In which I talk to an inanimate object

I used to be pretty scared of sketching.  A blank page was a bit alarming - worse still was the first page in a new notebook! I think it's partly being a perfectionist, and partly having been put off art at school.

My OCA Printmaking tutor Niki White helped by pointing me to this blog post about sketchbooks.  I love the idea of a sketchbook being a friend you can bounce ideas off.

So, this year my sketchbook and I have been to Southport, Blackpool, Oxfordshire, Liverpool and Leicester.  We're starting to be pretty good friends.  Like any friendship, you need to put some time in together - sometimes I don't talk to my sketchbook for a week, and that's not good.

But the more time I spend with it, the easier it is.  I'm more confident about using paint, not just pencils.  I've even done some cut paper sketches.  Might have a play with some collage some time.  Who knows?

So, I'm going to show off now and post a couple of sketches I was well proud of, both from photos of statue 20 in Anthony Gormley's "Another Place" at Crosby Beach. 

The first is a watercolour.  Anthony Gormley has a big willy.  Hee!

The second is pen and coloured pencils.  Anthony Gormley's head isn't really that lumpy, it was encrusted in little barnacle-y things.