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 2018:

31 Dec 2018: John in Isle of Wight, pencil on paper

Bit of a cheat this is an old sketch which I found when clearing out my art room; coloured pencil on paper

15 Dec: bottle brush stylised abstract, gouache and gold leaf

14 Dec: finally finished this acrylic on canvas. Girl With Red Hair

12 Dec: quick watercolour after supper. Lemons in Asymmetric Bowl.

11 Dec: A Pair of Pears, water soluble wax crayons.

7 Dec: White Lilies, coloured pencil

Painted greetings card

2 Dec: flowers in Tydd Pottery jug, pencil

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November 2018:

30 Nov: flowers

30 Nov: Canal towpath at dusk, soft pastel on paper

20 Nov: this digital image of the Regents Canal at dusk started as a pencil sketch. I then imported it to ProCreate and made a digital image. I am getting more confident about using ProCreate.

25 Nov: flowers in Georg Jensen jug, pen and ink on paper

25 Nov 2018: quick post-supper sketch of champagne coupe with John’s red wine bottle in background, coloured pencil on paper

15 Nov: pencil sketch of my Tydd Pottery jug

22 Nov: parrot tulips, coloured pencil

14 Nov: freesias, coloured pencil on paper

17 Nov: HK skyline, watercolour

14 Nov: used ProCreate to alter the skyline

13 Nov: HK skyline, watercolour

10 Nov: Freesias, ceramic vase and asymmetric bowl, pencil on paper

7 Nov: abstract water colour and gouache

1 Nov: pastel Great White Shark

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October 2018:

31 Oct: almost finished a pastel of a pregnant great white and used ProCreate to tweak options to see how to finish it off. Rather liked the end result. The only problem is how next to convert this to a full pastel image...

27 Oct: “The Invisible Line”, Watercolour collage

25 Oct: Watercolour

23 Oct: Watercolour

21 Oct: coloured pencil

19 Oct, cork experiments for Christmas card ideas

18 Oct, holly leaf experiments for Christmas card ideas

17 Oct, abstract inspired by Oecania exhibition at the RA (navigation device); and some wine glass experiments for Christmas card ideas

11 Oct: Regents Canal By Night, pastel

6 Oct: 2 limes 3 lemons, pencil

5 Oct: John's favourite red wine carafe, pencil

4 Oct: dusk walk along Regents Canal, pencil

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September 2018:

30 Sep: flowers in vase, pencil & coloured pencil

28 Sep: half bottle Bollinger, pastel

26 Sep: half bottle Bollinger, coloured pencil

24 Sep: tennis ball, pastel

24 Sep: tennis ball, pastel

24 Sep: container ship, Mexico, coloured pencil

23 Sep: abstract, mixed media

23 Sep: abstract, mixed media & digital

21 Sep: Looking out onto snowscape, Dia Beacon NY, pastel

19 Sep: Conkers, coloured pencil

18 Sep: Looking out onto snowscape, Dia Beacon NY, pencil

16 Sep: Aeroplane interior, ProCreate digital drawing. Flying back from Glasgow for the Davis Cup

13 Sep: Aeroplane interior, ProCreate digital drawing. Flying to Glasgow for the Davis Cup

11 Sep: Turkish Filbert, pencil

8 Sep: vase of flowers, pen & ink

6 Sep: Fasciated Agapanthus, coloured pencil

4 Sep: interior with vase of flowers, coloured pencil

1 Sep: vase of flowers, pen & ink

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August 2018:

30 Aug, abstract, pastel & acrylic

30 Aug, abstract, pastel & acrylic (cropped)

29 Aug: self portrait, pencil

28 Aug: roses in Georg Jensen jug, pen & ink

28 Aug: Glass vase of bottlebrush sprigs, pastel on paper

28 Aug: Rose vase on check cloth, pastel on pink Ingres paper

22 Aug: Vase with Nichols Canyon and Native Australian Art posters, pastel on paper

18 Aug: quick pencil sketch

17 Aug: poppy seed heads, pastel (converted digitally to grey scale)

15 Aug: black cherries, coloured pencil

11 Aug: poppy seed heads & wheat, coloured pencil

9 Aug: Red Sail from Hope's Nose Point, pastel

8 August: dried poppy seed heads and wheat, pencil

7 August: soft pastel and watercolour (squares for cards)

7 August: soft pastel and watercolour (squares for cards)

6 August: Two Sisters, soft pastel

6 August: Detail - Two Sisters, soft pastel

5 August: Rosé Wine, coloured pencil, quick sketch at end of long hot sunny day entertaining in garden

4 August: Abstract 2, soft pastel and pencil

3 August: Abstract 1, soft pastel

2 Aug: fun day making lots of original water colour cards

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June & July 2018. Enjoyed using watercolours and experimented with abstracts. Embraced "hot" colours - glorious reds, oranges and yellows. Inspired by previous foreign trips and a brief holiday in Devon in the heatwave.  

