Draw a bottle, jar or tin from the kitchen

Yes, "marmit" (?!) is one of my favourite things. My handwriting, on the other hand, is not one of my favourite things. Mmmm, marmite.

I'll come back to challenge #6 another day (a well-loved object or a childhood toy). Couldn't decide what to draw for that one, where as this one was an easy choice.

Draw your bed

So, I seem to be a bit of a failure at this "every day" business. I honestly haven't given up, I just find it so hard to find the time for all the things I want to do. I suppose it's a matter of priorities, but with a full time job, a home to run, a band to practice with, and my other hobbies like knitting/crochet and gardening as well as goodness knows what else -- well, unfortunately the drawing is something I dream of having more time for. If anybody would like to read more about my other passtimes, do pop over to Fantasy Landscape where I blog from time to time about yarn crafts and occasionally about the garden. This space is just for the art -- until I become a little more confident about it -- at which point I may roll it in to Fantasy Landscape.

Thank you all so much for the comments on my last post. I feel a little embarrassed about going so quiet after such a lot of great advice and encouragement. I will definitely be having another go at drawing a mug, taking your thoughts on board -- I really appreciate your input!

So here's EDM 5 - my side of the bed. I knew I'd find this one difficult -- I find it hard even to envisage something as large as a bed squished down to fit on a piece of paper. In the end I resorted to taking a photo and drawing with the photo as source rather than trying to draw from memory or even from sight. As seems to be the way, I'm more pleased with the results than I expected to be, but there's so much more I would have liked to do with this. Lots of room for practice, I guess!

Draw your mug or cup

I didn't like this one at first, but now it's scanned and on the screen I'm coming round to it. I expected a mug to be an easy thing to draw but it wasn't easy at all.

I love these mugs - I bought them from Whittard of Chelsea some 12 years ago and I still love their cheery colourfulness and the lovely hand-painted feel about them.

Purses, Wallets or Bags

Here's yesterday's drawing - my Paul Frank purse. It's not used often but my every day wallet is black and boring. Maybe that would have made better drawing practice - more of a challenge - but this was more fun!

I'm finding these Derwent Inktense pencils strange to work with. It's difficult to mix colours due to the waxy texture before applying water. I'll stick with them though, since they cost a fair penny and I probably haven't given them a chance yet. I'm quite pleased with the results but I'm not sure I'm getting the best out of them yet, so any pointers towards watercolour pencil techniques would be gratefully received!

Draw a desk lamp or other lamp

Thank you all so much for the lovely comments and encouragement on yesterday's post. It's really motivational to get so much feedback and I'm really enjoying it so far.

I'll probably stick to the daily challenges for a while and keep doing them in turn. This way I avoid wondering what to draw today and it'll remove the window for procrastination through wondering which one to do next!

Anyway, here's a picture of my lava lamp. I've had it a long time and it really needs another replacement tube since the colours are fading again -- but this is how it should look!

1. Draw a shoe

I'm having another stab at EDM. Hopefully I'll last more than the one or two days I managed last time.

I have new paints and pencils to encourage me this time, and some not-too-expensive paper so that I won't be worried about messing up.

Wish me luck!

This is with Derwent Inktense pencils. The shoes aren't really as yellow as this - more a kind of grey-beige - but I'm not sure how to colour mix with watercolour pencils yet.

Everyday Matters

I've joined a group called Everyday Matters. Everybody on there is so talented that I feel a bit overwhelmed, but even though I haven't posted yet, it seems like an amazing resource and a great supportive community. There's an accompanying book, The Creative License: Giving Yourself Permission to Be the Artist You Truly Are which I have on order from Amazon and I'm dying to get my hands on, and a series of drawing challenges which is great for someone like me, who never knows where to start.



Here's my effort for EDM #1 - "Draw a shoe". I was pretty pleased with this when it was still a pencil sketch but as soon as I started painting over it it all started looking a bit wrong. I'm not sure about the results, but this is only the second time I've ever played with Acrylics and it's all a bit strange and new.

Any comments or advice or criticism would be gratefully received!