I LOVE an extended bank holiday weekend! This Easter bank holiday is my favourite and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good weather and the opportunity for a bit of garden pottering. We've got a lot of beds to fill and, in a bid to save money, I am doing loads of seed sowing and sketching the progress of growth...I'll let you know how I get on in my next blog post!
I've been creating more sketchbook pages which are collections of lots of little things. It's a nice way to work as the pages grow slowly and mindfully.
I like to call it 'snack sketching' as each element is added throughout a longer period of time but in bitesize pieces...it's low in calories too (as long as you don't require cake as an accompaniment to your drawing...I'm afraid I do!). You can read more about bitesize sketching in this previous post
It's a good way to work if:
you have limited time
are a bit worried about drawing 'big' things (like landscapes and people!)
or, simply, want to focus your mind onto a specific subject.
Eggs are a good choice and not too hard to draw. During last month's Birdie Book workshop, we learnt various fun and cheaty ways of illustrating eggs and you could apply these techniques to create a collection page. I talk more in depth about collective sketching in my Pebble Painting class which has to be one of the most relaxing workshops I have ever taught (Gavin: 'Errrm...maybe it was the wine, Lucia..?')
**Small (innocent) cough, swiftly changes the subject**
So, back to eggs...I did all these little paintings by copying the eggs in my Observer's Guide purchased for the princely sum of £1.50 at my local charity shop. I chose to record the eggs of birds we regularly spot in our garden and the surrounding valley. Why not have a go at creating your own egg sketchbook page? There's loads of references online and in books, I can't think of a better way to start a Spring sketchbook!