Drawing and Sketching - Every Day in May

One of the things which my new book Sketching 365 advocates is regular sketching.

Which makes today - 1st May - a great day to announce an annual drawing and sketching exercise which very many people around the world join in every May.

The Group Pool page for "Every Day in May" on Flickr
As you can see it's already started #1 Draw a favourite food
....and some people create a folder for all their drawings not in a sketchbook - as a record.

Every Day in May involves drawing one item - based on a predefined list - theoretically on every day in May. Simple!

As the instructions below indicate you don't need to stress out if you miss odd days and need to catch up.

Join us in drawing everyday in May.

Start on May 1st and draw one item on the list every day in May until you finish on May 31st with number 31.  Don’t stress if you miss a day - just go on to the next one and catch up if you can. It is OK to combine a few, or to jump around if it suits...but the ideal is to do the right one on the day like everyone else... and most importantly to have fun!! And any medium is fine!

To join the online Flickr group, upload your sketches, and see everyone else’s sketches, go to this address on flickr.com https://www.flickr.com/groups/edmeverydayinmay2011/ and Join This Group. Yes, the URL still says 2011, but the group name has changed to encompass 2015 and future years.

You can also find the list in the Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/edmeverydayinmay/

....and it's reproduced below. I love seeing the weird and wonderful things people come up with to comply with the brief!

1. A favorite food
2. A nearby tree
3. Curtains
4. Bottle(s) of herbs or spices
5. Something hot
6. Something with bristles
7. An envelope(s)
8. Something with a handle
9. Something with an interesting label
10. Something you can turn on/off
11. A hat, cap, or other headgear
12. Some stairs or steps
13. The last thing you bought
14. Something you use everyday
15. Something you could throw/give away
16. Ingredients for a favorite recipe
17. Something used for measuring
18. Lipstick/lip gloss
19. A cupcake
20. Your wallet/billfold
21. The spot you regularly sit to read
22. Something that hangs from or is attached to a wall in your home 23. A interesting detail of a building
24. Some keys
25. An apron, or something you wear as cover during messy activities 26. A sign
27. Something furry or fuzzy
28. A yard ornament or statuary
29. A faucet
30. A bird feeder or birdhouse
31. Eggs

If you want to see what people have already been posting I suggest that you take a look at the Group Pool on Flickr where you can see all the postings.  I have joined the group!

Liz Steel, well known sketcher and one of the Administrative people for the Flickr Group, has done a couple of blog posts:

• Every Day In May - based on her past experience of previous Every Day in May exercises. It explains the history behind it.
• EDinMay 01: Favourite Food - plus some thoughts about daily challenges - this is is a good read and recommended.

I'm going to try and do my sketches using watercolour - which will be novel for me - but the lovely people at Cass Art sent me some materials to try a Watercolour Challenge which they're promoting. I've got an open brief so I thought I might give watercolours a bit of a whirl during May!

Don't they look nice?
I had to take a photo before I ripped off all the packaging!
Now all I need to decide is if I need some more colours......

Will you you be joining in with Every Day in May?

NOTE: "Sketching 365"

My book Sketching 365 (published 8th January 2015) sold out in two months in the UK. However the second print has arrived and it's now back in the shops. I was signing copies at the Mall Galleries earlier this week. (The book has different names - in the USA it's Drawing 365 and in Asia it's 365 Hints & Tips for Drawing & Sketching)

I'd like to thank the very many people who have told me how useful they find it and how much they like it. :)