A GREAT LITTLE FIND.

 Just before Christmas I came upon a small book called 'My Year in Small Drawings by Matilda Tristram.  There is lots of sound advice on making the effort  to draw frequently, and I am trying to do one or two tiny sketches each day.  It is more or less working - some days I forget so I make it up on others.

There are hints and suggestions for topics throughout the book, but I have decided to draw what interests me most though when I run out of ideas the hints are useful.

I started on 23rd Dec. by drawing my coffee mug, carriage clock and wrist watch.  Sometimes I will copy something from a photograph or book, or just draw my hand or a shoe - anything within reach.

Each page in the book is divided into 4cm squares which is not too daunting, and there are 12 squares on each page. I aim at filling three squares every day.  I am already starting to want more space, (which seems to be a good sign), and also wanting to add colour.  So far I have been using a very fine pen and putting up with the wrong lines, but am looking forward to using pencil and being able to correct any wrong lines.

 I have taken a few photos and tried to post them without success, and am beginning to wonder if the fault is with my camera and not with my laptop.  Oh dear - I don't want to have to get used to another new gadget!  I'll have to get one of my offspring to look at both for me and give their advice.

A Bit of Magic.

My daughter was telling me about a film she had seen called 'Loving Vincent'.  It is about the life of the artist Vincent van Gogh and  is presented almost like a detective story with various people who knew him trying to work out why he killed himself.   Far from being morbid it is poignant but magical, as all the characters are costumed and made up to resemble those in his paintings, and all the backdrops and locations are handpainted by a team of artists to replicate the paintings themselves.   It is as though his paintings have come to life.

If you, like me, enjoy Vincent van Gogh's work, you can find this film on Netflix.  I thought it was amazing, and quite beautiful - I have never seen anything like it and was spellbound.    It was made by a Polish film company and I hope they will be recognised for their skill and imagination.