117/365 Recently rediscovered missing parts of a vintage 16mm projector, the rest of which was donated to a beloved local cinema some 14 years ago. I’ve been in touch and fingers crossed all the component parts will be reunited soon. Uniball. 10 mins Notebook: Ethel118/365 Lunchtime sequential drawing of a random member of the white wire brigade enjoying the Indian Summer in various states of smart phone reading. Uniball 10 mins Notebook: Artemis (homemade)
119/365 Horses and riders at this weekend’s lesson. Drawn without looking (no glasses). Tried to pick up the pace on the second page. Will try and Vine these as an animation when I get the chance. 45 mins Blue Stabilo point 88. Notebook: Ethel
120/365 Selection of barns and various farm building near Tickenham, North Somerset. Drawn whilst hiding in the car from the cold. V-Ball. Notebook: Ethel. 20 mins121/365 Windows on Whiteladies Road. There’s plenty, I could do a whole book of these. Uniball micro. Notebook: Ethel Approx 20 mins intermittent whilst waiting for playblast renders.122/365 @mrtimmytimtim‘s coat hanging on the second floor door at BDH. Just tipped a third of the way through btw. Straight to Uniball. Notebook: Ethel Cumulatively about 15 mins.123/365 Saplings in Leigh Woods. About 10 mins all in. Notebook: Artemis. Uniball micro.124/365 Architectural detail, Bristol Temple Meads Railway Station. Waiting on Platform 5, sllightly hungover. There is no Platform 14. 15 mins V-ball Notebook: Artemis
102/365 Lunchtime car drawing. 10 mins Stabilo point 88. Notebook: Artemis.103/365 Fixing mechanism on the Draper Telescopic Trestle that supports my standing desk. Drawn whilst waiting for a thing. Uni ball micro. 7 mins. Notebook: Ethel.104/365 View from window at work. It’s taken some time this one. This is probably the fifth update? I thought I’d get the leaves done before they fell off again. Drawn whilst waiting for large framed Arnold test renders. Time: unknown. Pencil. Notebook: Ethel.105/365 Japanese anemones. Catching these before they keel over too. DRAW ALL THE FLORA ASAP. Coloured Stabilo point 88. 20 mins. Notebook: Ethel106/365 More work on the sketch of the beloved Vittoria begun on 91/365. Still warm enough to sit outside so. Pencil. 15 mins. Notebook: Ethel.107/365 Various species of scooter from outside Whiteladies Scooter shop. Some of them might be the same scooter, some of them may be the amalgamation of two. Lovely day though. 10 mins Straight to Uni-ball Eye Micro. Notebook: Artemis (homemade)108/365 Tea break drawing of the Gardena THS 400 which I recently have been wielding up ladders, trimming the hedges,bushes, trees and other rampant plant life as one does in the Autumn. 7 mins Straight to Uniball Micro. Notebook: Ethel.109/365 View across to the Ring o’Bells and the Holy Trinity from the Grove. Another bonus summer weekend, a walk in the park, football, jumpers for goalposts etc etc. Time for the bears to start hibernating soon, no? Two colour Stabilo point 88. 15 mins. Notebook: Ethel110/365 Desk fan. Dealing will the heat generated by the all heavy heavy brain activity. 15 mins Multicoloured Stabilo. Notebook: Ethel111/365 Shoes, trainers and boots of various kinds. Season changes, footware changes. Ka-Ching🎶!!! You know how it goes. Straight to Uniball Micro. 15 minutes. Notebook: Ethel
112/365 Half full glass on patterned table cloth. Multi-coloured Stabilo. 16 mins Notebook: Ethel.113/365 Dismaland doodling. Quite good there, it is. Very lucky to get tickets, thanks S. Anniversary treat. A reminder of life before parenthood. Uniball. Notebook: Artemis.114/365 Another lunch break pass at the architectural complexity that is the Vittoria. One more go after this and I think it might be done. Pencil Notebook: Ethel115/365 Saplings in Leigh Woods, drawn on the move whilst discussing the merits of time travel in narrative forms. It was agreed Days of Future Past was a bad example, I cited Philip K Dick’s The Skull as a good one. 5 mins (with distraction) Black Stabilo Notebook: Artemis.
116/365 Busy old week, just managed to fit in a big finish for the blessed Vittoria. I think the notebook paper has taken as much as it can with all the scratching away. Omitted the benches and the chalk board but they were always in different places each sitting. Pencil. Notebook: Ethel.
Progress, progress, limping into action. Always reminding myself how it gets easier the more often I do it so it encourages me to keep going. The pockets of time are there it is usually just a question of being ruthless with oneself.
