I am in no mood for drawing or painting….can’t find any inspiration! My pencil goes its own way, the brush refuses to cooperate, the ink won’t flow from the pen and no subject steps forward with enthusiasm. How did I arrive here? No idea. But I believe I’m not alone in experiencing these dry spells and from past experience, I’ve learnt not to push it(not TOO hard, that is), not too stress(well, THAT is so easy!) not to give up(will NEVER do that?) and not to feel inadequate(complete silence..).
Since I couldn’t produce anything for the last few days, I went back to some previous sketches and chose to post these, just for the sake of making myself feel a bit better.
When we were in SA on holiday, we visited my husband’s brother, who just bought a huge property out in the country, beautiful, but with lots of work to restore it to its former beauty. There is an old tennis court, overrun by weeds and what not.
We are a family of tennis players and to see a tennis court, however overgrown by forestry, is to tease a lion with a lamb. My husband grabbed a shovel and started clearing the court for some great tennis! I grabbed my paper and pen to help. Soon, Dora and Solly, who are in charge of all the work in and around the house, closed in, each grabbing a tool and long before sundown, the first ball was hit…I won the point(hie hie..) barefoot no less, since I had only sandals for my sunny holiday in SA! We played tennis non-stop, for the next three days, barefoot, like when we were kids, except our feet weren’t those of kids anymore…
Please be forgiving when you look at these sketches – I was sitting in direct sun with a 40 degrees C heat coming down on my head and they were moving with the speed of lightning; my husband in eagerness to hit that first ball and Dora and Solomon anxious to get out of the heat, and lastly I am not that apt at sketching people.
Pen, watercolor and moleskine.
- SCquiltaddict said…
- Great energy in these….love them …maybe you should just draw something anything??? and that will get the ball rolling…
- Lin said…
- these are FABULOUS! I hate when I’m uninspired — but truly, Ronell, these looks INCREDIBLY INSPIRED! Hope this mood breaks quickly for you … and keep up this wonderful work!
- Carole said…
- How on earth do you sketch people when they are moving? I think these are amazing! I love the colours on those watercolour washes – it really creates an impression of that heat.Here’s a drawing challenge for you to get going – 5 items from your bathroom. Go on – just do it!
- mARTa said…
- actually it’s fun to see “old” work too. I’m sure you will be out of your rut soon and find yourself inspired once again. I love the ‘ugly’ sketches!!!! marta
- Emma Pod said…
- It sounds like you all had a great time getting the tennis court ready and then playing barefoot! Thanks for sharing these sketches. The colors are very nice and I think you did a great job of capturing the movement and action. Good luck with your funk…I get those too every once in awhile. Like your garbage cans, it’s just part of being a human being on this planet.
- phthaloblu said…
- I think these are wonderful. You caught the energy of the movements and the washes are bonus. Great work! Don’t fret about inspiration, it will come. I’m one to talk! But, I’m trying to be very optimistic today so, chin up! Be patient with yourself and great things will happen.
- Christeen said…
- Ronell, your art is always great. If nothing inspires you, I humbly propose that you do an ink and watercolor doodle of me eating a huge piece of chocolate. Maybe with a poolboy fanning me with a palm leaf. *grins*Hang in there! I always look forward to seeing your work! This time will pass, wait and see.
- caseytoussaint said…
- These are wonderful Ronell you can really feel the energy they’re putting into what they’re doing. No wonder you won the tennis game if you were drawing while they were working so hard! Your work is always so good – much better than you give yourself credit for. See you tomorrow – we’ll break this dry spell.
- aPugsLife-laserone said…
- Hi there! Good luck getting over your dry spell. Your creativity will come back. 🙂
- MrsSnowy said…
- They’ve got rhythm, these tennis players. It’s a great series of sketches, Ronell. I’m sure by tomorrow the ink will be flowing again – if it isn’t already.
- Africantapestry said…
- thank you for your encouragement…I hope it is a question of…before somethinggets better, it has to get worse…or something like that?
Africantapestry 
