Summer Sketching: Part 2

The MOST relaxing drawing session EVER!

Towards the end of the Newbury Pushing your Sketching Boundaries retreat, we collectively took part in a Yoga drawing session. It was my favourite activity of the whole week because the combination of doing yoga and then drawing it culminated in two hours of complete and total bliss.

Our big class was split into two with the first group practising yoga under the guidance of our lovely teacher while the second group drew them for an hour at which point we swapped over… the Yogis became the drawers!

It was a totally unique and deeply sensory experience for me.

The gentle cadence of earthy folk music and delicate aromas of essential oils filled the spiritual space which was, in itself, a vaulted, visual delight of painted patterns and intricate designs.

All the tension I didn’t realise I had, melted away as the magically sedating tones of our teacher guided us through the poses.

I, being in the first yoga group, was in a nicely soporific state to begin drawing and, as the session began, it was easy to melt into what could have been a daunting drawing prospect but I felt so relaxed and allowed my little pencil to travel and find the lines and shapes of the Yogis in my sightline.

I drew bums first…then Frankensteined on other bits of anatomy if there was time during that particular posture. The poses were only held for seconds but were repeated, so I would go back to previous scribbles to add on a foot or arm.

Everyone had a different approach and it was fascinating to see all the work at the end. Here are a few examples by teachers Santi Salles, Inma Serrano and Swasky and my fellow students.

(Bottom, left is me drawn by Swasky!)

This experience was cleverly conceived by Isabel Carmona and I left the church wondering if I could organise a yoga drawing session in my local town and have contacted a few Yoga teachers to see if they would be interested in guiding the class. Maybe you could do the same?

Oh, and before I forget, I used one pencil which was perfect for fast drawing the original Koh-I-Noor Magic Pencil…lots of fun and good to have in your pencil case if your have difficulty choosing what tool to use!