Doodle: While You Were Sleeping

One of the things I like to do as a self-taught artist is to look at other people sketchbooks! I would browse Pinterest looking for inspirations and recently I came across some sketchbook images from a well-known British artist, Henry Moore. This particular sketchbook contains his well-known sketches of people sleeping. In 1940, Moore was commissioned by War Artists Advisory Committee to draw images of people taking shelter from air raids in the London underground. These sketches were often interpreted as metaphors for the courage of the British people in the face of war.

A couple of sketches by Henry Moore.

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Henry Moore's Shelter Sketches

Source

Inspired by these sketches I made a couple of drawings of a random someone in a state of peaceful, unmoving repose. While we are sleeping we are in one of our most vulnerable states, unguarded and weak.

On these pages, I wrote a beautiful poem by Margaret Atwood, "Variation on the Word Sleep", because it suits the theme of my drawings. Here's the first verse...you can read the rest of the poem here.

"I would like to watch you sleeping,
which may not happen.
I would like to watch you,
sleeping. I would like to sleep
with you, to enter
your sleep as its smooth dark wave
slides over my head..."

The poem is not what you think it's about. It's not about wanting to get laid at all. Basically, the poem talks about wanting to help someone overcoming his fears in his dreams and being with him in his time of need and grief. A very beautiful poem. I wish I could write something like that!