Movement

I do odd doodles in my sketchbook. This wS a drawing of someone falling, then I added stick figures of jumping and handstands and other movements. Why not? It’s a good mental exercise to try and think what the positions of limbs are when the body moves. It’s a bit scruffy, but I’m trying to get the shapes right. I think the falling one was hardest. Positioning of hands and arms from a memory of someone falling is not easy!

Been out singing!

The two choirs I’m in were both out for performances today. First Loud Mouth Women (seen here in a sketch from 2019), and then Clay Chorus, a mixed choir for Soprano, Tenor, Alto and Bass.

Louds sang by the Guildhall in Newcastle under Lyme. We were outside singing at the artesan market.. We sang a mixture of languages to represent the Commonwealth. These included Maori and English. Including Wahine MA and Frejaro Ma Revee.

From Newcastle I went to Penkhull. We were due to sing outside the village church but it was too wet so we sang inside the village hall. Clay chorus sang six songs spanning the reign of Queen Elizabeth the Second. The room was packed with people holding an indoor picnic. We sang and other groups entertained with Rap music and dancing and drama. I’m thoroughly tired out now!

People

One thing that was missing from my drawings today were people. And the museum area and festival were crowded. I tried to rectify this by drawing a woman in front of the steam roller and a couple walking hand in hand away from me towards the forge that is on site. The blacksmith there, Charis Jones, runs a business called Sculpted Steel. I am sorry I didn’t get to see her but I spent most of my time drawing as you can see!

It was probably the biggest gathering of people I have seen for months. I wasn’t quite as nervous today, but my heart was still in my mouth!

Steam roller

I also had the opportunity to draw a steam roller that was parked up outside the museum. Felt pen drawing again. I found out they are not waterproof as a few spots of rain fell and left drip marks on the drawing! I actually saw this driving along the street on Thursday. I asked the owner and he said he had taken three hours to drive the twenty miles from Stafford. It’s certainly an impressive beast!

Urban sketching

Rooves, around the back of the Etruria Industrial Museum today. Drawn with felt pens. Took about an hour as I was trying to get the red and green moss that was growing on them. The corrugated iron or other metal was hard to capture. I tried hard to get the shading right in the bright sunshine. This was done with Stoke Urban Sketchers who met up for the day at the Industrial Museum site.