In August 2017 I set myself the discipline of doing a daily drawing or painting and have more or less managed to keep this up. You can also follow My Daily Drawing Project on Instagram:

@MyDailyDrawingProject

DECEMBER 2017

31 Dec: Abstract drawing 2 based on photo token on Boxing day walk.

30 Dec: Abstract drawing based on photo token on Boxing day walk.

25 Dec: Coloo. Was just getting a good likeness when my lovely niece sat down between us so I could see him no longer.

24 Dec: not a good likeness - my "model" only sat for a few minutes and then I carried on working from memory. I added more colour to see what impact it would have.

24 Dec: version with more colour.

23 Dec: quick sketch John

20 Dec: this is an abandoned drawing of my husband. He hates sitting for me but sort of obliged - he was reading the paper & did look up when asked. I tried to elongate the face but this makes him look ridiculous and emaciated and it's not a good likeness. I think I have either to try to be realistic and aim to catch a likeness or elongate the shapes and aim for an aesthetic result regardless of realism.

19 Dec: had another go at drawing my daughter but sadly this time from a photo. Didn't get a good likeness (her mouth is wrong) but I like the colours and think the cushion works rather well.

18 Dec: It was my birthday and I had planned to visit the wonderful Tate Modern Modigliani exhibition again but instead my lovely daughter spent the day with me; we drank tea, went Christmas shopping and generally had fun. While my husband cooked my birthday supper, my daughter checked her email and I did a sketch of her in the elongated Modigliani style. I have lengthened her neck and nose but should perhaps have stretched her face more. Happy to use Modigliani’s colours in the pastel blue/green background and gorgeous peachy complexion. I managed to capture something of my daughter’s likeness but failed totally to convey her fabulous vivacious humour! Fun day though & rounded off with pink champagne…

16 Dec: had another go at the same display but this time tried to be bolder. I need to think more about backgrounds if I'm going to put them in. Not sure this works well. Composition also not right - too much space to the right. Should have put an object there or had a table corner. I used for the first time a white acrylic pen/felt-tip/brush which I bought from Cass Art this week. Excellent for highlights. Will use it again...

14 Dec: rather a busy time of year but what bliss to find an evening to sit down and sketch these exquisite freesias and perfumed hyacinths – in my favourite Georg Jensen jug of course. I deliberately left the hyacinths quite soft/subdued so as not to compete with the vibrancy of the freesias. I think this works. It is such a pretty display I might have another go and be a bit more strident but there are a lot of Christmas parties on the horizon to distract me…

8 December: a loose sketch of the red roses that the Linehams brought round. They are an intense red that is particularly cheering on these frosty mornings. I built on my "after Modigliani" experiments when doing the background but not sure if it works. I don't like the brownish colour at the bottom...

7 December: my second attempt at a Modigliani moment. This is marginally less stylised than the first attempt (but not hugely so) and I've kept his luscious colours. I've also tried to get greater depth of field.

5 December: had a rather lovely trip to the Modigliani at Tate Modern and felt inspired to try something in his style (apologies to Modigliani). Managed the oval face, over long neck and nose and nice peachy colours with contrasting background... However failed totally on depth of field and tone and also failed big time on the likeness factor. Might have another go at this style as I enjoyed attempting this. It somehow feels "naughty" to put in a dark outline but I like the effect.

3 December: attempted some quick portrait sketches of John as we sat round the dinner table well into the evening with "lunch party" guests.

3 December: John

3 December

2 December: a sort of self-portrait using my iPad camera instead of a mirror. Didn't manage to get a likeness but enjoyed working on the light and shade contrast between the hair and background.

1 December: found this battered banana in the fruit bowl. It had been bashed about in my tennis bag as it came to match this week and made it back home. Felt quite pleased with the way the white flattish bowl turned out. One delight of being back home is working on larger paper: I couldn't take a decent block of paper travelling as we had to pack light.

OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2017

30 November: my highlighters.

24 November: a lovely Welsh jug that my husband gave me. Very pretty with flowers in it.

23 November: my favourite iPad cable that goes everywhere with me. (Back in the UK).

11 November: Experimenting with trying to capture the sea.

9 November: We anchored at Raine Island in the Far North. This is the world's most important turtle nesting site and we could see lots of presumably exhausted turtles arriving beneath the surface of the water after what for some will have been a migration of several thousand miles. There were tiger sharks too. I should add that I wouldn't have attempted this sketch if I hadn't been challenged by Lenny & Beth...

