Gotta' hand it to you...
Dear Sarah - Day 65 of our daily drawing exchange
Hi Nikki,
March 6, 2025
What a lovely day I've had. The sun was shining, I got to see you on Zoom, and later I spent a lovely hour and half with Dani, sitting outside in a cafe in Sidney. What a wonderful person she is! So funny and smart and talented. Like her mom.
I threw a chicken breast in the oven to cook while I did a drawing. What to draw? What to draw? Oh, I know--my left hand. I had a little help from a book (how to block out the position of the hand, wrist, fingers, etc), and then it was a matter of trying to make sense of all the nooks and crannies and shadows etc. I can see why you keep drawing your hand over and over and over. Endless nuances.
Dani sent me an email about a GLS "teaser" next week for people who might be interested in the MA. She's very persuasive...
Today I feel very fortunate to have you both in my life, and to be on this intertwining journey of words and images.
XO S
Hello, Sarah!
Agree 100% about the fine-ness of the day! It was great to see you (virtually) and to have a good session working on the book. I know that during our conversation 9after the hard work of writing was done), you suggested I hunt down some charcoal and give my hand another go, but in the end, I ran out of time and went in the opposite direction - fine-liner pen!
I started out doing a blind contour drawing of my hand holding a pencil (posing, as my right hand is my non-dominant hand and I’d rather chop it off than try to draw with it), but then I kept cheating. So, it’s a sort of hybrid effort - and after seeing yours, I’m more determined than ever to find some actual charcoal! Yours is terrific - fingers and thumb on totally different planes but still connected to the same hand! It looks very natural and in proportion - whatever book you used seems to have been very helpful… Care to share?
You should totally go to the GLS teaser - invite your friend, who might also be interested… Dani can, indeed be persuasive. She is the reason I’m in the program - and LOVING it!!
I had a quick coffee today with the Poet Laureate of Canmore to chat about a couple of Slam Poetry-related events coming up this spring. Turns out he has been following our drawings and conversations here on Substack! (Hi, Tim!!). I have run into several people who are reading along - which is both cool and a bit strange. I feel as though I am only writing to you and that our sharing of our drawing journey is limited to just us, though of course it isn’t.
Which is fine. I feel that I’m at a point in my life that I have little to hide. Nobody is being forced to consume our efforts, so if this isn’t an onlookers cup ‘o tea they can just move along. There are plenty of other options out there…
That’s it for tonight - see you mañana!
Nikki