The gauntlet is thrown...requests for sketches

To kick-start the year, I told folks that I was accepting requests and they did not disappoint!

Suma: "Space and farming"

Riffing off Suma's request, Max upped the ante:

Max "Goats and flying squirrels, in space on a farm"

Justin was inspired to request something he is keen on - I like to think he can use the sketch in the business plan

Justin - "Pods, the future of everything"

Lily then asked for "a gold dolphin swimming in lemonade on the edge of Mars - I opted for pink lemonade

Lily : "a gold dolphin swimming in lemonade on the edge of Mars...

And then Louis asked for: "a lion, trapped in a duvet, on the edge of a toilet, trapped in jail, sticking his tongue out at a tiger. The jail is on the edge of Mount Everest and should have a curtain over it too."

So, here goes a series of pictures to convey the request:-

The complete picture:

12 favourite sketches from 2015

Looking back at sketches from 2015 - asked myself to pick one from each month.

Jan 2015 One of my first few tweeted sketches and of a building I had noticed when I had first moved to Reading.

Feb 2015 - My favourite sketch from the evening Life Drawing Wednesdays  at Jelly run by the amazing Mark Andrew Webber

Mar 2015 - This started out as a request from  for 'Aliens taking tea with a rabbit' but became the picture for a group I ended up creating on Facebook to encourage friends and others to draw.

Apr 2015 -  Drawing a florist at work live (Sonning flowers)  was really enjoyable as I have been a part-time florist myself. This was the one of the first sketches I had to cut out and scan and give away - a very liberating act that I didn't think I could manage.

May 2015 - I love this sketch for many reasons including that it was the first one I've done using a drawing app and my finger that I really liked. Even so, I did the date wrong/American style - it was done in May

June 2015 - Feeding ducks in the rain.

July 2015 Sydney Padua speaking live at RYND for Reading Skeptics in the Pub

Aug 2015 - Watching the magnificent Bikini Beach Band at a private party was fun. Drawing them was hard.

Sept 2015 - Having a cuppa tea at the new Cup Reading was lovely esp the teapot

Oct 2016 Some commuters catch your eye because of their poses or their faces and it's nice to try different ways of the same poses (they are always sleeping, on a device or reading - staring out of the window is rare.). I am sure I have drawn this person before so have a fondness for him.

Nov 2016
A request for 'A friendly robot carrying a teddy - oh, and Columbo' - I love doing these collaborative drawings as it feels like a joint creation.

Dec 2016 - Watching Slow TV for Xmas was inspring. Done on new coloured cards.
The first time I saw slow tv was in May when it covered the Kennet and Avon canal.

Yet another drawing game

As the homework for  Introduction to Game Design Coursera course I adapted my first drawing game to be a two-player game.

You and another candidate are trying to join the Graffiti101 class.

You have a canvas of an A4 piece of paper.  If you don't have a die to hand go to https://www.random.org/dice/

You may have to compete or collaborate with this other person and you take turns to play. You get 5 marks each in total to make your drawing and incorporate the other player's 5 marks into your drawings as well.

But first, you have to know what you are each going to draw? Throw a die each.

Die roll	1	2	3	4	5	6
Player 1	Person	Person	Vehicle	Vehicle	Building	Building
Player 2	Person	Vehicle	Building	Vehicle	Person	Building

For each turn you make depending on your score – draw the mark in the canvas incorporating the other player's marks.

Die roll	1	2	3	4	5	6
Draw:	Line	Square	Triangle	Circle	Dot	Squiggle

Drawings of #rdguk architecture

It is Architecture Drawing Day by RIBA and @thebigdraw
I thought I'd do a roundup of some Reading drawings I have made over the past year or two.

The bank at Market Place

The George Inn

The Blade

A house in Reading

Market place

Oxfam bookshop back when it was blue

Reading weir

Demolition crane

National savings bank

Church in St Mary's butts

Peeping into Caversham Court Gardens

Day when a bus stop arrived in Market Place

Rising sun arts centre

Market Place

Pau Brasil

Reading from the car park

Doorway

Building no more 

Building in Reading

Outside St Laurence

Broad Street

I made a drawing game

As part of the Introduction to Game Design Coursera course, I made up a couple of games. This one is a drawing game.

Cavepainting-101 It is pre-historic times - you are at an interview for the guild of cave-painters and are very nervous. You have been left alone and asked to use no more than 10 marks to draw a representation of a person before the angry-looking boss Thugg comes back to decide if you are good enough.

You really want this job because the other option is hunting animals and you don't know anyone who didn't get hurt doing that. Besides you really want to spend time with your new friend Rakelle who already works there and told you about this opportunity as she also really wants to hang out with you.
Rakelle prepared you for the interview. She gave you a six sided die and told you to throw it 10 times. ( I know what you're thinking – how does she have a die? Well, duh, she's from the future and showed you dice, how to count and how to draw basic shapes. Hopefully, she will teach you even more including time-travel if you get the job.)

Concentrate! Back to the interview:
She said, for each mark you make (you only have ten)

• if you roll a 1 – then draw a line 
•  If you roll a 2 – then draw a square shape
• if you roll a 3 – then draw a triangle shape
• if you roll a 4 – then draw a circle
• if you roll a 5 – then draw a dot
• if you roll a 6 – then draw a squiggle.

Hurry now! Before the boss gets back.

Throw the die, draw the shape suggested by the die and throw it again for the next mark – aiming for a person-like drawing in 10 moves. If you don't have a die to hand go to https://www.random.org/dice/ 

Hope you get the job and learn lots with Rakelle.

Here's my masterpiece - did I get the job? Want to apply yourself? Then submit your drawing.

Taking part in the Open Air Art Challenge for #openforart #rdguk

To sit on a Sunday morning on a pedestrianised main street where all the shoppers hang out and take part in an art challenge seemed terrifying. So I signed up.

Artists taking part would have 3 hours to produce work and have a public vote to decide the winner. This was just one event in Reading's Open for Art weekend.

The atmosphere was great and I sat and did 4 sketches inspired by the people I was watching over the 3 hours whilst others drew, painted, made mobiles, used ipads, and created work from the plastic strips one finds tying printer papers together. The volunteers were friendly and lovely.

People waiting for shops to open

A fellow artist

View of the Blade

Volunteers at the event

We had to display our work for public though throughout people would watch, gather around and sometimes speak to the artists. The thought is scary but the conversations are always encouraging. 

Displays of work for voting.

The winner was announced as Hillary James who did a large painting of the surrounds and captured a real sense of the street.

Was it worth it? Yes, as the thought of doing something similar will be a little less terrifying next time.