"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties."

Day 99:

The plan for today was to go for good stomp around snail beach, we made pizza and wrapped it up for lunch but when we arrived the weather just didn't want to play ball so we drove a little further up to Stiperstones and dropped the backseats so that we could sit in the back of the car and paint. Before we could start painting though Opeie asked whether we could do a drawing activity he had created where we design products for a supermarket based around themes. I love things like this as you end up drawing things that you would never usually think of drawing. 

"To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it."

Day 83:

I don't know what we'd do if it wasn't for all the creativity in the house, it seems like we are always drawing and painting these days. Since becoming a single dad the evenings have always been the hardest for me and this whole lockdown thing has just magnified that. That feeling of being alone and disconnected is horrible. sketching has been a huge way of taking my attention off of that and has helped to keep me in a much more positive headspace. It's been great to look back on all the things we have created and I look forward to putting it all into a fun photo diary for Opeie to look back on. 

"The creative adult is the child who survived."

Day 68:

One thing that I have loved about this lockdown period is the projects, tackling those little jobs that I'd either been putting off or just didn't seem to be able to make time for. Last year when Opeie was deep into his beetle project I decided to up-cycle a bureau for him, beetle style. A place for a Coleoptera enthusiast to keep his entomology books, research material and beetle hunting items. Typical individual homeschool kid never used it and kept all his bits in various sections of the house, so today I thought I'd reclaim it for myself and use it for all my painting and sketching things. Opeie helped me repaint it, the feet had been waiting to be done since I painted it and we found all the creative bits we needed to really make a fun space for me to create. It was the perfect little project to start pulling me out of my funk and it was great getting my sidekick helping too.

"A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind."

I can't believe it's taken me this long to get round to writing about the second day of our London trip two weeks ago. Our visit to the Roald Dahl museum mixed with the long drive and followed by a late night had a huge effect on the following day we had planned scooting around London. It didn't however, stop us from getting the Micro Scooters out and heading out to try and make the most of the day we had there. It took a tired Opeie a little longer to fully kick into gear but by the time we had reached the train station to head to our first destination he was back on scooting form.

A friend of ours who we stay with when visiting London works at the Tate and on the evening we arrived she was telling us all about The Tanks, the latest addition to the Tate Modern. I love taking Opeie to art galleries as I find it really interesting to hear what he sees in what he is looking at. Because of its size, The Tate Modern has always been one of our favourite galleries to visit so because our train stopped at Blackfriars we made it our first stop.

The thing that had really stuck out for me when our friend was telling us about the gallery was the viewing level. 10 floors up and with a beautiful view over London, it was the perfect spot for Opeie to sit down and sketch the London Skyline high above the Thames. At first, he was adamant that 'I can't draw that' but as we broke what we could see down into various shapes and concentrated on that, his drawing soon started to come together and he really got into the activity.

Inside the gallery was all kinds of weird and wonderful things which really got Opeie thinking and us both talking about what we could see. I love how a child's mind works, In one piece he spotted what he thought was a potato which then had him seeing all sorts of food in each piece that we saw.

This side of the gallery is definitely more interactive than the original part of the Tate and although Opeie loves that one there was more here for Opeie and he clearly felt a lot more connected to what he was seeing when he was able to walk through and over some of the pieces and even lie down inside one of them too. With homeschooling (especially at this age) anything that gets you thinking, starts conversation and encourages questions is doing your job for you. We chatted the whole way round and it was lovely to hear his excited little voice explaining what was going on around him.

We were walking around for 2 1/2 hours before the inevitable 'Dad I'm hungry'. Opeie knew exactly where he wanted to eat his lunch so we jumped back on the scooters and headed over to the south bank as he wanted to watch the skateboarders. It's handy to know that if you are Scooting around London and are planning on visiting the Tate, they have a free cloakroom where you can leave your scooters while you take in the art.

Sadly that previous late night and long journey had finally caught up with Opeie and that was it for our scooting around London (until next time). We spent the rest of the afternoon reading and playing before heading home to our own beds. I do love visiting London but as Opeie always says "I love going home more".

"I do not paint a portrait to look like the subject, rather does the person grow to look like his portrait."

There is something so heart warming about the first time your child brings you a picture that they have drawn of you, and today was that day. Usually when Opeie draws its The Cat in the hat, the Lorax, Spider-man or maybe one of the Wonder pets but today Opeie's little face was very excited and he looked very proud handing me a picture he had drawn of his ever doting Daddy.
 

