This is another portrait from the Sktchy portrait course “Drawing Anatomy with Tiffany”. This is Beata and the focus was meant to be on her ear, though I had the most fun with her nose and eye as usual. I used Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils.
I’ve been plagued with killer migraines for almost a week so haven’t done any drawing for days but what a face to return to. This is Matt from Sktchy and he was great drawing practice for eyes and a nose especially!
I’ve been working very slowly on this portrait of Diana from Sktchy over a few days after I reacted badly to my first Covid vaccination. Five days later and I’m still not feeling well but I keep reminding myself I’m lucky to have got the vaccination so soon.
I drew Diana with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils in a Midori cotton sketchbook.
Patrick from Sktchy using watercolour and coloured pencil in a Fabriano Venezia sketchbook.
Last year when I was struggling with the first Covid lockdown in the UK I had some behavioural activation therapy (a form of cognitive behavioural therapy or CBT). The most important lesson I learned from that therapy was not to wait to feel motivated to do the things that help me to relax or lift my mood, but to schedule these things in every day and do them no matter how unmotivated I’m feeling. Right now I really don’t feel motivated to draw but I’m doing my best to do it every day regardless. I don’t always manage it, but I’m trying my best and when I do pull off a good hour or two of drawing I feel so much better for it.
Today I drew a full portrait of Éryka from Sktchy with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils. It’s a good likeness and completing it lifted my mood and makes me want to draw another one tomorrow.
This is Seyma from Sktchy drawn with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils in a Midori cotton sketchbook.
Some days I want to draw a portrait that matches my mood and this portrait of Sam from Sktchy totally matched my mood this morning after 20 minutes of doomscrolling Twitter!
I drew Sam with a dark grey Unipin brush pen, painted her with Daniel Smith watercolours and finished the portrait with Prismacolor coloured pencils in an A4 Fabriano Venezia sketchbook.
This is the lovely Éryka from Sktchy drawn with Copic markers and Prismacolor coloured pencils in a Midori cotton sketchbook.
I haven’t drawn for several days and how my fingers know it. They’ve been itching, twitching, reminding me that I need to draw a portrait. But I’ve had both computer and printer problems. I can survive without a printer but in these Covid lockdown remote working days I absolutely can’t survive without a computer. And I’m self-employed so I can’t rely on an IT department to help me out, I have to solve the problem myself. Fortunately I’m pretty techie and, with the help of YouTube, I usually can. Three days later I’ve solved my computer problems- but not my printer ones – though I was woken at 2am with a crashing migraine, my body’s reminder that I have chronic illness and I haven’t been pacing.
So this morning I took some time out and drew Joshua from Sktchy. This is my first watercolour in a new Fabriano Venezia sketchbook- I wasn’t sure how it would take the water but it was much better than I expected. And I feel so much better after a couple of hours of art therapy.
I’m starting as I mean to go on this year with drawing therapy when I most need it. This is MyHung from Sktchy and drawing her is helping me deal with my post-Brexshit blues. I try to keep politics away from this blog as much as possible but I’m a very sad Brit today. I know that there’s a lot wrong with the way the European gravy train works, but I for one will miss the freedom of movement and closeness with the continent that being a member of the EU gave us.
drawing faces 