This post is following on from the Self Portrait that I did as part of my Self Learning Series.  The next lesson in Betty Edward’s DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN is a sketch of someone from memory.

I knew as soon as I read the brief who I really wanted to sketch and then tried to put myself off and then avoided it for a few days.  Today; with the encouragement of George (My son and guest blogger) I have once again challenged myself and put pencil to paper (or sketchbook in this case).

This task has been emotionally draining.  My Dad sadly passed away on 11/11/99 after losing his very short battle against Pancreatic Cancer.  I still miss him to this day and still can’t really talk about what happened without welling up with tears.

So for me to make the decision to sketch Dad as part of this project was enormously hard.  What if I did the worst sketch in the world?  What if I made him look horrible?  What if everyone thinks that I think of him in a bad way? I don’t by the way.

Then I remembered that this is a project about challenging myself, about stepping out of that box where I can hide and be afraid.  The box where i am safe and nobody can criticise or laugh at me and make me feel small.

I am sure there will be people who may look at this who knew my wonderful Dad who may think that this does not resemble him in any way.   This is my 20 minute novice sketch that I have done whilst picking out memories that did not make me cry on the paper.  This project is for me to learn how to develop my art skills and become a better artist.

So hopefully we can look back after every sketch that I have done and see a visibly improvement.

The big reveal:  Here is my sketch and here is my Dad. x

S x