Do you sometimes think ‘What the heck else can I do here at home??’ during this lockdown, dear friends? Well, a much better idea than getting ideas about flouting said lockdown and sneaking out, putting your health and that of others in danger, is finding something completely new to do. You’ve already tried cooking, meditating, learning a new language, talking to teddy bears? Then how about getting artistic – starting to sketch and draw and paint…
I’ve loved drawing ever since I was at school; I always had lots of coloured pencils, wax crayons and even watercolours. But over the years, I somehow forgot about it – until recently, when I started thinking about new ways of keeping me busy while locked up at home and distracting me from all those dreadful Coronavirus news. So, I tried to remember what I’d started out with when I was 10 or 11: sketches of Donald Duck and my other comic book heroes, drawings of things in the house or postcards or book covers, experiments with various colours and types of pencils or paints…
If you want to learn how to draw ‘properly’, there are a lot of great free online drawing lessons, like this one, for example:
https://rapidfireart.com/how-to-draw-for-beginners/
But if you just want to have some fun, there are lots of possibilities that require neither a lot of equipment nor any special talent. Some printing paper and a set of coloured pencils or felt pens will do just fine to start you getting creative! Colours play an enormous role in our psychological wellbeing, so whatever you do with them will make you cheer up instantly…
Now, what could you paint? Well, simply what you see right in front of you, for instance – like the view from your living room window!
You can also do a drawing from a postcard, or from your favourite holiday photo on your mobile; this is actually easier, because the original you’re drawing from already is two-dimensional. And it’ll also make beautiful holiday memories come alive!
Even easier (and this is ideal for keeping the kids busy, too), you can print out colouring-in sketches from online, colour them in and/or try to copy them on a blank piece of paper. Like my all-time cartoon favourite, Donald Duck!
You can also do geometrical shapes with a pencil, ruler and/or compass and colour them in (you can find lots of templates online to copy from); this is an extremely relaxing and soothing activity!
And another idea, especially for sports fans: why not try to draw the emblem of your favourite football team? Don’t worry if (like mine) it doesn’t turn out exactly perfect – it’s your loyalty to your club that counts!
And, of course, if you can find a pair of scissors and a glue stick among your stationery tools, you can also do collages with coloured paper or other items like dried leaves from your garden or windowsill, bits of cloth, plastic or whatever else you like!
And another tip: why not put the fruits of your creative labour up on the wall? That’ll make the flat more cheerful, and it’ll also make you proud!
Happy sketching, dear friends, enjoy your Sunday at home!
Roberta Franklin 