Three Hundred and Sixty Five days ago I started a project to do a drawing every single day and now I have completed the task.  I was not alone –  Maggie and Alison (click on Aligeebee to see her drawings) were there every drawing along the way, and it was a daily pleasure to see what they had posted on the site.  We are off for a jolly in January to see the Indian Textiles exhibition at the V & A in London – where Maggie and Alison will meet each other for the first time.

I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to the people that have followed the blog and have been kind enough to comment and encourage.

Did I really truly do a drawing every day?  Well…….confession time, not exactly; I missed one drawing in June – I remembered during the day but then forgot to actually do it and woke up with a jump the next morning ‘Arggh I didn’t do my drawing!’.  The second miss was when I had a particularly busy day coming up where I could see no gap for a quiet sit down so I did an extra drawing the day before.

Have there been any benefits from drawing every day?  I would say yes, yes and yes!

I am no longer frightened by the blank white sheet of paper.  I am happy to show anyone any of my drawings –  my ‘artist’ skin has become thicker, OK so it’s not a very good drawing – so what! My skills have improved, I notice when I draw I am looking not at the thing but at the relationships, negative space and shading.  I have developed a ‘style’ or ‘handwriting’ to my drawings and mostly they are wonky and I am happy with that. Having a drawing to do each day gave me a anchor point while everything around me seemed on the move.

Another thought – doing just 30 minutes  a day means that I have clocked up over 180 hours of drawing and I know I have often taken more than 30 minutes with a drawing.  My shortest drawing? Well sitting having coffee at Felixstowe Ferry, I sketched a boat in 30 seconds and the drawing was done.

So what am I going to do next year? I don’t really know right now, I am waiting until drawing 365/365 is done, but I am thinking that my focus should be on composition and I want to start keeping a ‘proper’ sketchbook like real artists do.  I am also keen to do something with the amazing trees that are in the park over the road…………..

Here they are then, the last 9 drawings (now don’t get too excited it is just more of the same).  Happy New Year!