8 November: a potato cod. These massive groupers have extraordinarily wise and wizened asymmetrical faces. And they are LARGE... maybe 4 or 5 feet long and chunky with it.

8 November: quick sketch version in colour.

4 November: More abstract, inspired by tiny pilot fish hovering around the buoy line.

Bit of a cheat... I copied the pencil sketch and added the colour. I love the contrast between the bright orange life ring and the turquoise sea behind.

4 November: meant to do this in colour as the orange ring looked fabulous against the blue sea but succumbed to a precise pencil sketch.

2 November: small rocky outcrop on Lizard Island.

2 November: we dropped anchor at Lizard Island as some people were leaving the boat. While we waited for new arrivals I had the chance to do some peaceful sketching helped by the fact that the boat was only rocking slightly...

29 October: waiting for the amazing flying foxes to leave the roost for night time feeding, Cairns. When they finaly launched themselves, they flew down the main roadways a couple of hundred feet high forming an aeronautical rush hour.

28 October: sketched while waiting for departure to airport...

24 October: a very welcome sit down after a 10 mile walk.

21 October: drawn in pitch dark in a cocktail bar at the top of the Shangri La Hotel Sydney. Rather hard to get the colours right in the dark. Not helped by a slightly unsteady hand... well we were in a cocktail bar.

18 October: garlics. Not helped by two of them being used between starting the drawing last week and finishing it last night.

16 October: Worked long & hard at this beautiful bunch of tulips but it’s tricky to draw white flowers. Afterwards augmented the image with my iPad brushes app to add some colour which I think worked better. See next image.

16 October: Digital image only. An augmented version of the drawing using the Brushes app on my iPad.

10 Oct: drew our much-thumbed calendar that was lying on the table. Quite a challenge to get the perspective right...

8 October: Emma Bridgewater jug. Had fun tackling the spots and I'm pleased as I think they look part of the glaze. A most enjoyable subject.

4 October: I did the flower vase again but started day time which I think has made the whole picture lighter & brighter.

3 October: placed some primary coloured papers underneath my favourite reflective jug to make a riot of colour. Not at all subtle but a great contrast with yesterday's drawing.

2 October: was given these home-grown creamy coloured gourds by a friend. Was tempted to sketch them on some brightly coloured paper but succumbed to the challenge of drawing them on a white background. All was going well till I spilt a glass of water on the paper - not a good idea when working with aquarelles. Quick thinking and kitchen towel saved the day...

SEPTEMBER 2017

30 September: another wine-inspired theme (getting a bit worrying). And too much detail - need to loosen up a bit. I rather like the shadows though. Afternoon sunlight coming through the window.

29 September: final instalment in the peach v nectarine challenge. The peach developed wrinkles overnight so having sketched it one last time I ate it.

28 September, wanted to see if I could differentiate between peach & a nectarine - same size & shape but different skin textures. I think this worked but when I converted the image to black & white it’s not so obvious so it’s the colour that makes it work. This took ages but I might try again quickly and loosely to see what happens. Watch this space.

Same image converted to black and white...

27 September: tennis match abandoned after first set so drank Prosecco and drew the cap wire. Aquarelles. I just love the shapes of the shadows...

27 September: finally completed a drawing after a very busy week. Aquarelle coloured pencils but didn't add water. Used pencil for the shading but think this would have been better with a grey pencil, not graphite.

20 September: came in late after (winning!) a tennis match & sketched this after quick supper. Thought something colourful from the kitchen would suffice. Ellipses not right but was in a hurry... (excuses). Didn't have time for background which would have made it look more like clear liquid. Not really thought about it before but the bottle shape has changed hugely since I was a child and Blue Peter had us making things from plastic cylindrical bottles...

19 September: pencil sketch of pint glass half full resting on edge of newspaper. A nice way to de-stress after a fraught day of tennis admin...

18 September: quick sketches of passengers on IOW ferry

18 September: quick sketches of passengers on IOW ferry

18 September: quick sketches of passengers on IOW ferry

18 September: quick sketches of passengers on IOW ferry

16 September: not a good likeness

15 September: coloured pencils drawn with graphite aquarelles (didn't add water, done on long train journey)

15 September: coloured pencil, aquarelle on paper

14 September: glass of champagne

13 September: view from top of bus

13 September: Waiting for my sister sitting in Cotes restaurant

10 September: lovely to use pen & ink. Tried to relax as I tackled the ellipses here but not sure they came out quite right. I love this Tydd Pottery jug which is exquisite with flowers in it.

