Drawing and painting for pleasure

 Although I enjoy working at my own pace from home, I do feel that sometimes its nice to have feed back from other people. The OCA site is very helpful and the other students are always ready to give advice if asked. Still this does not replace the face to face contact and it can feel lonely at times.

Having looked on the Internet I discovered a local drawing and painting group. They meet once a week and can offer support and encouragement where needed. The group decide on a weekly theme to draw or paint. This was the result of my first week, the theme being white china. Pieces were placed in a central table for everyone to work on their master pieces. Half way through and tea time, everyone looks at others work. No one else worked in the same way as I did, as the display as a whole did not appeal to me, I separated individual pieces and drew three pictures. This was quite a shock to others who had not considered doing that.

Not everyone choose to draw the theme and some worked from their own pieces or from pictures. One person used soft pastels and seemed to enjoy explaining to me how to use them and make the most of the medium. Two others used acrylic paints, one or two used coloured pencils but most watercolours.

It was a most enjoyable evening with some really friendly people, so I'm looking forward to next week when I will be taking my pencils and charcoal with me.

What a lovely way to meet new people, fill a sketch book and gain valuable practice to help my studies.