At the end of 2009 I set myself a few personal goals for 2010 – amongst those goals was to finally learn to draw!

Having studied Art and Design for five years, you might think I’d already be able to draw…sadly not!  Whilst I’d been accepted onto an Advanced Art & Design college course, it was for my portfolio of photography, collage and mixed media work - I’d hoped I’d learn the art of drawing later.  Unfortunately I never quite mastered it, instead embracing my skills in photography and later going on to study it further at university.

Then, in 2009, on holiday in Cornwall I went to photograph a stunning view of the coastline, only to discover that my camera battery had died.  Leaving the view uncaptured was not an option, so I pulled out a biro and notepad from my handbag and quickly sketched the scene.  Lo and behold, it actually looked a bit like a coastline!  I so enjoyed the experience that I bought a pencil and sketchbook and spent hours in Padstow drawing the view over to Rock. 

Last year I went out to Greece for a wedding and I decided I’d take a proper sketchbook and some basic watercolour pencils.  I loved drawing on the beach and decided I’d aim to fill up my 50-page book by Christmas, six months later.  I initially invested in some better quality pencils (Derwent Watercolour) and some ‘learn to draw’ books, and worked my way up to trying out different styles and media.  There has been a definite improvement over the last six months, and the book is now complete!

Now, I’m not yet an artist by any means, but I’m enjoying my new hobby and that’s what counts!  If you want to check out my efforts, visit my Flickr album here.

If you’re looking for a different outlet to traditional drawing, you might enjoy learning to Zentangle, a form of relaxing doodle, which creates a graphic-looking image using different patterns (like the one pictured left).

Please note that all images are Copyright Cathryn Cook.