Further to previous posts about wanting to get back into the drawing game, I discovered a rather neat little artist challenge on Twitter known as #ShapeChallenge. This is a diversion helmed by Studio TeaBreak (@virtualstudio) that I first found through Sarah McIntyre (who, with Phillip Reeve, creates such wonderful books as Cakes in Space and Pugs of the Frozen North) as @jabberworks. Each day a new shape — an outline with a red circle inside it — is posted up at @virtualstudio and the challenge is to turn the innocuous shape into something rare and interesting. I strongly encourage you to go take a look at the gallery under the #ShapeChallenge hashtag, if you're on Twitter, and even to take up the pen yourself if you're so inclined.

Below are the pick of my own sketches over February, for your delectation. Look out for the red (or orange, in one case) circles. Some of the original shapes are a bit hidden in the detail… shapecompendiumfeb01shapecompendiumfeb02