Dear Sarah/Dear Nikki 016

Jugs, tugs and squiggly lines

Hi Nikki - January 16, 2025

Today was a packed day, and tomorrow will be the same, so I'm sending the last of my old drawings now, before I go to bed. It's a pencil drawing of a Fiestaware jug. After yesterday's adventures with Sal and Pablo, the jug is a good reminder that I once was able to draw a recognizable object. Getting back there may take a while, and it may not even be the type of drawing I want to do anymore.

I took an acrylic painting class before Covid, and became very frustrated because I couldn't paint what I saw. I attributed this to my inability to draw, but I think now it was actually my inability to see.

Last year I did a brief online painting course with a British artist named Louise Fletcher. The course was wonderful, and I produced one painting I really like, done from a photo I took of a tugboat. But again, I wished I could draw. So here we are.

I actually did a lot of drawing today with my granddaughter. I pick her up from school once a week and we go to a cafe and draw on LCD drawing pads. Today we did a bunch of alphabet-based drawings. We each drew something that started with a certain letter, and then we guessed what the other person drew. She wasn't always fixated on an object: for the letter N she drew two people exchanging gifts. The word was NICE. She also did manteau for the letter M, because she's in French Immersion. She thought my horse was a dog. I laughed at her fart drawing. Watching her draw with abandon and zero self-consciousness is always a joy. I can learn a lot from her.

Dear Sarah - January 16, 2025

Do you follow

DrawTogether with WendyMac

? She has been running a 30-day drawing challenge to kick off the new year. I love her Substack and one of these years would like to have the time, patience, and focus to dive more deeply into all she has to offer. I have not been doing the daily suggested exercises, but today, tight for time and short of inspiration, I randomly grabbed a prompt of hers from a week or so ago.

The biggest takeaway was that I should spend more time using my lovely set of brush pens as I have virtually no control over what they are doing!! Dani and I both purchased sets before we went on our Camino in Portugal a couple of years ago and I just love the idea of the pens. Lots of colours in the set, and a fine tool that should be capable of producing some fabulous work. I don’t have the heart to start anything else this evening, so this is what I’m sending you. Tomorrow will be another day and another chance to make marks on a fresh sheet of paper.

I love hearing about your drawing sessions with your grandkids. I am intrigued by the idea of drawing a fart.

(Just joining us? These letters chronicle our full year of daily drawings and accompanying correspondence/conversation. Learn more about Sarah Harvey here. More info about me can be found here.)