Roundup of Week 1 Drawing August

Started the weekend by drawing at the Queen Victoria Market with the lovely Melbourne Sketchers. Thanks for invting me, it was a fantastic morning!

And a good way to kick-start drawing again. Feeling very rusty indeed! When I looked at my sketchbook, I realised with shame that I have drawn only three things in there all year. Tsk.

Toby doesn't seem too worked up about it, though. 

For August 4th, a mind's eye image while musing on the idea of made-up plays on rainy days. I suspect the rain was chucking down, it seems to have been all month!

Something quick, late at night for August 5, based on a photo of a colleague. Not an ideal likeness, but I like the line.

Early the next day, on the train. SPORT. Rumbled. Smiled sweetly. Scribbly lines as the train rushed and swayed.

Still raining on August 7, laundry drying over the fire. Hiding in the kitchen, it's the only warm room in the cottage.

And there you have it, a roundup of the first week of Drawing August. 

More to come!

B

Drawing August

'One a day, every day.'

'Little and often, that's the way to move a mountain.'

It was just luck that I stumbled over Drawing August, the one-a-day twitter challenge. Luck in the blogosphere, because it was DesignGirl who contacted me one day, out of the blue, and asked if I would like to join their regular sketching group -- 'Do you still go out and sketch, your blog hasn't been updated for years.' she wrote. >ouch< Though I think her actual words were much nicer than that. 

Over the next few weeks I thought about her email a lot. I saw the notices come and go - 'we're sketching here', 'we had coffee there'. And I really, really wanted to go. But I haven't drawn for too long, it's terrifying, my pencil hand is so rusty it might as well have dropped off. I was busy, but not so busy that I couldn't find the time. And so the need to get back to drawing grew, gradually. I knew I had to go.

Another message from the group told me about this 'thing called DrawingAugust...' The deal is, a picture a day, tweet it with the date. We all get to share what we are doing. 

I needed a good hard kick in the seat of the sketchbook, so I said, 'sure, I'll join in' - nevermind the book manuscript deadline and the rest of my life this month, 'sounds like fun!'

So I am drawing again. Here's the rough sketch for August 1:

I like it better than the final, which I have temporarily mislaid. 

If you're interested to see the wealth of what's out there, check Pinterest or Twitter and search for #drawingaugust -- I promise you, you'll see some fabulous art, and what a variety of it there is!

B