This afternoon I managed to fit in the drawing session I promised myself, using the TV coverage of the World Snooker Championships as my source for a model. I decided that Ronnie O’Sullivan would make a good subject, as he does have a very mobile face, and selected charcoal as my medium. The experience didn’t do much for my enjoyment of the snooker, but it was an excellent way of getting in some drawing practice.
Unlike my experiment with a self-portrait, my wife recognised Ronnie as soon as she returned from a visit to her sister, which was gratifying. Although I am fairly pleased with the result I have learned one important lesson …. or should I say, I reminded myself of a lesson I am supposed to have learned some time ago. It is important to establish the basic proportions of the subject overall before allowing yourself to become involved in detail. I shall have to remind myself of that basic rule when I run the experiment again. The trouble was that I found his changing and mobile expression so involving that I allowed myself to become diverted.
This has been another red-letter day, with our enjoyment of the first of our home-grown salad at dinner. I’m pleased with the way my seeds are coming along, although the onions are developing rather more slowly than expected.