At the end of my work trip to Afghanistan, my colleagues very kindly gave me a parting gift of several bags of different types of nuts. That included whole shelled walnuts…I didn’t know but Afghanistan is one of the worlds top producers of nuts – I was also given pistachio’s, cashew and almonds plus a little jar of precious saffron.
Mon-9-Dec-2024
This was inspired by a #DrawTipTuesday video of @koosjekoene – who suggested (if you can’t think of anything to sketch) dividing a page into panels and then filling in each with a little sketch depicting your day. When I decided to do this the first thing I saw was our cats having their morning snooze on our bed. Then I sketched a pan on the hob while I waited for my bread to toast at lunchtime. Later that day I went to the supermarket and sketched in the carpark for a brief moment. When I got back I snacked on some delicious “gaz” (Persian Nougat given by my colleagues in Afghanistan). Lastly at the end of the day I watched a bit of Star Trek” Voyager…not exactly a thrilling day!
Tue-22-Oct-2024
You can tell my stay in Afghanistan was very short, because here is another #AirportSketch! I learnt a lot from my visit and experienced a warm welcome and so much generosity from my Afghan colleagues. After sketching this I had a very interesting chat with a fellow passenger who works for UNODC (UN Office on Drugs and Crime) – particularly pertinent I thought. I sketched this against the light (again) so there was a lot of guesswork going on with the colours.
Tue-26-Nov-2024
I had the privilege and pleasure of travelling to Afghanistan for work a while back but didn’t have much time to sketch. The ordinary people of Afghanistan are struggling, even more so since the Taliban took over in 2021 – and especially women. I hope the work I did (and am still doing), helps. I stayed in the UN compound and found this blue helmet (and a flak jacket) in the wardrobe, which are intended for emergencies. There are a lot of white smears on this sketch because my posca pen exploded a little after being on the plane. This is the first sketch in a sketchbook made with Seawhite of Brighton paper – 250gsm ‘not’ finish. I am struggling with it so far!
Mon-25-Nov-2024