sketchcrawl in Mauritania

I started the morning with this sketch and maybe because I wasn't wearing my glasses I drew the cats tails so long. I never noticed til Hermann told me and then I could see it, those two are Sahelien cats with long necks and ears that remind me of the egypcian godess cats.

After breakfast I drew my neighbours "barraque", Moula'id a big woman of uncertain age lives here with her family and occasional visitors. I come often for a tea or just to chat.

Then around the corner there 's a place under a big tree where you'll always find taxis but the drivers (owners?) are from Guine-Conakry, so the place is called "Guinean taxis" place.

This is BMD street and there is tarmac in the middle but no paved streets, they're extremely rare in Nouakchott , so is tarmac but the new president that took the power by force in the summer has promised 400km of tarmac to be done in NKC and the works have started. You can see the minarets from the Saudian Mosque in the background.

Went for lunch in Auberge Sahara where hermann works its a sort of camping/bread and breakfast used by travellers on their way to Senegal and Mali, another quick sketch and of to meet other crawlers.

There were four of them Bechir and Sidi Yahya, both painters. Mouna a student from Sidi Yahya and little Mehdi the son of a friend of mine.

Its the first time they go out to draw and they don't draw from observation often or at all, so they felt shy and we didn't go to far taking with us the small stools from Sidi's school. In this sketch you can see Mehdi sitting close to a pile of rubble where small goats are playing.

Two young painters joined us at 6pm, Ami and Aicha but they didn't quite understand what it was about so they didn't bring anything to draw an we hope they'll join us in the next sketchcrawl.

My last drawing with a huge moon coming up in the sky, great day and nice to be with others drawing.

Those are some of the drawings done by my friends.

Sidi Yahya

Bechir Malum
Mouna

and Mehdi, 11years old.