Sketching via webcam

This morning I participated in the Facebook Event that the Mall Galleries organised to sketch the Trevi Fountain Online - via webcam - between 10am and 12 noon.

This was my effort sketching using a pen and ink (Pilot G-Tec-C4) and coloured pencils (various). I'm limited as to how much sketching I can do due to tenosynovitis in my right (sketching) hand - but this took about an hour.  You can see a bigger version on my Facebook Page when I post this blog post.

The Trevi Fountain via webcam
(pen and ink and coloured pencils in A4 Moleskine Sketchbook)

You can take a look at the webcam to see what I was sketching - but best start at 10am if you want to see what I saw! This is the Skyline webcam at the Trevi Fountain in Rome https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/lazio/roma/fontana-di-trevi.html

If you're stuck with social isolating inside (as I am) then webcams are a wonderful window on the world. People actually walk through the view and it's the nearest thing to sketching 'for real' outside that I know.

You can find more webcams on:

• Skyline - Live Cams in Italy
• These are their Top Live Cams
• Plus their Livecams 
• in the UK
• in the USA
• Earthcam webcams

Also great for all those who would like to sketch but might be

• not very confident about sketching outside - get used to the changing light and shadows before doing it for real
• a bit worried about people coming up to ask them questions. You only have to worry about significant others in isolation with you!

For more tips about sketching you can always read my book Sketching 365.  

The Facebook Page News Feed Fiasco - and what to do about it

Facebook has been messing around with the news feeds of Facebook Pages and totally disrupting workflow for those managing several Pages.

I can only assume that they don't realise that people actually "like" the Facebook Pages of others so they can read them.

What used to happen

• I used to log in to my Page from my account - and the profile pic would change from my account profile pic to the one for my Facebook Page. That way I'd know which bit of Facebook I was in!
• All notifications relevant to that page were in the Notifications feed - nothing related to the personal account or any other Facebook Pages
• I'd hit the "F" logo top left of my Facebook Page and it would take me to the news feed posts for Pages I liked using that Page (bearing in mind Facebook Pages cannot like Facebook Accounts). In other words they were all relevant. From there I could share them easily on my Page.
• Facebook Page News Feeds were highly differentiated - which made them a lot easier to read and act on.

Hence.......

• when in Making A Mark I'd see all the art galleries and museums and other compendium art news pages

Making A Mark on Facebook

• when in Botanical art and Artists I'd see all the botanical artists and art societies and botanical gardens I'd liked

Botanical Art and Artists on Facebook

• when in Katherine Tyrrell: 365 Tips for Drawing and Sketching I'd see all the drawing and sketching sites I'd liked

Katherine Tyrrell: 365 Tips for Drawing and Sketching

• when in Urban Sketchers UK I'd see all the urban sketching pages I'd liked (much less effective as most of the activity is now in groups which can't be accessed!)

Urban Sketchers UK - Events

How Facebook Pages changed #1

First it started pointing to an item in the side column - "View Pages Feed" - see news items from other Pages.

So I'd click it and I'd see a very filtered view of news items from other Pages I liked.

Not very happy with this I continued to hit the F logo at the top and look for a wider range in the normal way.

How Facebook Pages changed #2

Then the news feed I saw on every one of my Pages became swamped by whatever activity I'd been doing most recently. 

So if I'd been working on my Botanical Art page all I'd see in the news feed for Making A Mark was botanical artists. The whole purpose of creating a separate Page was so I could make the needs feeds much more distinctive and differentiated i.e. niche sites!

I must have sent about three or four feedback notes to Facebook saying that I want a highly differentiated feed - one which was particular to each page.

No response other than the usual "we are reading this and thank you for sending in your feedback"

How Facebook Pages changed #3

• You cannot log into and out of individual Facebook Pages
• You cannot access your feed by clicking the "F" logo - and what was always a very trimmed feed edited by Facebook now appears to me to be even more "edited"
• Separate and filtered news feeds have been moved to the button to press in the lefthand column 

There's no way that items from niche interest Pages are going to be able to compete with more popular news feed items - so we're going to be fed downsized pap!

