Lockdown Sketches – Week Three

Welcome to week three of my new series of daily sketchbook drawings, started when the full lockdown in Greece began on 23rd March. As the days have gone on, I’ve gradually settled into doing these little drawings and am enjoying the challenge of choosing subject matter without going very far from home. This old house is in pretty bad shape these days and in need of much renovation. It’s empty most of the time and only sees occupants during the olive harvest season, when itinerant workers invariably stay there. Over the last thirteen years we have seen several families come and go there but all move on when they find somewhere better. It’s sad to watch the house gradually fall apart at the seams but that is the way of so many old properties in the villages.

Back to fig trees – this time a drawing capturing some teeny, weeny baby figs which have suddenly appeared along with the new leaves. Most of these sketches are done with waterproof pen and watercolour paint but the background in this figgy sketch was done with watercolour pencil to give a bit of movement.

I didn’t have to go very far to draw day seventeen’s sketch. It’s right outside our house, with my current pot collection, plus a seasonal wild lily in the corner, by the fence. In the distance is ‘the old potter’s house’. The ground in front of the house was planted up with tomatoes and pepper plants just after I finished the sketch. It now looks completely different as they have installed a black snakey watering system and a bamboo structure for the plants to grow up.

Day 18 is a similar view of the corner with the pots, from further down the street. Our house is on the right and the old art studio with walled garden are on the left.

This old door is actually in the building right next door to my new art studio in the centre of Harakopio. It’s a fabulous old building, which has been all locked up as long as I can remember. Ritsa in the corner shop, can remember when it used to be a shop… in fact most of the houses in the street were shops she says. I don’t know much more about the history of this splendid house yet but I will ask around and see what I can find out.

I wasn’t hugely happy with this roof detail sketch for day twenty… but hey, every one can’t be a winner! I was so attracted to the decorative details, I charged right in and forgot to measure by eye, so I couldn’t fit in everything I wanted. The joys of drawing with a waterproof pen… once a line is in place, that’s it… no erasing! Never mind, another day, another page.

Back to organic forms for the last sketch of this week on day twenty one. I pinched this twig off a small olive tree in our garden and quite enjoyed drawing it. The little tree was in a pot for years until it grew too big and had to be planted in the border of our small courtyard garden. It’s growing pretty big now and really we should say goodbye to it but I love having those silvery-grey leaves in the garden…