To say these drawings are my finest achievement to date is, perhaps, not accurate, given the quality of some of the paintings I've done. However, it is not far off. Part of me is saying, well, anyone can daub paint at jaunty angles and something happens. You get a painting. but to draw accurately, in line and to scale, well!  When I finished it, it looked like I had turned the page in a Dickens' novel! And I couldn't believe I had done it. 

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And yet, why not? I am learning to look closely at the detail. In painting, you can give the impression of detail. Drawing, though, you have to look carefully to describe the detail. I have still managed to give some impressions in one or two places.

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The 4 drawings show the progression and are, in fact, one drawing. I began with very low expectations, taking my time. I noted with suppressed pleasure that it had started well, in that the drawing resembled the building. It couldn't last, I told myself. And yet, taking it in sections I'd noticed before picking up the pencils, I just went about it slowly, checking, occasionally using an eraser (kept to a minimum, banished, unless I'd put a chimney stack at the wrong height), getting more and more nervous as I neared the end. Perhaps, you can tell? My tutor on zoom, Clare, started 'You have captured the essence of the house', which is always a good sentence to hear when you are a painter, don't you think? Whatever else she said was drowned out by the final spin and rinse out of my washing machine, just at that moment. If there was a 'but', I never heard it! Very affirming.

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I have grown fond of this empty, old house with several sketches and a couple of paintings. It is part of a project, set by friend, Margaret, a member of our art group. If we wanted to, we were to take a place and paint it as it is, then, re-imagine it, as it might become. There are two paintings of the house on the website - As it is now and Traffic Cone by an Empty House. This drawing was preparation for another painting, As It Might Be...but it is so inviting to paint that I'm going to do a third 'As It Is Now' first.

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Strangely, having said it empty, awaiting refurbishment as a nursery, the builders have been in to set it up for recording a TV series. I'm glad I caught it just before.

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And, I wonder, what is the difference between a drawing and a sketch?

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I have added more drawings into this section, originally called Lathbury House, but expanded to include all my drawings of places. Some of them are my first efforts. I'm particularly pleased with my drawing of Glenthorne Guesthouse. You really need to look at what is there. However, I have since got out of the habit (or discipline) of drawing and so have gone back to the beginning. Yet, I know what I am capable of and, hopefully, can improve further by practising. So, keep going!