A few weeks ago I went over to a friend's house to basically hold him hostage to drawing. He studied graphic design in school, and gets the odd gig here and there, but by and large seems to have set that aside for a much more noble cause: raising his children.
He was lamenting his lack of drawing time on Facebook not long ago, and I (as I always do) claimed that there's nothing easier than sitting down to do a spot of messy drawing. All you need is the gumption.
With two kids and no real routine he's rather low on gumption, but I have gumption to spare in the sit-and-draw department, and sometimes it just helps to have a buddy. So I went over there to see if we could do that when his kids were around. And the verdict is: no, not really. I got a lot out of it, but my friend was mostly still in Dad mode.
I also dislike being automatically forced upon children in a situation like that. "This is our friend Maggie!" is the joyful suggestion, and while girl child was all for this, boy child was a little less eager. And I completely understand -- I don't like being asked to take to someone immediately either, I'd rather make up my own mind. And it's harder for children who can't pick and choose who comes into the house.
So I think it will be better for everyone if we simply meet at a coffee shop for these little drawing-buddy-sessions, which is the plan.
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