Still Life - Sept 24, 2026

On Thursday Eileen and I went to sketch at the Davenport Historical Society. The group meets there every Thursday between 12 and 2 pm and there's a group of people, mostly senior citizens, who do still life. The event is free.

There were four different scenes set up where we could sketch.

I chose to sketch the scene of a pot of flowers with a gourd. I started by drawing the outline in pencil and then inking it and then finally adding in some colors. I was done in maybe 45 minutes.

and of course since the gourd looked a little bit like a trunk, I had to do this 😉

Eileen chose a different scene on the back side of the board where I was seated.

And she only chose to sketch it on paper, not do a colored drawing.

Though she says she has lost a lot of her drawing skills due to her stroke, I personally think her sketch turned out beautifully.

What do you think?

I am finding watercolor quite challenging, and something I look forward to keeping on practicing and improving.

In the midst of AI slop and how easy AI makes it to basically copy other people's work with low effort, hand sketching and watercolor is definitely more satisfying.