Eve (those end of year accounts are calling...), we drove over to the local Weston Park Museum after breakfast (the one we visited for a sketchcrawl in the autumn), and had a bit of a play.
We only put 2 hours in the meter, and I took around an hour to paint this grumpy old perch (well you'd be grumpy if someone stuffed you and stuck you in a glass case). Which left just 20 minutes before we had to get our stuff together and start walking back to the car (we had to park miles away).
While Perchy was drying, I did this quickie of his neighbour, a stuffed sparrowhawk, in my regular sketchbook:
It's funny, but when I am against the clock like that, it's so much easier to use loose and carefree marks. So much of successful drawing is caught up in psychology.
It was so much fun, we did it again yesterday afternoon, this time indoors.
We both sketched some flowers: the nearest thing to trees, which was what we really fancied. I painted them in my new pad. They're not my favourite subject, and I got a bit grumpy with them: I felt they became a bit fussy, though they look better with fresh eyes today.
To calm myself, I drew and watercoloured the view out of the dining room window (more like it):
I so like the random way that windows frame the outside, and the different shapes of roofs and chimneys that surround our house.
5 comments:
Hi Lynne, happy new year.
I love that last sketch of the wall and roof-tops. I guess the natural stone is the same as your house and it is for this reason i like natural materials - they give a local look to an area.
It was interesting to read your comment about the psychology of drawing; I find it very hard to do any drawing publicly - partially down to the self-inflicted pressure of feeling the need to produce instant results.
I know what you mean, but you should try and remember that, no matter how bad you think your drawing looks at any stage, it is still likely to be far better than your observer could manage, so they won't be judging you as harshly as you do yourself.
It's also easier to get used to drawing publicly in the safety of numbers - why not get a couple of friends together and do a sketchcrawl in your area?
beautiful paintings x
Lynne-love these. Especially the Perch
Great stuff, I really like the perch, especially
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