Dodgy man

Dodgy man! We came home today and saw a man looking in our hedge. We asked what he was doing and he said he was looking for a box he’d hidden there so his mum didn’t see it. He said it was a ring doorbell that he’d spent £80 on, but he’d panicked and hid it incase she found out he’d bought it. (he was very scruffy and dirty and said he’d been a tattooist but now he sits drawing outside sainsburys). I helped him look while hubby looked in the garden. I wanted to prove it wasn’t there mostly so he would go away. It’s worrying having people put things in the hedge. We have found stolen things in the past we have reported to the police! He eventually left. I felt sorry for him but it was dodgy! Hubby told him if he comes back we will have a ring the police.

Random dog

A lovely dog we saw while we were out a couple of weeks ago. It was a mixed breed but I can’t remember exactly what? A shitzu crossed with a corgi? It was small and sweet and friendly. I took a photo as I was thinking I might do a small painting including it. I’m not sure what to do in the background. Why are small fluffy dogs so cute? I think it’s the sweet eyes and nose.

For sale, Heron

I just took my Heron painting to the cafe at Etruria Industrial Museum to swap it for the one of the waterfall that I have sold. I will try and deliver that to my friend soon who bought it from me. I need to do some more work because I have the opportunity of showing some small paintings at a new venue that is opening up in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, near the Middleport pottery. I’m trying to grab opportunity where I can.

Bright pattern

Changing ‘curves’ in digital photo editing apps can really change colours and make them ‘pop’. Initially you see a square with a diagonal line on it and also a series of squiggly lines underneath that indicate how much of the spectrum is in what part of the box. If you click on the diagonal line you can change the shape of it. Raising the line by dragging it makes it your image lighter (you can watch the image change as you drag on the line). Pulling the line down darkens the image. But altering the line into a flowing curve also changes the colours without altering the underlying pattern or shapes. You can also change colours in other tools. Have a go. See what happens.

Landscapes joined

I joined two photos and blurred them with photodirector to give them a blurred, oily effect. I like the way the clouds have become puffed and swirly. The line between the trees and sky has darkened and become almost castellated. Some subtle blues on the left side flow slightly into the right. I like the way things are slurred and smoothed. I just like it.

Column

Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was column. I’ve layered up sketching, lines and flood fill tools to create some sort of Greek or Roman column. It’s very sketchy and sort of rustic. I might change it and add leaves to it. I haven’t decided yet. Other column ideas were light and newspaper. I wasn’t sure what to do. But it was an interesting experiment.

Profile in digital art

Found my stylus so tried using it on a dotted drawing I did a while ago in ArtRage oils. ArtRage has a metallic slider scale so you can make your drawing look metallic and as it says in the name also has pens that look like oil paint. ArtRage oils is a free app. I actually bought ArtRage which is the full app and it has lots more pens and tools, but I keep forgetting it because its on my tablet, and that’s in a cupboard. Oops! Must get it out and charge it!

Autumn is on its way

A leaf on our floor has come in to visit today. I put the photo through photodirector to give more texture to it.

Some of our trees are starting to lose their leaves already. I think the lack of water over the last few months has had an effect. Autumn seems to come later each year, with warmer weather the leaves usually stay on longer. It may start now, but trees hold onto their leaves until well into November. But is this leaf a precursor to an earlier fall?