The Sketchbook Diaries: Drawings from 28th August to 4th September 2022

The references used for this week’s drawings have been a mixture of flower photography taken from Pinterest and plants drawn en plein air in St Ives, Cornwall.

The first drawings from the 28th to 31th August were flower references from Pinterest. These drawings inspired me to research ways to better portray light and shadow as well as improve my line work.

The next drawings were a lot more fun to create as I did them outside while walking around St. Ives, Cornwall on holiday. On a walk from the St. Ives train station to the harbour, I noticed groups of wildflowers growing in between the crevices of the stone walls that lined the meandering roads. There were a variety of flowers of many different colours and shapes, but I chose to draw a plant with beautiful pink blossoms growing out of a crack in a wall which overlooked a restaurant in the harbour.

The last drawings, of leaves, were done while sitting in a secluded quadrangle garden that I discovered while exploring the hilly alleyways behind the main street in St. Ives. I loved creating the leaf shapes with a waxy Caran d’ache green coloured pencil and colouring in the light yellow background to highlight the green of the leaves.

I find the action of drawing in a sketchbook while outdoors very relaxing and it helps me to focus on the details of things that I would usually overlook. In a way, drawing helps me to better see and appreciate the things around me and I really like that about it.