Upside down

At tonight’s drawing class we had to find a painting by an Old Master (hello, Mr Rembrandt) and copy it, but working with the painting upside down. The idea is that your mind would be looking at shapes and shading etc, rather than getting caught up with what you think a head or an eye “should” look like. It was mighty difficult, not just because there was a lot of dark forms in this painting but also because I’m no Rembrandt and I could not seem to get his features to look old, never mind get them in the right place! (See, it’s very hard not to think about the fact it’s a face you’re drawing!) Anyway, it was a couple of hours of being totally absorbed in something so that has its own benefits.

I had the morning off as Paul wanted to go to IKEA to get a new office chair and he wanted some company. It was also a good opportunity for me to put myself in slightly uncomfortable situations - at some point I’ve got to get used to being out and about again. It was busier than I expected (thank goodness was we didn’t go at a weekend) but it was fine, and Paul managed to find a chair that was in stock so it was a successful visit.

We popped into a new garden centre in the way home for a coffee. What a delightful cafe garden they had too - outdoors with lots of grass, trees, and plenty of space. We shall definitely go back there - their selection of plants looked pretty good too!

Work in the afternoon - what a shame to miss the rest of the lovely weather today but hopefully it’s set to last for a while.