A Bunch of Sketches & Visitors

 Yikes - it's April, and autumn already, and I've been so busy sketching and painting and thinking about what I want to/need to/have to do - posting it all has taken a back seat. To think I once started blogging to try and motivate myself to draw more... well, something's working at the moment!

We've had a couple of visits lately from sketchers from other parts of the country and the world. Ex-Joburg Sketcher Barbara Moore came up recently from her new home in Simon's Town in the Cape, and three of us had a relaxed morning catching up and sketching on a beautiful clear autumn day at Zoo Lake.

An icecream man pondering the lake with a beaded dragonfly mobile behind him

Waitrons and a mirrored angel - over cappucinos at Moyo restaurant 

A couple of weeks before that French urban sketcher Michel Davinroy was in town. He had been sketching prolifically on his own, but joined us at a Dance Umbrella rehearsal at the Market Theatre for the difficult challenge of capturing the unpredictable movements of contemporary dancers, mostly in the dark!

And yesterday, we arranged a mid-week sketching session in the nearby suburb of Melville to meet Brighton, England resident and world traveller Fiver Löcker.

It's exciting that we are so much "on the map" that sketchers from around the world are starting to seek us out to draw together, and enrich us all with their stories, sketches and enthusiasm! 

Car guards and basket ladies outside the Golf Tearoom in Melville

Fiver sketching on her iPad in the eclectic clutter of Antz café, Melville

Artists Under The Sun

After the noise and bustle of the Children's Day in my last post, a couple of us crossed the road to Zoo Lake to have a look at Artists Under the Sun. A hot steamy day, Barbara and I found a bench under a big shady tree and decided to carry on sketching the relaxed scene around us. After a while one of the artists in this little group came over to have a look, and was captivated by the idea of sketching from life, in public. When I suggested that she try it, she said she felt she didn't have the 'skill levels'! I wish I'd encouraged her further, but somehow my linguistic brain goes into neutral while I'm concentrating on drawing and I only think of these things later. The word travelled though, and a little trickle of artists came wandering over to visit us, all very complimentary and enthusiastic - I think other artists really appreciate the challenges of sketching from life. I did spot one woman later, looking up and down between the view and a book on her lap - so maybe we've started a trend at the outdoor art market...