For Zachary

This one's for my little nephew, just turned one.

I've been keeping up with the plan to draw something every day (or almost), which cuts down on blogging time a bit. And still some days I'm out there wandering the internet, looking for inspiration.

One of my favourite places for a bit of fun and a reminder of all the wonderful ways the world can be drawn, is Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty. This blog is a Dad's postings of his kids' drawings, but boy, these kids can draw. It's a fun place to hang out for a few minutes to see what they've been doing. A year or so back, before I'd found the site, they posted a challenge and asked any ilustrators out there to respond to their drawings with a version of their own.

So my challenge that day was set by a four-year old. I had to draw and paint something inspired by her image.

Here it is:

Seems to me they're having a great deal of fun!

For Jennifer

I hope the fun run was ... fun! (Lack of sleep not withstanding.)

P.S. I promise that tomorrow there will be some crafty goodness here. God knows, this used to be a craft blog! Well, there's been sewing a-plenty today, at one point it turned into a downright, no-doubt about it, bona fide finishing frenzy! 

Details soon, but first, sleep.

Don't go on a date

... Where I can see you.

Or you might get scribbled.

As seen from my unobtrusive stool in the corner of the window. I couldn't work out why he was slumped so stiff in his chair until they left the cafe and I saw that his arm was in a sling. Not fun for Christmas!

Oh, and happy new year!

Looking and thinking and thinking and looking

The thing about out and about sketching is that it's hard to start. Daunting to sit there in full view sketching people as they pass by. I keep waiting for someone to challenge me for capturing their likeness, but increasingly I'm realising that they just don't give a damn. Or don't notice. Yippee for me, as I sketch away in the corner!

Now that we're on holiday, I've been out and about doing some more drawing. Yesterday (Boxing Day), down to the shops -- not to score bargains but to draw the bargain-hunters themselves. It was ripe pickin's!

After diving in, a few tries and it gets easier. The lines come more easily and they remind me of what I saw. It's learning to look as much as learning to draw.

Here's an early drawing from my second or third outing with sketchpad in hand. I'll share some of my more recent ones, too. Big scanning session yesterday, and now there's loads to show.

Excuse me, but I'm at the winebar

I'll be the one in the corner, quietly sketching the crowd as the bar staff serve wine and nibbles.

I'll be the one starting tentatively (oh what if someone sees I'm drawing and takes offense?) - So I'm the one who convinced my husband to come with me, not just once, but several times. (Hallelujah for free wireless hotspots!)

I'm also the one who draws tight cramped little drawings at first, sip, sip, and then looser lovely lines, sip, sip, slurp, and then great wild whacking scrawls half-imbued with the fumes of the nice sauvignon blanc or the sangiovese.

Yes, it's true folks: there's a limit of one glass for a reason.
I definitely can't drink and draw.

Some days the paint just muddles

... and puddles, and goes grey and bloopy. (That's a word).

So, some days I draw instead. Here's a recent scribble. I was wishing I could go to the market more often, but when it was done, I was surprised that she didn't look like she was having a grand old time.

Wonder what's up with her?

B

Away...

Painting!

I was struggling with the concept of a post a day, when I realised that the thing I really wanted to be doing was a painting a day. Just like my friend Eileen's been doing with dedication and charm! So I've been just over there at the table sploshing and splodging and trying to learn. Here's one of the efforts.

This was painted after a quick late night sketch from a photo we took in Malta a few years ago. I had a lovely time flicking through photos in the album and thinking about that trip. Bright memories of pale yellow stone houses baking in the sun, dark shaded alleys, cyprus trees and the most delicious honey and fresh-baked bread I've ever tasted. 

Memory lane is fun, and memory lane with scribbles and paint splots is even more enticing.