Salad, Heat & Medication

It's that time of year when every meal plate exhibits some form of salad. So it was relatively easy for me to grab a few things out of the fridge for the third scavenger hunt on the Wet Canvas website.

The aim of the hunt is to sketch all 26 items on the list and the first person to complete the list chooses the items for the next hunt.
I have enjoyed taking part and they couldn't have taken place at a better time for me, with my studio in full swing I am finding it difficult to concentrate for long spells, I am just too excited. These quick sketches demand just the right amount of my attention and they encourage subjects I would not normally have chosen myself. It is great practice as I haven't really sketched much at all since school and all of the work must be sketched "from life" rather than photographic references, which in itself presents many challenges. I am enjoying experimenting, trying to use a variety of mediums and putting together unusual compositions...It's been enlightening!



I managed to cross 3 items off the list with this still life: Glass & Vegetables & Dinner . It took around 30 minutes from composition to completion, is sketched with my inexpensive mechanical pencil from Woolworths and lives in my A5 Winsor & Newton sketchbook.


This piece is also in my W&N sketchbook and took around 25 minutes. I used a black Pitt superfine pen and watercolour washes to capture this scene in my home and managed to cross off 2 items on the list: Favourite place in your home & Mirror.




One of the items was Medicine so I chose a packet of painkillers and this time used a burnt ochre Karisma pencil and sketched them in my Fabriano Journal, allowing myself just 10 minutes to complete.
I chose the half empty pill packet because they looked difficult and, although the scavenger hunts have been great fun, I want to learn something from every sketch I create and constantly challenge myself. Setting myself a time allowance adds to the challenge and also encourages me to look harder, be bolder in my decisions and looser with my marks. I am in no hurry when I work but my subjects might be so it's useful to be able to capture the essence of something quite quickly, selecting just a short chapter that will portray the atmosphere and character without the detail of the whole book.