A sketchbook is a visual journal, a means of practice and a way to relax. Keeping a daily sketchbook was one of my New Year’s resolutions. I soon realised that for me this was, like all my resolutions, best seen as an intention rather than a pass/fail stringent duty. Sometimes the impetus to draw isn’t … More The art of keeping a sketchbook
Autumn is starting to glow! The light and trees are changing every day, so I’ve been observing trees on daily walks and sketching at home. It’s such an amazing time of year! In Martin Gayford’s book A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney, Hockney touches on how much more you notice in nature when drawing … More Autumn art – drawings and paintings
Making simple marks on paper can build drawing skills and spark the imagination. … More From mark-making to drawing
Cats are a joy to draw. Some of my favourite cat illustrations are comforting images in The New Yorker magazine. Cats are cosy and coiled or beautiful and streamlined. They represent both home and the wild. … More Drawing cats
Alone at night in a remote ambulance station, some miles from the city where my son and I sleep, my partner gets his drawing book from his kitbag. He waits for control to contact him, but the only sound is the station shutters banging in the wind. Any minute now his radio will go off, … More The EMT who draws
When a friend turned 50 recently I decided to draw her present – fifty trees, one for each year, as we live near inner-city woods. I remembered how fun it is to personalise a gift. And there are so many factors you can include in the artwork: What colours do friends like? Where do they … More Drawing pictures for gifts
I used to find wintry trees bleak. I would count the weeks till spring’s first eruptions of green. Now I see how beautiful their bare structures are, reaching up to the sky like hands. Asking the sky for something, almost. Your pencil can have real freedom when throwing bare branches onto the paper – mimicking … More Drawing wintry woods
Stippling – drawing with dots – is fun. I draw with dots because it is relaxing, because it’s an interesting effect and because you can easily fix wrong turns. (A misplaced dot stands out less than a misplaced line!) I find it a particularly good way to draw close-ups of eyes. Below are some oaks … More Dotty art
Rebekah Curtis 