The sketches

A quiet day today revisiting the workshop sketches.  I really loved the process of filling a sketchbook with quick sketches made by being sensitive to the surroundings... noises, smells, textures, and on this occasion the spiritual feel that comes from this stone circle.  It was a lovely sunny day on Sunday and a lot of people, dogs and chattering children were all out for a walk and enjoying the area.  One lady came into the circle and started moving in a strange way... apparently pulling (invisible) things up from the ground and pushing things away in equal measure... she appeared to be being directed to different areas of the circle where different movements had to be made... sometimes stationary and upright and sometimes down low (scrabbling) in the grass.  I decided to try and draw her movements in to one of my sketches but had left it too late and the bottom right picture is what resulted.... l was aware at the time of a great silence which l indicated by laying my pastel on its side and slowly moving it around the top right hand corner of the page... (the vertical, light line being the person l had been watching)  I didn't really look at this sketch again yesterday so l only saw it properly today... weirdly, there appears to be a large open mouthed face in the top right and the person perhaps could look like a monk in a long cape with a hood moving off to the left.. all very mysterious!!  the other three sketches were the ones l drew my inspirations from when it came to paint later and may well be the ones l go back to time after time to produce more pictures from..  Each of these were done in about 5 minutes..quite a lot of the marks made when my eyes were closed or whilst only looking at the subject and not at the paper.  Wonderful ways to free up the critical side of the brain... l love mark making