30 July: Hope Nose Point with Red Sail, coloured pencil

24 July: Babbacombe Bay postcard

24 July: Babbacombe Bay

21 July: after the arrow incident +BLUE

21 July: after the arrow incident!

20 July: pencil self portrait

19 July: turned the quick drawing I did to practise the brigantine into a small watercolour

18 July: Sentosa island, industrial sunset, watercolour on paper

17 July: collage & water colour, garden abstract

16 July: garden abstract, watercolour on paper

15 July: semi abstract garden, watercolour

14 July: coloured pencil sketch garden

6 July: evening primroses, coloured pencil

27 June: London Garden, watercolour

21 June: My Georg Jensen jug, coloured pencil and ink

12 June: Sage sprigs in glass vase, ink and coloured pencil

More abstracts

More abstracts

Blue watercolour abstracts

11 June: experimenting with water colour abstracts

10 June: first water colour abstract experiment

2 June: trying to capture the shadow of the house skyline falling across the lawn. Took ages and the sun/shadows move... Tricky!

2 June: finished this sketch with a few details & general tidying. (Daylight photo).

1 June: Quick post-supper sketch of this vase of flowers. (Artificial light photo).

30 May: tackled the same flowers. Better this time.

29 May: quick post-supper sketch

28 or 29 May: rather twee version of one of my patio pots. Started as a drawing, then my aquarelles crept in and finally I added some proper watercolour.

28 May: here's another.

28 May: made some greetings cards with original watercolours on them.

May: Based on an amazing view I had underwater when it was possible to see through the flat calm surface of the sea. A truly rare experience I have never witnessed before. Our dive boat is v picturesque and the dive took us past her, even though we had been dropped some 500m further along the reef. Hard to capture as, if you haven't been underwater, it's difficult to understand the perspective.

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APRIL & MAY 2018
Scuba trip to Aiyanar Resort in Anilao, Philippines, followed by liveaboard at Tubbutaha, a UNESCO Biosphere site in Sulu Sea

8 May: aquarelle pencils of two inflatables being towed in a flat calm sea on the return to Puerto Princessa

6 May: watercolour lighthouse South Atoll, Tubbutaha

6 May: version 2 watercolour lighthouse South Atoll, Tubbutaha

5 May: tropical sky Sulu Sea, Tubbutaha

5 May: tropical sunset, Sulu Sea, Tubbutaha

5 May: quick pencil sketch fellow divers on Philippine Siren

1 May: watercolour Tingloy Island. Was struck by the brightly coloured washing which matched the brightly coloured banka.

1 May: pen and ink, rough sketch prior to watercolour.

30 Apr: pen and ink of dive boat. The tanks and equipment are prosaic in contrast with the outrigger and beautiful tropical backdrop.

29 Apr: watercolour of beautiful view from hotel.

28 Apr: watercolour of hotel pool.

28 Apr: aquarelle pencils on watercolour paper. Philippines banka - indigenous outrigger.

27 Apr: pencil sketch of indigenous Philippines outrigger.

24 Apr: to round off the day a quick sketch against the clock...

24 Apr: finally finished this. In spite of insects falling on me and gusts of wind carrying my eraser and pencils away.

22 Apr: unfinished coloured pencil sketch, view from Aiyanar resort.

APRIL 2018
A nice splash of creativity on holiday in Antigua, surrounding by blue sky, blue sea and pelicans!

19 Apr: enjoying a final glass of champagne before setting off on a diving adventure in the Philippines

18 Apr: jasmine tea in my gold spotted mug sitting on my gold spotted notebook. Quick after supper sketch.

15 Apr: jasmine tea in mug after supper

13 Apr: corkscrew

11 Apr: pelican, final watercolour

11 Apr: pelican, watercolour

10 Apr: Pelican, pen and ink

10 Apr: Three pelicans, pencil and coloured pencil

9 Apr: aquarelles on watercolour paper

7 Apr: water soluble wax pastels.

7 Apr: iPad drawing using procreate app

6 Apr: aquarelles

5 Apr: watercolour

4 Apr: lucky me having a mini break in Antigua. View across the bay using aquarelles. The storm clouds were quite intense but passed over quickly.

2 Apr: finally finished. Canal by night - Haggerston Riviera, soft pastel on paper.

1 Apr: keys! Pencil on paper

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MARCH 2018

Great White, soft pastel on paper

4 March: Haggerston Riviera, pastel on paper

3 Mar: this is a quick pre supper sketch of daffodils in my Georg Jensen jug (sorry to be so boring). I am working on another large-scale pastel of the Regents Canal which is not yet ready to be shared so this is a quick doodle to round off the day. My husband says this is "weak"...

1st March: coloured pencil sketch of the view from Sentosa Island, Singapore. The oil refinery gives a sulphurous stain to the sunset and an exquisite 4 masted barque stands out surrounded by massive cargo ships waiting to come into harbour.

1st March: inspired by trip to the Pastel Society exhibition today I tried adding water to pastels and used my Inktense sticks for the first time. Thinking of doing a large-scale pastel of a great white shark next so this is a rough to see how it might work.

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FEBRUARY 2018
Not so many drawings this month but three were proper finished pictures which took up the best part of a week each.

28 Feb: having slogged away at the canal pastel for a week, it was relief to do a swift rough sketch of some garden flowers in my favourite jug. Had some fun with the colours.

