It's been incredibly warm here right into November, but that's over now. So sitting outside poses some challenges, but I'd still like to try it as long as I bundle up! I really enjoyed this exercise, but I do still find drawing a lot of work. I used colored pencils to enhance my drawings.
Thoughts about photos vs drawings: photos are kind of static, whereas a drawing is always a work in progress because is represents so many decisions, changes, alterations, and hints and so many that could still be made. A photo, and reality of course, contain myriad details that a drawing could infinitely explore.