So if drawing had value even when it was practised by people with no talent, it was for Ruskin because drawing can teach us to see: to notice properly rather than gaze absentmindedly. In the process of recreating with our own hand what lies before our eyes, we naturally move from a position of observing beauty in a loose way to one where we acquire a deep understanding of its parts.
Couple this with the basic idea of habit forming and applied consistency:
Let no youth have any anxiety about the upshot of his education, whatever the line of it may be. If he keep faithfully busy each hour of the working-day, he may safely leave the final result to itself. He can with perfect certainty count on waking up some fine morning, to find himself one of the competent ones of his generation, in whatever pursuit he may have singled out. Silently, between all the details of his business, the power of judging in all that class of matter will have built itself up within him as a possession that will never pass away. Young people should know this truth in advance. The ignorance of it has probably engendered more discouragement and faint-heartedness in youths embarking on arduous careers than all other causes put together.
Back to my efforts. As ever there is a link to the Instagram post in the caption of the picture:
83/365 Week off art. Drawing the bed before the weeding. Buttercups and honeysuckle. I am officially in 3rd gear. Straight to Uni-ball micro. 30 mins. Notebook: Ethel.84/365 Tree stumps drawn on the slow move in Leigh Woods. Pen Notebook: Artemis86/365 Hanging branch of Russian Vine with a hint of shed. Pencil. Notebook: Ethel87/365 It was Three Dog Friday at BDH towers today. Beryl, Rufus and Ralph. Patterdale Terrier, Boxer and Cavalier Poodle Cross respectively. Some cubist elements due to constant movement. Uniball Micro. Notebook: Ethel.88/365 Throwback to last Thursday’s #BDHunzipped event. That’s Steve, John and Rob (the B, the D and the H respectively) on stage there, being asked questions about their twenty years since founding the company. I meant to do a series but I forgot my glasses so I basically drew this blind, then got lost in the endless spiral of a Rob’s scarf. Pencil. Notebook: Artemis89/365 Another catch up. Very fast doodle of the insides of the fridge at my beloved local chip shop. Filled with a variety of sugary enticing nastiness. Drawn at speed. V-ball. Notebook: Artemis.
There’s good few months between the first and the last on this post. I have mentioned the events over the winter which have compromised my progress somewhat.
A 365 daily drawing project begun in good faith, but thwarted by life, death, progress and other forces. I have since scaled it back to “regular” but I still aim to fulfil the 365 target.
The process has thrown up so many unexpected things, ideas, personal development, a noticing of what I notice, discovery of stories, and connection with other people, none of which would have happened otherwise. So I would recommend trying it, as long as time keeping is your strong point and don’t value your sanity much.
Now dust had settled I recommence with added perspective and purpose.
All images should link back to the Instagram post whence they came.
If you’re interested in seeing the rest, most are in gallery form here, and you can see all the previous posts about the project here. If you would like more instant updates on this you can follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, if you like those sorts of things.
74/365 Various people on Whiteladies Road. Pencil and V-ball. Notebook: as-yet-still-untitled here75/365. Various folks walking down Whiteladies. Drawn without looking. Snapseed accident. Pencil. Notebook: Ethel76/365. Horses in motion. With special emphasis on the ears. Pencil. Notebook: Ethel.
77/365 View out of and during a quiet window at lunchtime. First one I have managed since the bereavement, so I am just going to pick up where I left off with the numbering and carry on. Bit rusty to say the least, it’s incredible to think how confident and fluid you become with just a small bit of observational drawing every day. I can see this one growing out sideways like those others. Having a Kate Bush day in the office. Pencil and Pilot 0.5 V-ball. Notebook: Ethel.
78/365 Cars, looking into the morning sun drawn yesterday morning waiting for Halfords to open after blowing a headlamp bulb. Yesterday was all about wheels turning, big new project beginning, new boiler actually working, technology happening. Pencil and V-ball. Notebook: Ethel79/365 Back after a long break (bean busy see blog for explanation). Bits of horse, mostly eyes. Clevedon Riding Centre, whilst Second Youngest takes a lesson. Pencil. Notebook: Artemis.
80/365 Work (actual) desktop, the bit inbetween the screens anyway. Drawn badly over a two day period whilst test rendering frames. V-ball Notebook: Ethel81/365 Bit more done to the long term project that is the view over the road. Previously featured as 23/365 and 12/365. Feeling good today. Drawing helps. I have started collecting these on a single page on my blog, go there (link in my bio), and click on 365 on the menu. Also there is a link to my Facebook page which I have just cranked into action again. These drawings will go there as well as anything else I might see fit. Look for the Facebook “F” on the sidebar if you like Facebook. Pencil. Notebook: Ethel82/365 Ye olde plastic garden chair. A small window of seasonally appropriate weather hits the UK. Everyone panics. But then a cold breeze resumes so. Pencil. Notebook: Ethel.
Paul Greer 