I can only surmise that this is a cunning move on Facebook's part to get you to start using advertising so that your Facebook Page posts will be seen.

• Plus management of workflow has been decimated. The notifications feed for your Facebook Page has been TOTALLY ELIMINATED making the workflow for dealing with updates to one specific page at one specific time all but impossible
• Instead you get to see a total mishmash of items in one feed which is identical irrespective of whether you in your account or one or other of your Facebook Pages.
• It's a monumental mess for those of us with more than one Page.

The net overall result is a LOT of people are going to see traffic to their Pages taking a major dive - as illustrated by my latest stats.

For me this starts to make Facebook a lot less effective as a tool for communicating with people.

How to beat Facebook Page Changes

Below you can find my instructions for how to beat the Facebook changes to the Pages newsfeed. It's a bit more complicated to access the news feed but at least you get to read what you want to see.

RIP Polly 2000 - 2015

Time for a pause in blogging - for reflection on the life of Polly, my much loved Abyssinian cat.

"Pause"
Polly sunbathing in the doorway heard me behind her
and an ear twitched round - worked up from a 15 second sketch and my memory!
14" x 11" coloured pencil on black Stonehenge paper

She died this afternoon after becoming very sick with heart failure 10 days ago.

Losing Polly would be bad enough on its own but coming on top of the loss of Cosmo to cancer four months ago (see RIP Cosmo 2000 - 2015) - it's really knocked me for six.

Cosmo and Polly as kittens
Guess who was boss?

They came to me at three months old in 2000 and started out as cute and continued as cute!

Polly contributed cute kittens for drawing and took the matriarch role, while Cosmo did cuddles, played nursemaid to the kittens - and knew his place in the Polly pecking order.

Polly says "A girl can never have enough feeds"
Cosmo says "I want a feed too!"

Guess who's bottom looks big in this?

Polly in particular was a very pretty cat for fifteen years. Latterly people were amazed at how old she was. Here she is in 2013

Polly demonstrating the advantages of backlighting

She was however VERY difficult to draw - maybe because she was so petite, precise and neat! She was always much easier to do from behind than from head on!

Polly - Study#1
pen and sepia ink, 10" x 6.5"
Polly had a certain way of staring at you when she wanted her next meal

"Polly" in 2008
pen and ink and coloured pencils

I ended up drawing her kittens more than I drew her - until the last few days.

Meet the Kittens (her second litter)
This made it on to the front cover of the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Feline Artists
and into my book Sketching 365 (page 90)
Coloured Pencil on Paper, 11.5 x 7.5 ins 290 x 190 mm

Polly - true to form - looked cute and gorgeous right up to the end. This was her yesterday afternoon.

Polly on 6th October - she died 7th October 2015

Having sat with her and next to her for the last three days, watching over her as she went downhill very fast, I now need to take some time out. Blogging will be back next week.

RIP Cosmo 2000 - 2015

Cosmo's last catnap - back home 1.6.15

My much loved cat Cosmo died yesterday evening.

Many thanks to all the staff at my vets for their compassion and excellent support at the end.

He came home with me last night.  Last night and again this morning I drew him resting on a comfy cushion on the sofa - having his last catnap - before he went for his final trip to the vet prior to an individual cremation.  I've done this before and I highly recommend spending time with and drawing your pet after death - it really helps as part of the grieving process.

Cosmo was born in August 2000 and died just a few weeks short of his 15th birthday. He was an absolutely gorgeous big Somali boy cat with the oddly named 'usual' colour fur. He also has such a lovely nature that I wouldn't hesitate to have another Somali in future - although there could never be another Cosmo!

He's been a regular on this blog over the years. He featured in the fourth post on this blog Drawing and Flu and a series on catnapping starting in 2006.

Plus he was always up for a "filler image" for blog posts on more general themes (eg the sketch below which featured on Managing Business Risks as an Artist.)

