Day 28. Project Laureate - Family Sketchbook

Chris Riddell's 5 Point Plan
The Inspiration for our Blog

We did a month - YAY!

This last post for the month has been a tricky one to get out. With poorly kids again and then some idiot decided to pour near-boiling water on her hand (me - doh!) it took a couple of days, but we did it!

This was a particularly lovely family sketch. It seemed to go on all evening. We'd looked after our neighbour's dog again and everyone was in a chatty and relaxed mood. It really has been a joy all sitting around the table together, talking and drawing and I think we have all really progressed.

Day 27. Project Laureate - Family Sketchbook

Chris Riddell's 5 Point Plan
The Inspiration for our Blog

Thunder and Lightning!

Tonight's family sketch session felt like therapy. There was a HUGE storm. Hubster and the boys were at home when lightning struck just behind the house. They said it shook the whole building and the power went. 

I was over at a friend's with Freya. We had a rather stressful drive back. Several storms were raging and forked lightning was on both sides of the road. I've never been so nervous driving over Woronora Bridge! I'm not sure I've been in a storm when I felt the car shake from the thunder before (whilst driving).

Day 26. Project Laureate - Family Sketchbook

Chris Riddell's 5 Point Plan
The Inspiration for our Blog

Good days and bad days

We all have ups and downs, with everyday life and also creativity. Isn't it funny how the daily grind can leave you feeling flat, creatively?

I was excited about sketching some of the people I care about most from a photograph yesterday, and somehow I managed to catch a spark. Today, no matter how hard I tried, my pencil felt alien and wouldn't draw what I could see before me. I couldn't even see the shapes I needed. Nothing really made sense. 

Day 25. Project Laureate - Family Sketchbook

Chris Riddell's 5 Point Plan
The inspiration for our Blog

On the inside.

We've been stuck with the slight difficulty of short nights during winter here in Australia. Whilst wanting to get outside and be drawing the beauty of the natural world, we also want to draw as a family. As Hubster doesn't get home until well after dark, we have to choose - draw as a family or draw outside. 

So, inside it is. And almost a month in, inspiration can be tricky. So, we turn to books, objects around us and the pictures inside our heads.

Day 24. Project Laureate - Family Sketchbook

Chris Riddell's 5 Point Plan
The Inspiration for our Blog

Wild Thing!

Our kids have always been into natural history. They've had a thing for anything wild and natural since they could point, from creepy crawlies to huge reptiles with massive teeth. 

One of the wonderful things about this sketching project is that the two interests easily combine. Having indulged in a spot of weekend family documentary watching, everyone was fired up (spot the pun on Hubster's drawing) about the natural world. After learning and watching, we could draw what we saw.

Day 23. Project Laureate - Family Sketchbook

Chris Riddell's

New Scanner!

We missed a couple of days because our printer/scanner broke. Playing catch up, but all good again and ready to roll...

No Hubster on this post, but he will be on the next!

Bit of a still life theme today. The boys are moving forwards trying to add depth with shading, whereas I'm still doing a simple line drawing.  I find depth hard - maybe that's a reflection of my character ;)

Day 22. Project Laureate - Family Sketchbook

Chris Riddell's 5 Point Plan
The Inspiration for our Blog

The Romance of Drawing

I didn't quite realize what the Hubster was drawing today. It was me. But NOT in a onesie!

He sketched my image from our wedding photograph. I found myself quite emotional. The care and time he took over tracing the lines of my face, my eyes, my lips. I was looking at him in the original photo. There's something rather intimate about drawing a person, isn't there?

Well, I'm a blubbering heap. And rather touched.

Day 21. Project Laureate - Family Sketchbook

Chris Riddell's 5 Point Plan
The Inspiration for our Blog 

Three weeks in!

No Hubster sketch today because the kids and I disappeared off to The Boatshed while he was still at work.

The Boatshed is a treasure of a place, a real gem, tucked away between Woronora River and Forbes Creek. It's a hub of creativity too, with paintings on the wall from local artists, pottery and the most amazing view. 

There was so much to chose from when faced with a blank piece of paper - the equivalent of writer's block. We sat with our hot chocolates, bobbing our marshmallows, contemplating the beauty around us. What to draw...