Quick sketch

It’s odd. I had what ended up being a bit of a crap day. I narrowly missed out on a new job which I’d interviewed for via Skype towards the end of last week. Yet I still managed to draw the following:

However, yesterday I was feeling pretty damned good and managed only this meagre effort:

I need to remind myself of these things. Good moods do not necessarily produce the best creative flow. Today might have had its challenges, but doing something distracting like playing the fiddle for a few minutes before listening to your lover read, can be all it takes to brave the blank sheet of paper.

If given more time, I would have added a spot of white pencil highlight on the side of the head as well as on the shirt which was also white. The fingers on the hands would have been interesting too from that angle. I’m pleased with the overall sketch. It looks as though the sitter is really concentrating. His eyes, though not clear from that angle still appear to focus on a single point rather than gazing aimlessly. The book seems to rest in his hands convincingly – the weight of the shoulders leaning into the elbows and in turn into the legs. Yes, it hangs together rather nicely. One of my better sketches. That’s four days straight where I’ve drawn at least one thing. On Saturday I finished another birthday gift: