Kids for Kids Charity Day with Artist Karen Pearson

Karen Pearson, an artist/teacher, was supporting a Kids for Kids charity by having a painting and sketching event. The day was held in Dorking and hosted by Juliet and Mark; their garden was open to artists of all abilities using any paint medium. The cost of the day was £15; a sum that would buy 3 hens and a rooster or a mosquito net to protect children from malaria. The charity founded by Patricia Parker MBE had a goal for the day to raise enough money to also buy goats which could be bred to provide milk and meat for hungry families.

The event was fantastic; you can tell a lot of preparation went into planning it and the weather was beautiful. Karen gave a short tutorial on drawing and painting en plein air; she also gave everyone a list of ideas with compositions organized throughout the garden.

The dog in the picture was not part of the arrangement but I couldn’t resist. Maybe I'll paint her in a '3xWeekly' pet portrait.

The composition I chose to draw was popular, so I also decided to draw an artist while she was drawing the shed. Karen and another artist, whose name I don’t remember…sorry, came around to help with any questions or in my case some drawing advice.  Later, I drew another setting, an apple tree with a wheel barrel; didn't like it but then proceeded to draw the person drawing the apple tree.  These drawings weren't very good and I'm not going to show them. The gardens were so beautiful I spent a lot of time walking around, taking in the scenery and talking with other artists.  It was a gorgeous day and if there is ever another opportunity to do this... I will in a heartbeat.

At home, I decided to tackle a drawing with watercolour pencils from a picture I took on the day. I really like pencils, you have so much more control than with a paint brush.