Jean a drawing a day

This year I decided that I would have a theme to tie my #drawingaugust sketches together. It took me a while to decide on it. I was still undecided on the afternoon of 1st August!

A few things came together in my decision. I’ve always meant to sketch daily in Abington Park. It’s very nearby and convenient, has lots of variety and could easily be combined with a walk. Also few years ago, when I saw a wall of sketches by David Hockney of the same place, drawn with same materials on paper the same size, I wanted to try that for myself. I decided to sketch every day, in pencil, in my 15 x 15cm sketchbook, in Abington Park.

Although I’ve been drawing every day for some years now this is one of only few times when I’ve set a theme. I’ve enjoyed knowing exactly what I’m going to sketch each day and making sure I go outside for an hour or so every day had been enjoyable, often combined with a walk.

It’s also been a challenge. There were two days when I had a migraine and could not go out. I made drawings to keep my daily habit going, but not in the park. There were some incredibly hot days in August, meaning I was more interested in finding shade than finding perfect views. On one day the weather was so windy that it seemed unwise to be in a park full of trees so I brought something home to draw instead. As soon as I had set a theme I began to feel constricted by it, wishing I’d chosen colour, wondering if I could sustain the challenge of all the foliage. I certainly found that the small square format wasn’t suited to some of the views, although it did make it manageable.

I decided to add each drawing to a Google mymap so I could pinpoint the exact spot it was made from. Later I realised that pinpointing the spot where I was while I was there using What3Words was more precise. This also made me look at where I’ve been sketching and think about coverage. There are places I haven’t sketched, many of then are the more recognisable features, and as I’ve walked in the park I’ve spotted many spots I want to come back to.

Google mymap

What3Words

What next? There are many spots in Abington Park that I have noticed on the way out and back and there are many pages left in the sketchbook. Perhaps I will continue over the next year doing several sketches a month to capture the year.