The Catnapping Series: Sleeping on the job
pen and ink

and this post about How to make it easy for people to link to you - and how to sketch a cat!

30 second sketches of Cosmo in pencil

In 2008, I drew A Day in the Life of Cosmo. Looking back at it, his daily routine didn't change that much over the years - although there was a lot more "lolling" and "evening cuddles" and rather less athletic exercise, door climbing and "cowboys and indians". He's now on a permanent "big sleep".

A day in the life of Cosmo
12" x 16" pencil
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

He had a spell as a model for my drawings that were exhibited at the annual exhibitions of the Society of Feline Artists.

I spy a spider12" x 8", coloured pencils
exhibition in SOFA Annual Exhibition 2008 at the Llewellyn Alexander Galleries
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Latterly his claim to fame is he featured on a number of different pages in my book Sketching 365

A very quick pencil sketch of Cosmo (page 125)

plus sketching media became digital in addition to pencil and pen and ink.

Cosmo Catnapping #11 (on 11.01.11)
drawn using Sketchbook Pro and a mouse!

He's going to be much missed.

and finally......

I want to find him a really nice casket for his ashes.

I'd be really grateful to hear of any artist who works with wood or metal who I could commission to incorporate a line drawing into a suitable secure casket in wood or metal.

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. :)

Book signing: Books on Sketching at the Mall Galleries

Book signing

Tomorrow (Thursday 5th March) you can meet me, see some of my sketchbooks and get your copy of Sketching 365: Build your confidence and skills with a tip a day signed at a "Meet the Author/book-signing" event in the bookshop at the Mall Galleries between 3pm and 7pm.Sketching 365: Build your confidence and skills with a tip a day

I'll be joined by fellow urban sketcher James Hobbs who is author of best-selling Sketch Your World who will also be bringing his sketchbooks.

The Mall Galleries is going to do a discount deal for anybody attending the event between 3pm and 4pm - you'll be able to buy both books for £20.

Pastel Society Exhibition & Art Event Evening

My book contains a section on pastels and a number of wonderful images by Pastel Society member Felicity House.
If you come to the book signing you might like to stay on and

• see the Annual Exhibition of the Pastel Society
• see pastel artist Peter Vincent PS doing a demonstration in the gallery 
• attend the Pastel Society's Art Event Evening which starts at 6pm. This is a chance to work alongside members of the Pastel Society and possibly win a prize. Models and still life are available to draw. (This is ticketed event - click the link for details)

My book - what happened next

My book published at the beginning of this month. Below I highlight what has happened since publication and the many different countries where you can now find it!

My book - with 365 tips and techniques for drawing and sketching
with three different spines, titles and covers for the three different editions of my book
(top) UK (middle) USA (bottom) English edition for Asia
It's still the same book inside the covers!

So what's happened since publication?

A lot! I really very much appreciate:

• the kind people who have been sharing information about the book on their websites, blogs and Facebook before and after publication. Very many thanks to all those who have been doing this - Sally Strand, Coral Guest, Gayle Mason, Sarah Morrish, Shevaun Doherty, Ester Roi, Laura Frankstone, Loriann Signori, Paula Pertile, Melissa B. Tubbs, Alyson Champ and Lis Watkins.  (Please do let me know if I've missed anybody out)

• 

  Sketching 365 in Foyles
  - nearly next to Andrew Loomis!

  my book's new Facebook Followers - Lots of new people have signed up to follow my book's Facebook Page Katherine Tyrrell: 365 Tips for Drawing and Sketching - and are very welcome!
• even more thanks and appreciation to those people who bought the book and have been sharing reviews - Mary Kemp, Coral Guest, Laura Murphy Frankstone and last but not least Parkablogs (see his video at the bottom of the post)

It is packed choc a bloc with so much information, from how to draw to what to use, how to sharpen a pencil even, and drawings on every page. A feast of sketches you wish you'd done yourself, and not all by Katherine but loads of guest artists, different styles, different materials. I wish I'd had this book at the start of my arty journey. It would have saved a lot of time. Mary Kemp - Why I Love "Sketching 365" by Katherine Tyrrell

