During last week’s Spring Flower sketching workshop, we worked on fast drawing exercises which were so quick that many of us managed to disengage our brains completely (the aim of the game!) and only use our hands and eyes to draw!

Generally, I am very ‘quick on the draw’, a swift scribbler, but I don't work this quickly all the time.

Fast drawings are good to warm up and get your eye in (in the same way that warming up before doing exercise helps your muscles), but it is nice to take little longer over a drawing.

Nice for the drawing, definitely, and very nice as a relaxing thing to do because you can’t think about anything else when you are sketching which is why it is so good for busy brains and difficult times.

So, why not draw a flower this week…

Here’s the assignment I sent out after the live workshop. Perhaps, you might find a little window in your week to try this?

• Choose a flowery subject to draw and do 2-3 quick sketches using the exercises on in the class video (take 5-10 minutes max on this)

• Now take time to do a slower drawing (20-30 minutes) of the same subject. If you don’t now how to begin try this:

1. Roughly and lightly sketch in the bare essentials, the stem and big shapes first, then add in a few more smaller details. Sketch the shapes and lines you can see but feel free to emphasise or simplify the curves and shapes.

2. Add in a few more details now looking closely from your subject to your drawing. Go in with ink at this stage if you’d like to, or stick with pencil.

3. Paint/colour/collage if you have a bit more time

4. Repeat this exercise with different flowers, tools and materials. Try something new!

Let’s work on this together…

Thursday 8th May 7-8pm BST. (Live on Zoom with recording)

If you would like to work on this assignment with company and some guidance, join me this Thursday evening for a 1 hour quiet drawing session. Bring a flower of your choice and some basic drawing materials.

We will follow the assignment, doing a few warm ups then spend some time working quietly together on a longer sketch.

This class is a free addition to the Sketch and Illustrate Spring Flowers Workshop I taught last week, so by signing up, you gain access to this week’s quiet drawing session AND the recording of last week’s class!

Sign up here!

Accessing the class

If you’ve already signed up, you will find a Zoom link to thew or along in the course content and automatically receive a reminder and Zoom link the day before via email

If you’d like to join in, this is a ‘Pay What You Can’ class until Saturday 10th May

Browse the workshops