A gentle giant

Rob drawing. 6th Dec. Pencil in moleskin

 A volunteer at Sanctus, Rob is an ex-security guy whose size and tatoos make him quite scary-looking. However, he is one of the nicest guys I've met. Recently, he adopted a little staffie called Sweep, after Sweep's formally-homeless turned charity-volunteer owner was tragically murdered. You can see a picture of Sweep helping me sketch on my Facebook page and another on the post Down but not out.

I sketched Rob whilst he was working on a drawing on the course I am teaching at Sanctus. His eyes aren't quite right, I think because he kept moving and I didn't wait for him to return to the same angle. He's please with it though, so that's good.

 You can help people get a meal by donating to Sanctus here: sanctus-home.com

Jimmy

Jimmy drawing. Pencil in moleskin sketchbook.

On a cold, grey, drizzly Thursday, Jimmy had his lunch at Sanctus then sat in my art class. Jimmy was refered to by the others as being a "Diddycoy", which is an old, often derogatory term, for someone who's parentage is not full gypsy. He is a lovely, cheerful, uneducated, old man speaking a dialect that I only understood one in three words. I gave him some paper and a pencil and he drew me drawings of the wagons (horse drawn carts and gypsy caravans) his dad used to make. He's had a hard life, if I understood half of the stories he told, and it is compounded now by his love of drink (he was sober) and health problems. He is very trusting, asking me to check his perscriptions for him, and loves talking. I don't know if I'm allowed to have him sit in with us, but I hope he comes back at least to stay out of the cold.

A proud man with his drawing. Photo taken/used with his permission.

 You can help people like Jimmy get a meal by donating to Sanctus here: sanctus-home.com