The Society of Authors offered me two events last week. The second of which involved getting paper and pens and colouring implements together to make art with Sarah McIntyre. We were not children. I’d say the audience was adults only, but all dutifully sitting there with their art materials. Well, not me, of course. I’d not given it a thought.
But I do feel my notepad sketch of Pedro the mouse is all right. Somehow one gets more talented for drawing in the company of great drawers.
Sarah is the kind of woman who has a hairdryer on her desk. Obviously. It’s to remove any unwanted moisture from your art paper. Amazing how hair products are useful for arty stuff [says the child of someone who kept hairspray on her art trolley].
For this event Sarah was trying out some brand new pastels, which she normally doesn’t use. But water colours run off a flip chart, so… (I have a secret fondness for brand new pastels.)
She talked about her books with Philip Reeve, and showed us some of the most recent ones. There were a lot of boats. And the others also drew a mermouse. (I’d recently had a visiting mouse near my desk, so felt I wanted to keep my mice numbers down.)
I think I knew about the difference between tone and colour, but it’s an interesting question nevertheless. And thick paper is the way to go for better art. Sarah prefers illustrating to writing, but does like both. She got started when she was trying to escape from having to make art with planks of wood, which makes a lot of sense. Asked about her favourite illustrators Sarah listed a number I’d not really heard of; mostly people she’s worked with.
The coffee cooled while we were all drawing our Pedros, but then this wasn’t sold as an elevenses kind of event. It was hands-on art.
(And I’ll bet I’m the only one whose portrait Sarah has done!)
If you’re worried you missed the first event last week, don’t be. It’s still to come.
The Occasional Bookwitch 