9 September, although the flower is quite delicate and I quite like it, the background competes with it too much. I shouldn’t have added the water to the aquarelle as it makes the background too busy.

7 September: quick sketch of a rose using aquarelles. This is not delicate enough.

4 September: did a little more work on this and can now turn the page. Don't like the crude technique. In case you're wondering the vase is not symmetrical as it is a jug.

And the originals...

3 September: Recalling one of my tutor's words "Loosen up darling!", I tried a coloured pencil drawing of some garden flowers in a vase. I wanted to see if I could draw them without putting in any lines, just using loose shading. This of course proved impossible and it wasn't an attractive outcome either. I only had fifteen minutes – that’s my excuse anyway. I can see today that it doesn’t have enough depth & I have omitted the tall verbenas entirely. I’ll blame it on running out of time!

2nd September. Chose a beautiful tropical clam shell to sketch. It looks delicate but is very strong & must have provided an excellent home for its original inhabitant. Curiously it has ridges running at right angles to one another: some following the rim of the shell and others springing out from the hinge at the back. I expect this makes the shell even stronger. I used aquarelle graphite but didn't add water. I ran out of time so hastily added the sketchbook it was resting on but it was a mess so I tidied it up the next morning.

AUGUST 2017

31 August: Why is garden string so interesting to draw? Sketching while sitting & listening to old friend whose marriage has broken down.

31 August continued: when the evening was over, sitting, thinking and sketching...

30 August: long day out of London, walking, drinking and eating with friends. Did sketch of John on train home. For once he sat still, looking at reflections in train window & I achieved a fairly good likeness. His hand is too big but I usually make hands & feet too small so can live with this...

28 August: Only had about 15 minutes so chose a very familiar object - garden string. Plan to do more to this and still to decide whether to keep as pencil (actually this is graphite aquarelle so could blend with water etc) or to add some colour. The secateurs have bright red handles which are rather glorious with the prosaic green of the string.

27 August: sat sketching in the garden in the afternoon. The sun was moving (annoying) so the shadows kept moving. Failed to capture sufficiently the contrast between the shaded foreground and the brightly-lit bottom of the garden. Foreground needs to be darker. The tree at the back right hand side (casting a shadow on the end of terrace house) is a graceful silver birch and I struggled to convey the shimmering delicacy of the leaves. Also ran out of time as it got quite cold.

25 August: last attempt at fuchsias (for a while at least). Used some lovely Contés that gave a lot of colour but little definition. Used pastel crayons to provide some controlled detail afterwards. A relief to work on a large scale but it loses some of the delicacy of the flower. This little potted fuchsia will be grateful to go back outside and I'm thinking of putting it into my front garden for all to enjoy.

23-24 August: decided to draw these very delicate double fuchsia flowers. The plant had both purple and pink flowers on it. This was a very fiddly drawing and I regretted attempting it almost immediately and - if I attempt it again - I shall try for a much freer version. Let’s see…

22 August: my husband needed a label for his newly created hot chilli sauce made from home grown produce and so I drew 3 chillis. I cheated a little by using watercolour to create the strong reds. They are a bit crude but when shrunk down onto small labels look just fine.

Labels in situ...

21 August: Had a totally exhausting day. An hour of hard tennis and then 7 hours of serious admin. Was going to neglect my drawing but the daily commitment forced me to do a quick sketch of this avocado after supper. Listened to a riveting Radio 4 programme about the fabulously intelligent Giant Pacific Octopuses (Octopii?) while at work. This sketch needs more time spent on the "EAT ME" label.

20 August. Rather tired after drive home but managed to sketch these oil paint tubes over a glass of wine.

18 & 19 August: Staying with good friends in Mudeford & sketched the view from their very pretty garden. I loved the shape of this turkey oak branch. Forgot to add ground shadows which would help with the definition.

17 August: an old favourite. My reflective Georg Jensen vase with some garden flowers. Didn’t have much time.

16 August: Too much definition on the leaves. Got carried away adding water to the aquarelle graphite and ruined the subtle centre of this lace-cap hydrangea.