Groundhog Day, Again!

Starting to feel like Bill Murray in Ground Hog Day, every day seems to be exactly the same as the last. On Easter Saturday I decided to break the mould and head off with my bike to sketch. Our Lockdown rules are so chaotic that I wasn’t sure if sitting was allowed but sport is, so got my kit together and headed off. Sketching plein air is always exciting as you are never sure how it’s going to go, especially as I haven’t worked in situ since Rome in September, so I was feeling rusty to say the least.

Got to the spot I wanted to sketch ...... an old outhouse from the 1800's and part of an equestrian equipment shop that had taken my eye! 

First big shock as I unpacked, I had forgotten my glasses ....... wow, without them I can’t see anything close up. Good, the first rule of Urban sketching, or any artistic adventure plein air, is to concentrate on the large shapes, well without my glasses that was going to be the order of the day, the rest was going to be a lucky dip! 

I think it’s important with lots of brickwork and roof tiles, to get the feel without getting too heavy handed. Quite tricky to find this balance and once that white is gone, it’s gone forever! 

Here’s my COVID  friendly set up! Standing (not sitting) at some electrical utilities box, this I must say was quite convenient! A good height and nice and solid; I wasn’t blocking the pavement and could pack up and go if someone complained I was loitering. No worries there, it was very quiet! 

The weather held up, nothing worse than a sudden downpour! And to my surprise when I got home and got my glasses on, I was quite pleased with the result! Like Forest Gump says, ''Life is like a box of chocolates ..... you never know what you’re going to get!'', I got an Orange Creme of a drawing and that's just fine. Got me thinking perhaps I'm a better artist without my glasses.