Ive seen many a squiggle on a piece of paper that is his interpretation of his favourite book or movie characters, but today Opeie's drawing actually had human characteristics, i was really impressed at the detail, you may not see it but Opeie informed me that the darker squiggle at the bottom was actually my beard, Genius. It's only a small drawing and i really don't want to lose it so I'm going to cut it out and stick it in my sketchbook i have started of Opeie pictures. Today marks a big step in the creative side of Opeie's development, I'm so proud of the way he is turning out and for 2 years old i think his artistic expression and creative thinking is truly outstanding.

sketchbook memories #3 - Opeie in the bath wearing daddy's fashion disaster glasses

After getting home a bit later than we expected too last night neither me and Mrs M were in the mood for a big tea so we had a snack. No tea meant no washing up which freed up the remainder of my evening nicely for a spot of drawing. Sketch number three is a picture I took of Opeie in the bath wearing my old glasses.

A few years back I had kind of a Timmy Mallet thing going on with a selection of oversized and colourful specs. Looking back now I don't know what I was thinking and from the picture I took its clear that they were a lot cuter on mini me.

Previous Sketchbook Memories:

• Sketchbook memories #1 - Daddy and Opeie at 6 weeks old

• Sketchbook memories #2 - Opeie at 9 months sitting on Eames chair with Fisher Price ball

Sketchbook memories #2 - Opeie at 9 months sitting on Eames chair with Fisher Price ball

I found myself with half an hour to kill last night, Mrs M was in the kitchen making chocolate, the house was tidy and Opeie was fast asleep so i quickly grabbed my sketch book and pencils. Since stating my doodling again I'm taking every spare minute i can to do a quick sketch. Most of my favourite photo's are on the iPad, i have them on there because i like to have Opeie's early pictures easy to access, us parents always have nostalgic moments and sometimes i just need to see his little face as a baby. 

Today's sketch was from when he was around 9 months old, I had brought Mrs M an Eames chair for Christmas and we had placed him on there with various toys for pictures. There was a lovely one of him with Spider-man but the shot with the vintage Fisher Price musical ball seemed to have more character.

It's been a while since sketching faces and i really need some practice so hopefully they will get better with time. When Opeie saw the picture he said 'Baby Opeie'  so it cant be all that bad.

Previous Sketchbook memories posts...

• Sketchbook memories #1 - Daddy and Opeie at 6 weeks old

Sketchbook memories #1 - Daddy and Opeie at 6 weeks old

Just over a week ago i wrote a post about finding an old sketch book and how i used to doodle pictures relevant to the start of mine and Mrs M's relationship (click here to read the post), it was my way of dealing with the time we had to spend apart because of our living situations and being in different counties. I hadn't drawn in there or at all for quite some time but really wanted to get back in to my sketching. For my birthday last week Mrs M brought me a new sketch book, i thought it would be nice to sketch for Opeie, photos of him that i love and funny things that happen on this journey of being a dad.

It already seems that finding time to do this is not going to be easy as i always seem to have so much other stuff i need to be getting on with. Being a stay at home dad is a full time job after all. Last night though while Mrs M was busy in the kitchen baking cookies and the boys were in bed i found myself with a little time for a quick sketch. I'm thinking of making this a permanent fixture on the blog, hopefully meaning ill motivate myself to find time to draw and squeeze the quick doodles in where i can. My first sketch is from a photo of me and Opeie that was taken when he was around six weeks old, I thought it was fitting to start the sketch book where in many ways i feel like my life really began.

"For me, drawing generates thinking and vice versa."

Opeie has really started getting into his drawings recently. If he see's a pen lying around then the lid comes straight off and the adventure begins for the search for some paper. I love watching him get carried away in his own little world of squiggles and doodles. I used to draw a lot when i was little although i don't remember anything from around Opeie's age so I'm not sure if i enjoyed it then. If not then i definitely made up for it when i was at school and onwards.

My dad really encouraged my drawing and i remember sitting with him on many occasions just sketching things that i loved, i remember being especially proud of a drawing of roger and Jessica rabbit, which i really wish i still had. For that reason i will always keep the boys drawings somewhere safe. I recently helped my dad move house and he had found a box of cards and drawings from when i was younger which was really nice to look through. I will write a post about it soon. Both myself and Mrs M are very arty so we will always motivate the boys to draw, its a great way to express yourself and as i have said many times before their drawings are always great for birthday and Christmas cards.

I love how Opeie wants to use every single colour when he is creating his masterpiece but my favourite thing about his artistic ways on this occasion is that he saw my hand as an extension of his work. I spent much of the afternoon trying to convince myself that it was a great idea for a tattoo but sadly after doing the washing up that night it all just merged into one big mess.

Thankfully Opeie isn't one of those children that thinks it is Ok to draw on the walls but that might be due to the fact that there is actually some walls in the house that he is allowed  to draw on. Thanks to a set of tile crayons that Mrs M brought, Opeie can now express himself in an artistic manner in the bath too.

No piece of paper in the house is safe so we have to be careful there are no important documents in his reach. I was writing a shopping list earlier and he cuddled up next to me clutching a felt tip pen and began to add his own thoughts to the paper. I think its great though and i really hope that he is always like this. With me and Mrs M as his parents then I'm sure he will be, plus Seth loves drawing to. and Opeie loves getting involved in whatever Seth is doing.