28 Feb 2018: taking longer to work on these detailed pastels so not posting as often. But I'm really loving working on these images of the Regents Canal in bright winter sunlight.

20 Feb 2018: started this 2 days ago and worked with mainly Schmincke pastels which are intensely pigmented and very soft. Mouth-watering to work with. This is the Haggerson Riviera as Google laughably calls it. The Regents Canal on a crisp high pressure winter day.

18 Feb 2018: Treated myself to a kir royale and realised that the Cassis bottle is beautiful so did a very quick sketch before supper. No time to sort out the symmetry of the bottle shoulders.

17 Feb: been busy finishing an oil painting so daily drawing has got pushed to one side. But managed to do this quick sketch of a pale blue bowl with lemons. The napkin helps anchor it on the page.

4 Feb: Been working on this for over a week & finally got it done. Tricky doing winter trees in soft pastel. Early morning view of Highbury Fields tennis courts...

3 Feb: Very quick sketch after supper.

2 Feb: tail end of large bouquet, mini cabbage and green chrysanths.

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JANUARY 2018

30 Jan: added some more blooms. Trying to capture their velvety nature. I don't think I'll be able to draw them before they fall apart. Don't think they like being in our warm house.

29 Jan: started drawing these exquisite anemones

25 Jan: the daffodils are wilting fast so tonight's challenge was drawing the dying flowers which had a strangely graceful beauty.

24 Jan: the daffodils are now open but very pale - almost white - so quite a challenge to draw.

24 Jan: had to spend all afternoon on the computer so I was relieved finally to escape to the dining room for a pre-prandial glass of champagne as a reward armed with my sketchbook. These glorious tulips were given to us by supper guests on Sunday. Exquisitely delicate soft pinks and purples... have tried to do credit to the soft arching graceful shapes and gentle pastelly hues – not sure if it worked but fun to try.

20 Jan: I think the background competes too much with the delicacy of the flowers. And there should be some hint at detail in the background or an extra object to the right of the vase. Is this a self-portrait?

20 Jan: interim stage of this vase of beautiful unopened daffodils. I then put in the background (see left) which I think fights the daffodil buds too much. But good practice,

18 Jan: Moved to the warmer middle eastern ceramics section and drew this pretty 1500 vase. Got the ellipses wrong but was looking up through a glass shelf and there was a label in the way!

18 Jan: afternoon at British Museum. Drew this extract from the Parthenon frieze. Tempting to correct the broken pieces in the frieze.

15 Jan: Finished this abstract pastel. Rather over indulged with the colours but I think I can get away with it with a white mount. It's not yet framed. Just in case it needs explaining, it's inspired by the vivid sunny freezing cold Boxing Day walk I did along the canal.

And framed!

14 Jan: I like working with this bizarre ink crosshatch style where the subject matter seems to emerge from the chaos. Great fun. The twigs have now been sent to the compost heap…

14 Jan: My daughter gave me a fabulous bouquet of flowers for my birthday a month ago and as the flowers wilted I progressively whittled out the rotten ones and reduced the size of the vase till I was left with these few pretty twigs of what I think is the New Zealand plant “Leptospermum Scoparium”. The little red “berries” are in fact unopened buds. Decided to draw this before it finally had to go as the needles are dry and brittle and dropping everywhere. First version is coloured aquarelle pencil with ink. The next version is just pen and ink.

13 Jan: my husband thought my other daffodil drawings were "weak" so this is an attempt to be more assertive. Use my Caran D'ache Neocolour water-soluble pastels. I'd forgotten how delicious they are - lovely intense pigments and easy to use making for quick work. The underlying drawing here is poor: daffodils badly drawn, table cloth perspective isn’t right (I made it up) and the vase is stunted. In real life the vase is graceful and the version drawn yesterday is far more accurate. However I like these vibrant colours. Enough daffodils now I think... I’m working on a soft pastel abstract at the moment and these daily drawings are just to fill in the evenings.

12-13 Jan: And this is finished version though I might tweak the shadows a bit still. I find it hard to finish a drawing so made myself put the cloth in the create a full image.

12 Jan: the next day I tried a more measured version. This is before I added the pale pink check table cloth.

11 Jan: very rough lose sketch of a bunch of daffodils. Coloured pencil on paper.

9 Jan: Coloured pencil this time as a preliminary sketch for another planned abstract pastel. Hard to achieve the definition and intensity of colour needed with pencils although some of the layered colours are quite exquisite to experiment with... Bought some new coloured pencils today so excited to try these out. Think I've been going a bit colour crazy of late but I have always loved a "splash of colour"!

8 Jan: the abstract pastel in its frame

5 Jan: pastel abstract inspired by Boxing Day walk along Regents Canal. You'll notice I have not stinted on the colours but I reckon I can get away with this indulgence...

3 Jan: fine-tuned the background

1 Jan 2018: New Year's Day in Paris. We’d planned to walk off our hangovers but Tempête Carmen confined us to a Brasserie for 4 hours so I did this sketch of Tony while he drank his Bisou Rouge cocktail...

AUGUST 2017