Welcome
Another week and we are now in July, my birth month and happy 4th July to all US readers. Interestingly the National Geographic hold July 2nd as quite important too. Either way have a great day, week and month👍
There are clear answers to last week's polls; you have a mild addiction for art materials and you like having prompts! Thank you for clicking on the polls they are only a bit of fun!
There are prompts on my free subscriber chat and I will continue with these. We have 3 ‘on the go’ at the moment #1logs, #2artichokes, #3sadtractor.
Feel free to join in if you like sketching, urban or rural, or just interested in having a go. It is a safe environment to ask and discuss what we all love to do. You can show us what you're up to.
This little guy was from the most recent prompt, we came across him while on a walk to Mousehole from Newlyn. #3sadtractor
Yes it looks like ‘Mouse•hole’ but the Cornish pronounce it: ‘mowze•ul’: mowzul. There are no mice by the way just a very picturesque quaint harbour village like so many in Cornwall that dates back to the 13th century. The locals get very upset if you pronounce it wrong! I would always recommend it just to see the reaction and how they go about correcting you, but that’s just me being me!
I'm very pleased to hit the 40 subscriber mark and welcome to all of you for clicking that button, please say hello 👋 I just wish my upcoming birthday was around that number again.
This week has been a little quieter but I managed to snatch an hour out in the sun with my sketchbook in Bodmin, another step closer to the end of this sketchbook.
This was straight in with the UniPin Fineliner and W&N travel set (more on them here) - no pencil as I was feeling brave! This is Bodmin Shire Hall1 and I was waiting for my wife after dropping her at work for a training session, worthwhile time spent taking in the scenery while she was looking at waste facilities!!
Health
Just a little on the exercise front, seeing as I’ve been off colour for a week or so. There is a fantastic free cycling app in town to compete with Zwift, TrainerRoad or Rouvy or multiple others I have used over the years. It is called MyWhoosh and they’ve just updated it to be even more brilliant and free, did I mention that already!
You might say sketching and creativity is good for your mental wellbeing and MyWhoosh is good for your physical health!
As I took up more serious cycling quite late (aged 49) I have been interested in virtual indoor cycling and have embraced the virtual world having got myself a smart trainer many years ago. With my heart surgery last year I found it was a fantastic way to get back into the exercise routine (along with walking). I’ve always been a bit of a demon for data and analytics so my recovery was fairly satisfying in that department and still is. I thought I was quite healthy until a heart attack told me otherwise with Coronary Heart Disease literally sneaking up on me and blocking my Right Coronary Artery (atherosclerosis) with no warning signs. My risk factors were low (Non smoker, not overweight, physically active, non diabetic) I had a slight increase in my cholesterol above the upper range but with no other risks we sort of dismissed it 7 years ago! Oh dear what a mistake that was!
Definitely don’t put off looking after your health and just make a decision to start today would be my advice. If you like exercise and virtual cycling in particular (there’s no traffic either) I would definitely check out MyWhoosh2 and I may see you on Strava3 where you can find me by searching my name, happy to see you over there.
If you don’t like cycling that much perhaps just take a pen and try the next thing below.
Other exercises
I came across this little warm up exercise and is a good way to get loose on the page. This was my attempt at blind contour drawing as recommended by Sketchy Traveler to warm up and get some hand eye coordination going. I have to confess it was partially blind as I did look down once or twice to get reference points. You might be surprised at what you create!
As always you’ll find plenty of Notes from me and don’t forget to say hello in the chat.
Finally
Thank you for reading, I’m always happy to hear from fellow enthusiasts in the comments👇
Anyway ‘till next time, happy sketching.
Capture your World in a Sketchbook is a free newsletter. I have no problem telling you your Coffee donations are not only greatly appreciated, they motivate me to carry on writing and sharing.
(Sometimes, I may not be able to trace you back to your Substack name from Kofi)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7Yw4nLcAZU3vmKB97
https://www.mywhoosh.com/
https://www.strava.com/login
Thankyou Cheryl, the good news is I still am. Regularly cycling, walking and now back to jogging . 🙂
It sounds like you were on a great track for keeping a fitness schedule.