With Galentine’s Day just around the corner, you might be looking for the perfect mate date; how about a drawing day? It’s a wonderful excuse to spend some quality time with your bestie and you can do it for free!
When I was noting down ideas for activities Wee Dundee last month, I spotted an Instagram post by local illustrator, Cara Rooney featuring a drawing day adventure. It looked like such a lovely thing to do so I reached out to see if Cara would have me along on one so I could blog about it and luckily for me, she said yes!
You may be wondering what a drawing day is, and I’m sure there could be lots of variations. For us it was a mix of walking, exploring, drawing, coffee, and lots of good chats. You don’t have to be amazing at drawing to enjoy yourself - there’s plenty of joy in slowing down and noticing things around you that you wouldn’t usually.
If you’re thinking of arranging your own drawing day date you will need:
- A willing friend
- A sketchbook or other type of notebook
- Some drawing materials (you don’t need much - limited colour palettes are fun!)
- An idea of a route or at least a starting point
- Warm clothes if you’re going to draw outside like we did (fingerless gloves would have been handy)
- If you’re on a budget, pack a thermos and some snacks, or even a full picnic
- A plan B if you’re relying on good weather
We arranged to meet for lunch at Pacamara as a starting point and hoped the weather would be on our side afterwards. Cara told me she likes to divide up her Moleskine page into little boxes, which makes it into more of a storyboard - I love the end result with her playful style. I was feeling very out of practice and had a scarily blank sketchbook but I reminded myself it was just for fun and it felt so nice and mindful once I started doodling.
After lunch, we headed down Taylor’s Lane to Magdalen Green. It was very breezy but we found a picnic bench at the bottom end which was a little more sheltered - it didn’t stop our pens from blowing off the table though! We were also interrupted by an overenthusiastic dog who came and slapped my sketchbook. After drawing here, and photographing said drawings, we walked along the waterfront until we found a good spot to stop next.
The sun was starting to set, which meant some beautiful evening light along with the choppy waves that feature nicely in Cara’s drawings. By this point we were pretty chilly, so decided to finish our day with a hot drink at Blend to warm us up. Blend is back to opening until 8pm on Thursdays now, so it’s ideal if you’re looking for a cosy place to hang out after dark. We did some last doodles over oat chai lattes, then it was time for our drawing day to come to an end.
It was such a fun afternoon and I’d definitely recommend it as something different to do. A big thank you to Cara for letting me be part of a drawing day and for sending me over these copies of her super cute sketchbook (below). You can find Cara’s work on her website here, or follow her on Instagram here.
I’d love to know if you decide to have a similar drawing day. Let me know if you’d like to see more mate dates on the blog!
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