Shopping this morning and an opportunity to sketch some people…but first to get me in the mood… coffee and cake. I do think that drawing a cup or two before I attempt to draw people does help me loosen up.

This afternoon, I went and sat on my stool down the road sketching my favourite tree. Something always amazing happens when I sketch…I felt a bit self conscious about sitting in my own street sketching – after all someone that knows me might see me… this is in fact what happened! More of this later but let me say that the person I spoke to might just help in my Everyday in May challenge!

We don’t have many (any?) native deciduous trees in Australia but we do have trees with deciduous bark. Mostly the gum trees lose their bark in spring/summer time. I absolutely love watching the colour of the Angophora change during the year. The swatches along the bottom are the colours throughout the year (the brand new yellow bark starts turning orange very quickly) The rich intense red colour of the twisted branches in the late afternoon early summer sun never ceases to excite me! So I promise in December to get out there and sketch one! I did do a quick sketch in November last year when the bark was starting to come off – here