Today is the last day of my 30 day challenge to make 30 sketchbook drawings and post them online.

I went to the back of ‘Winnies Hill’, where I started, and sat on the grass under a tree that is almost in the drawing from May 1st, at the top left hand side, just off the page!

I was thinking about the beginning of the month and how I sat outside with my winter woollies on and was still cold! I didn’t know that 30 days later I would sit almost at the same place I had started sketching, in the hot sun, having swum in the sea several times in between!

I tried an experiment in sketching directly with the watercolour paints, attempting to draw the images with my brush marks. It worked to a certain extent, but I was tempted to add some pen lines to it. I hesitated and started walking back home, passing my neighbour Pat on the way.  I showed her what I had done and she said she liked the drawn ones better, as it looked a bit bland without any detail. I was glad of her comments and went back to the spot, adding some pen lines on top of the watercolour, a sort of back to front way to sketch!

Reflecting on why I love sketching so much, how it is always just scratching the surface and bringing me back to the beginning of painting, I am reminded of a quote from a T. S. Eliot poem which I love, Little Gidding,

‘We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.’