{"product_id":"the-joy-of-sketching-vic-bearcroft-9780956808035","title":"The Joy Of Sketching","description":"\u003cp\u003eI am an artist by profession, which means that I get to spend my time drawing and painting for exhibitions, writing articles for magazines, creating tutorial books and DVDs, and travelling around the country teaching at workshops and demonstrations.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy job is, without question, a full-time commitment, so when I get time, I like to relax. By far my favourite way of relaxing is on the sofa of an evening, with a sketchbook and pencil, doodling or sketching. Most of the time this takes the form of visualising ideas that find their way into my head from various sources.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUndoubtedly, my main source of inspiration is a small lake and wooded area close to my home, which I call Bunny Wood. This is where I regularly walk my dogs. Despite being a relatively small area, there are so many things to see. Here I can observe the continually changing face of nature throughout the year; wildflowers come and go, along with mushrooms and toadstools of all varieties. There is wildlife in abundance: rabbits, squirrels, birds, waterfowl, frogs, toads, butterflies and moths. All manner of creatures make themselves known when you take the time to look.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf I see an interesting tree stump, roots or bark texture, perhaps a cluster of fungi, I begin to imagine what other unseen woodland creatures might there be, hiding away from prying human eyes. In my mind I have visions of fairies, trolls and trees with faces, all of which begin to tell me their stories.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese 'stories' are temporarily put aside while I get on with my usual work and then resurface in the evening as I relax on the sofa with my sketchbook.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of my other forms of relaxation is reading. I have a particular fondness for supernatural and fairy stories. I love to rescue old classic children's books from charity shops and often\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ere-read the stories I loved as a child, visualising the characters and, of course, re-imagining these characters in my sketchbooks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSometimes the inspiration for my 'sofa sketches' comes from listening to music, as certain melodies and some song lyrics can also suggest images for sketching.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinally, I must acknowledge the influence that our own animals; dogs, cats and wild rescues have on my sketches, their individual personalities and actions are a great source of inspiration for me, and occasionally they have been known to star in their own versions of my favourite movies \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSome of my 'sofa sketches' may find their way to becoming more complete illustrations, perhaps in ink and colour, but mostly I like to keep them as they are, fresh, relatively quick artworks in their own right; something to look back on as a memory of a certain time and place.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow I'm sharing these memories and inspirations with you, and hopefully they will inspire\u003cbr\u003e you to take up 'sofa sketching' yourself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Vic Bearcroft\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0956808034\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780956808035\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Little Acorns Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/22\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 90\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.69lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 11.69h x 8.27w x 0.24d","brand":"Vic Bearcroft","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44063511806207,"sku":"9780956808035","price":20.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_12d14229-a667-4db8-b71f-34ca4c7c522e.jpg?v=1685389993","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-joy-of-sketching-vic-bearcroft-9780956808035","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}