• snake-smallI’m still trying to empty my Bic Biro because I want to use an empty biro in another video. You Might want to get on with using up a whole biro so you can join me later!

    2013 is the Chinese Year of the snake so what better subject to draw. I looked at a few photos of snakes before I sketched out a plan but the finished drawing is all out of my head.

    Biro is a tricky medium. The ink is quite sticky, so I can’t pencil in a plan and erase it after as the ink will smudge terribly. So I have to be brave and just go for it. This took about 3 1/2 hours to complete.

    Working in this style, you have to believe that it will all come together at the end and somehow, when I start the serious overall shading, it does – hope you like it. What should I draw in Biro next?



  • An email, from Devina in Indonesia, has got me thinking about drawing this week. Devina has just realised that drawings don’t have to look realistic. It’s a a mind-set that is hard to break out of and is the reason most people give up drawing. They think drawings have to look “proper”, preferably like a photograph. We have cameras that make “proper” images these days.

    The joy of drawing is that you can draw in any way you like and put your own personality into the drawing. Drawing is about understanding the physical world around us. We are bombarded by other people’s images of the world all day. Drawing allows you the time to see, look and understand in your own way and express your personal view.

    Drawing is how we learn and understand. Drawing is not Art – with a capital “A”.

    It can become Art when you decide to make a piece of art, or it may become Art when others decide that’s what you’ve done.

    Mostly, Drawing is the planning and learning stage. Not just of Art but of Fashion, Design, Production, Science, Technology, Moon Missions, Battle Manoeuvres – almost any physical undertaking.

    Drawing should is like writing, because writing is just a formalised method of drawing. If we put the same amount of effort into drawing as we do writing, there would be much more interesting communication in the world – and much better writing.

    On the Show we also have the Rhino Drawings you uploaded to the http://thewednesdaydrawingshow.com/youruploads from last week’s task, and if you wait to the end, you can see all the other drawings that were posted too.

    Also a bit of advice about sketchbooks. Don’t rip out the bad work and don’t feel it’s a waste of paper. If you are worried about the cost, get a cheaper sketchbook or use the backs of envelopes. But keep all the sketches bound together so you can see your progress – also so that you can return to previous ideas when you are ready to build on them and create something new.


  • I’ve seen other people do amazing things with a biro and thought I’d have a go myself as there’s nothing quite like trying something new.

    I’m drawing this Rhino from memory. It’s meant to be Albrecht Durer’s famous Rhinoceros print, which I chose to demonstrate something in the Wednesday Drawing Show a couple of weeks ago.

    I came across the work of Pittsburgh artist Don Moyer. He had traced the Durer image onto a Trade Show Booth more than forty years before, but the image was left ingrained in his memory. He done quite a few versions of the Rhinoceros from memory that quite captivated me. and inspired me to have a go at drawing it from memory too.

    Don’s amazing sketchbook Blog is at this link http://moyersketchbook.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_01_archive.html

    This is a larger drawing than I’d normally do – it’s A3 and took me about three and a half hours to complete but I think it’s worth upping the scale to benefit from the texture of the ink.

    I’m also doing a patterned version on the http://www.youtube.com/shoobeedoodling channel