This is a specialised and practical anthology of drawing methods and techniques. Focusing on media of all kinds, from pen to pastel, and carbon to crayon, the possibilities are both lavish and simple, splendid and modest, and accompanied by carefully organised tips and guidelines that flow through the pages like a rainbow of ideas yet to be discovered. Coral Guest A New Book by Katherine Tyrrell

It’s a book about drawing, all sorts of drawing, and it will be helpful to anyone who draws, for whatever reason, or anyone who would like to. Organized into 365 points or tips, the book is both encyclopedic and accessible. Tyrrell’s writing style is clear and calm. The lucidity of her text is matched by the excellent design of the book’s interior, which is clean, crisp, and visually balanced. Laura Murphy (on Amazon)

• Reviews on Amazon.com have all been five stars which is AMAZING!  Only four so far but hopefully more to come as these do make a big difference - as you can see below. On Amazon.com Drawing 365 is currently

• #2 in the Hot New Releases list of books about Drawing
• #28 in the Hot New Releases list of books about Art & Photography!!!



Drawing 365 is #2 in the top new releases in books about drawing on Amazon.com

• For those living in the rest of the world - Sketching 365 is now also being listed on Amazon (as an English Language book) 
• in Europe - in France, Germany, Italy, Spain
• in Japan and China

I never thought I'd see my drawing on the book cover in Japan
(I think they probably ought to be listing the "English for Asia" edition!)

• Many thanks to those who have shared photos of the book in bookshops. I get a really big thrill about these - it's like sending your children out into the world and being surprised where they get to. That's very 'cheesy' I know but I'm not going to lie that's really what it feels like! I absolutely loved it when I got the very first one (in New York - below) from Bernadette Madden. I'm also posting these to Facebook - and now the bookshops are joining in as well! 

I cannot tell you how weird it feels to know that MY BOOK is in
Barnes and Noble bookshop at 54th and 3rd in New York City!!!
Very many thanks to Bernadette Madden for the photo

• plus, of course, the bookshops have been listing it. All those in the UK will know that getting listed by a chain like WH Smith is a very big deal!  I've even discovered online book sites in Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, India, USA and New Zealand which are listing it (even if it is not yet available to order at the latter - presumably they're waiting for stock)!
• and finally Drawing 365 has been listed on Goodreads

• 

  The article about my Book on Artists Network
  

  Drawing Basics: Learn 10 New Habits

  By: Cherie Haas, Online Editor | January 13, 2015

  In terms of Editorial: Last week, my new book - and the headlines of my first 10 tips - were highlightedin an article called Drawing Basics: Learn 10 New Habits by Cherie Haas on the Artists Network. "Drawing Basics" is the title of the first major chapter in my Book - and "Learn Ten New Habits" is the very first section in that chapter.  I decided to start the book by focusing on drawing in terms of behaviour rather than skills - because I really believe it's the habit of drawing and the habits you can develop associated with drawing which really help improve confidence and drawing ability.  However a few other tips can also help too... ;) PLUS There's an interview with me about My Favourite Things in the February edition of "Artists and Illustrators".

Note: My book is one book inside - but it has three different titles, covers and publishers. These are:

• "Drawing 365" - published on the 1st January in the USA  by North Light Books
• "Sketching 365" - published on the 8 January in the UK by Apple Press - this blog post provides the list of artists included in the book
• 365 Hints & Tips for Drawing & Sketching is the English Language version in Asia published by Page One Publishing.

My biggest thank you....

.... has to go to the artists who contributed images to the book. 

I've started sharing information about who these artists are - and their images - on the book's Facebook page and will be continuing to do for some time to come! Sharing images has been considerably helped by the latest "3 drawings a day for five days" challenge currently viral on Facebook. 

 What I'm very struck by is how different everybody's drawings are. That's very much what the book is about - helping people gain confidence and realise their potential to be their own inner artist - with their own very unique style!