Sketching in Hitchin

First day of sketching in Hitchin this year. Sunnyish with a cold breeze. Lots of people out and about enjoying takeaways, chatting, sitting etc. Very pleased with the results and it is good to be back in my favourite sketching environment again. 

 

St Albans Sketch

Photo of the pen and ink illustration in my sketchbook from yesterday. French Row in St Albans.

Drawing in St Albans

Sat outside Simmons Bakers in St Albans yesterday enjoying a cappuccino and drawing French Row.

Hitchin Market Sketch

Here is sketch I made in Hitchin market yesterday. I decided try something a bit different and use a black watercolour pencil to add a bit of shading to my fountain pen linework - a little more like how I would have drawn it on an iPad. It was A4 sized and before I could even finish it the market stall owner bought it. 

Sketching: St Abans

A sketch from St Albans a couple of weeks ago.

Engagement

I feel as though I ought to write more. I miss doing so and more often than not the reason I don't write is because I don't know what to write about. My father didn't seem to pass on his genes of political discussion, debate and opinion to me. If he did, they are very rarely stimulated into action. This does frustrate me as most people around me seem to have the ability to discuss something in depth that leaves my brain struggling to cope with with sentence construction. I depends though. I don't think I am being particularly selfish in not wanting to engage with people. The opposite is true. I want to, but I don't NEED to. I am now wondering if I am reaching a point where this is no longer true. It is not easy and I usually have to make a conscious effort to engage.

This does, to my surprise, link up with what I had originally thought about writing today. Prejudice, descrimination, preconceived ideas and perceptions about other people that I might have. I'm not stupid enough to see the world through rose-tinted spectacles and know that I can't live in a utopia of love and peace. Not at the moment anyway. Part of my faith system suggests that I am tolerant and respectful of all living things. I should not separate out the conifered hills of Herefordshire, the walled garden at Croft Castle, the honeysuckle next to me in the garden or the Muslim/Asian/Eastern European communities around where I live. They are all part of the wholeness that makes up this earth. Everyone suffers emotional or physical pain inflicted intentionally or unintentionally upon them, that is part of life. I wonder if I have held onto things for too long. I wonder if my more people-centred/urban sketching artwork can help me....?